Discussion questions on perfumes1. What motivates Grenouille to commit his first murder? What does he discover about himself and his destiny after killing the red-haired girl? The motivation behind Grenouille's first murder is his obsession with the perfume his victim wears. He believes that "without the perfume, his life would have no meaning", and that he must do everything to obtain it without any remorse for his actions, which he discovers about himself and his own destiny after having killed the young girl with red hair for perfume, it is because he is destined to “revolutionize the fragrant world” by becoming the “greatest perfumer of all time”2. Throughout the novel, Grenouille is compared to a tick. Why do you think Suskind chose this analogy? How does Grenouille behave like a tick? What does this analogy reveal about his character that a simpler description would not reveal? The reason I think Suskind chose this tick analogy is that Grenouille's character lives and breathes the satisfaction of stealing other women's perfume to quench his mental thirst for having whatever specific scent he has. he loves by any means necessary, just like a tick that literally lives and breathes by stealing the blood of other animals and humans to survive. This analogy reveals how deep Grenouille's passion is for perfume and the scent he smells.3. Do the descriptions of life in 18th century France, the crowded neighborhoods, the unsanitary conditions, the treatment of orphans, the punishment of criminals, etc. surprise you? How do these conditions relate to the ideals of Enlightenment, reason, and progress that occupied such an important place in 18th-century thought? The descriptions of life in 18th century France surprised me in the middle of a paper... ...words, appearances, emotions or will. The persuasive power of a smell cannot be fought, it enters us like breath in our lungs, it fills us, permeates us completely. There is no cure” [p.82]. Do you think this is true? Why would any smell have such power? How does Grenouille use this power to his advantage? I think every smell instantly takes over a person's emotions and curiosity, but smells cannot shape a person's character or behavior permanently because smells fade and are really never eternal. So I disagree that any smell can have such powerful persuasive power to change a person's perspective on life, Grenouille uses the power of smells twice the first time to smell like a normal person, which basically makes him invisible and the second time he creates a perfume from the scents of all his victims. he stole, which makes everyone do what they want.