Humanity+and+humanness

In the novel, Perfume, Patrick Suskin uses the narrative of Grenouille and the narrator’s perspective towards Grenouille to show the similarity and differentiation of humans with Grenouille which satirizes humanity. Suskin satirizes humanity and our animalistic actions by comparing them with Grenouille and using the reversal of roles. In the beginning of the novel, Grenouille is portrayed as an animal and inhumane by the narrator and the characters in the book. But by the end of the novel he was the described as an angel and there was a reversal of roles where the humans were described by the narrator as cannibals and inhumane. By doing so, Suskin illustrates to the readers that humans and Grenouille are alike. Through the use narrative of Grenouille and the narrator’s perspective, Grenouille and humanity are characterized as animals due to the lack of morals they have, and their aggressive approach towards events to fulfill their personal contentment.  The characters in the book are very critical towards Grenouille’s appearance as well as his actions, the characters and narrator describe him as inhumane and as a creature without morals. This is very ironic because in the end the reversal of the roles of Grenouille and humanity illustrates that humanity are animals as well due to their murder act of eating Grenouille. Suskin uses the Grenouille to reflect upon humanity and how similar we are to him. One of the more significant events in the novel is the death of Grenouille. After Grenouille leaves town with his ultimate perfume it is the humans who kill him inhumane manner. The reversal of roles occur in this final scene, where in the previous chapters Grenouille is always seen as the creature and animal who has no morals therefore leading him to kill the innocent to make the ultimate perfume, but in this chapter it is the humans who the narrator describes as inhumane with their process of killing Grenouille in a animalistic manner. This satirizes humanity, because of how in the previous chapters everyone was criticizing Grenouille, and his immoral actions, but in the final chapter they are the same.

//Grenouille is often described as an animal which characterizes him as inhumane, but also his actions characterize him as inhumane because many of his actions may be said to be immoral and non humane.//  One of the first animalistic descriptions the narrator had towards Grenouille is revealed in this quote. The purpose of quote is to create a viewpoint for the readers to look at Grenouille, which sees him as a creature and animal. Creating the perspective for the reader is significant because later when the role changes, the reader will observe the similarity in narrators perspective towards humans and to Grenouille.
 * "A strange, cold creature lay there on his knees, a hostile animal, and were he not a man by nature prudent" (p17)

 
 * “Others said he was not really a human being, but some mixture of man and bear, some kind of forest creature.”(p138)

 This quote reveals to the readers, the perspective which humans see Grenouille as an animal already due to Grenouille appearance. The purpose of including this quote is to emphasize how Grenouille is not human like therefore foreshadowing his immoral actions, and to satirize humans at their poor beliefs in the time period.   This quote portrays how non-human Grenouille is from his desire for isolation from humanity. This quote is to illustrate how Grenouille’s differentiation to humanity because of desire to for isolation from humanity, where it is seen as less humane because humans tends to stick together, whereas in this case Grenouille is avoiding humanity.  Other quotes where Grenouille is described as non-human : 
 * "He now avoided not just cities, but villages as well. He was almost intoxicated by air that grew more rarefied, even more devoid of humankind."(p116)
 * One of the most inhumane proceedings which Grenouille does is murdering the innocent girls for the making of his ultimate perfume. This may be seen as immoral and injustice, because the lives of the girls were not worth to make the ultimate perfume.
 * "he was about to say "devil," but aught himself and refrained..away with monster" p18


 * “he looked awful. His hair reached down to the hollows of his knees, his scraggly beard to his navel. His nails were like talons and the skin on his arms and legs, where the rags no longer covered his body, was peeling off in shreds.” (P138)

 //Humanity is also described by the narrator for the readers are able to see humanity’s similarity from Grenouille which in the end the reversal of roles is used to satirize humanity.// <span style="font-size: 10pt; color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"> <span style="font-size: 10pt; color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">In this quote, the narrator implies Grenouille isn’t human by no including him in the description therefore categorizing Grenouille as something else. By doing so it shows the differentiation between Grenouille and humanity, and how Grenouille is not human but ironically at the end of the book the reversal of roles makes readers see that humanity and Grenouille are very similar. <span style="font-size: 10pt; color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">In the next few quotes, it illustrates how humanity is like animals as well and that we are in ways similar to Grenouille. These extracts contains the reversal of roles where humans are described as if they were animals whereas Grenouille is described as an angel. This is very ironic because throughout the book it is Grenouille who is described as the animal but in this quotes, the humans are the one who are illustrated as animals and inhumane. The purpose of doing so is to illustrate to readers that humans are similar to Grenouille in terms of being an animal. This satirizes humanity overall and how we are animals and similar to Grenouille. We can see Grenouille actions as inhumane because of how the narrator manipulated our perspective towards him by describing him as an animal but when we look at our actions we won’t say it’s inhumane unless it is very noticeable that it is inhumane. <span style="font-size: 10pt; color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"> <span style="font-size: 10pt; color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">
 * "Baldini held his candly up to this lump of human kind" p73
 * “Humans existed by night as well. And there were humans in most remote regions. They had only pulled back like rats into their lairs to sleep. The earth was not cleansed of them.”
 * “They lunged at the angel, pounced on him, threw him to the ground. Each of them wanted to touch him, wanted a piece of him” (p254)
 * "When the cannibals found their way back together after disposing of their meal, no one said a word" p255