Superstition+and+false+science

__**Superstition/ False Science:

Intro and Thesis:**__

In the novel __Perfume__ by Patrick Suskind, the life of the main character, Jean-Baptise Grenouille, is followed from birth to death. Grenouille having no smell of his own embarks on a journey to achieve the perfect scent, even if it means killing innocent women in the process. Although his actions are often labelled as barbaric and associated with animosity and insanity, there is no doubt that they were calculated and perfectly executed. In short, Grenouille was able to use sense and reason to experiment and achieve what he wanted, shaping his understanding of the world around him as well as his beliefs. Suskind makes it so that Grenouille is seen as a low-life and contrasts that with characters of high status but base their beliefs on false science/superstition. In doing so, Suskind has successfully reflected how numerous conventional beliefs are based on false science/superstition in society.


 * 1. Religion and Superstition:**
 * **Religion and superstition are usually seen as two different sets of beliefs, superstition holding a negative connotation and religion having a positive one. However, through the criticizing of the church Suskind has essentially merged the two, making religion seem like something trivial and unrealistic. Through these means, Suskind reflects how those who are religious, which is a significant amount of people, actually base their decisions on ideals that are false.**


 * Nurse: "He's possessed by the devil."

Terrier: "Impossible! It is absolutely impossible for an infant to be possessed by the devil. An infant is not yet a human being; it is a prehuman being and does not yet possess a fully developed soul. Which is why it is of no interest to the devil. Can he talk already, perhaps? Does he twitch and jerk? Does he move things about in the room? Does some evil stench come from him?"

"He Doesn't smell at all," said the wet nurse."**


 * In this dialogue between Father Terrier and the nurse, the two characters represent the two opposite ends of the social hierarchy. Terrier, being a priest, is considered holy, educated, and noble whereas the nurse, a caretaker for children, is looked down upon. By doing this, Suskind has shown how no matter how much one is respected by the public their ideals are still false ones. Take for example the nurse's statement "He's possessed by the devil," which was later justified by "he doesn't smell at all." Indeed, it is odd that Grenouille possess no scent, however he is still a human being and yet the nurse has no problem with immediately associating him with the devil. It shows how religion has caused people to explain any oddity in the world by using the devil as a scapegoat rather then thinking things through.
 * Terrier on the other hand defends Grenouille but it seems that his justification is simply improvised and not based on rational thought. The phrase that probably stands out most would probably be "An infant is not yet a human being; it is a prehuman being and does not yet possess a fully developed soul." Stating that an infant is not a human being is somewhat far-fetched, and it isn't mentioned in the bible or any holy scripture. However since Terrier is a educated holy man people take his word to be fact. By having both of these characters make outrageous statements Suskind has shown how anyone, no matter how noble, can be influenced by false ideas. Furthermore by using religion as a medium for their reasoning Suskind portrays how religion is currently leaning more towards superstition.


 * "A strange, cold creature lay there on his knees, a hostile animal, and were he not a man by nature prudent, God-fearing, and given to reason, in the rush of nausea he would have hurled it like a spider from him."**


 * Priest are usually thought to have the purest minds and to display acts of kindness and compassion, however in this passage Terrier displays the exact opposite. After realizing Grenouille has no scent Terrier becomes frantic and comes to the conclusion that he must be rid of him immediately. However since he was a holy man he knew he could not do it without being frowned upon by the people. In this sense, we can say that the priest's actions are entirely selfish. He decides to throw Grenouille out even though he is only an infant who has never recieved any love or kindness. Moreover he decides that he must think of a way to do it as to save face. Suskind does this to portray how the religious system is corrupt and no longer trustworthy. By having Terrier act like this Suskind shows how the members of the church and the church itself are just putting up a false front for society when really they are just like everyone else. It shows how one of the most trusted organizations is actually feeding lies to the people, demonstrating how superstition has began to influence the public.


 * 2. False science and scientific method:**
 * **Through the means of scientific theory and method, people can often explain the naturally occurring events in the world around them. The flaw in science however is that much of it is based on theory and deduced instead of being reliant on common sense. Suskind displays this, although somewhat exaggerated, with "Fluidum Letale", an outrageous scientific theory proposed by the Marquis that is widely excepted by the people of town further emphasizing how conventional beliefs are based on falsities.**


 * "Nevertheless, the lecturer pledged that within eight days, using ventilation therapy in combination with a vital diet he would restore this doomed creature to the point where the signs of a complete recovery would be self-evident to everyone, and he invited those present to return in one week to satisfy themselves of the success of his prognosis, which, of course, would then have to be seen as valid proof that his theory concerning earth's fluidum was likewise correct."**


 * In this extract, Suskind displays how the basic scientific method for experimentation is flawed. As readers we can see that the theory of Fluidum Letale was outrageous however the marquis has convinced people that it is true through the process of science. Essentially when Grenouille was "healed" he was just cleaned up a bit but also subject to "ventilation therapy" and a "vital diet". Just because the marquis's methods were present it is taken as fact that they were what "healed" Grenouille. This shows how the scientific method has completely disregarded any common sense and that is purely based on numbers and observation. People have lost the ability to use rationalization to come to a conclusion and instead just base it on what they see, reflecting how science is false and unrealistic.


 * "Soon the legend was abroad that there on the mountain peak he had wedded himself to the eternal fluidum vitale, merging with it and it with him, and now forever floated- invisible but eternally young."**


 * To us readers, it is obvious that the conclusion reached by the public is obviously false, and in this short statement it is demonstrated how false science is reguarly taken as fact. The marquis climbed to the peak of a mountain and never appearred again, instead of thinking and realizing his theory didn't make any sense they come to a conclusion that embeds his theory. This reflects how the public will take anything that someone of has status has stated as fact. Rather then using rationalization, people just accept ideas and false science, further emphasizing how conventional ideas are based on falsities.