Writers, Patrick Suskind and Albert Camus, succeeded in making the most detestable societal culls of their several times, Grenouille from Perfume and Meursault from the foreigner, the two are both felons due to the fact that they both commit slaying, they are both goaded or motivated to slay, by the things they are obsessed with. This finally leads them to their decease. However, it their purposes contrast, as Meursault does non slay with purpose, but Grenouille, on the other manus slaying ‘s with purpose.
The contrasting purposes of Meursault and Grenouille is adeptly distinguished by the writers, Camus, uses first individual narrative, this is to do the reader sympathize with him, which ironically means that Meursault is the justice non the judged, because the readers are forced to see the universe the manner Meursault does, therefore making an alternate feeling of the other characters such as the magistrate, the prison chaplain, who originally would hold been seen as normal characters. On the other manus, Suskind leaves really small room for the understanding of Meursault, because he does non merit it? It about as if it is straight habituated for Grenouille ‘s rejection by the society ‘s ill will, even at birth he had already experienced a awful rejection.
Meursault may hold been motivated to slay the by the Sun, Camus uses effectual imagination to transform the Sun against him. The Sun is used as a symbol of ill will, stand foring competition and aggression, this is what causes Meursault to slay the Arab, before he shoots the Arab he says the Sun “ was like a juicy blade gnawing at my ciliums and force outing out my cutting eyes.[ 1 ]“ Meursault describes the consequence of the Sun on him, it is about like the Sun is his enemy, he makes it clear that the Sun made him dying, and this was when he shot the Arab. This is the kind of consequence the Sun has on Meursault. In the instance of Grenouille, he is driven to slay by his extrasensory sense of odor, makes him recognize that he has no odor, and his sense of odor being his superior sense as he identifies people through their odor, he feels he has no individuality, this sends him on a mission to detect his individuality, he becomes obsessed with odors, and begins to kill immature virgins, roll uping their olfactory properties, his compulsion is most apparent when “ his bosom beat more aloud and he felt the blood in his venas tingle with pleasance:[ 2 ]“ upon catching the aroma of Laure. This emphasizes Grenouille compulsion with aroma. This heightens his desire for them.
Meursault allows the Sun to command him, due to his compulsion with it, Meursault whose character is conveyed as person that does non believe, thinks about the Sun a batch, leting his head to be to the full focused on the Sun that its effects are magnified, therefore leting it to command him. When Meursault left the Arabs and was traveling back, he was walking in a way confronting the Sun, believing about it ; it began to hold tormenting effects on him, one time he stopped believing about it, he unconsciously turns around, now endorsing the Sun he says that “ I ‘d gone at that place without even believing about it[ 3 ]“ this shows that the Sun makes him make things without believing about it. Grenouille besides like Meursault allows his extraordinary sense of odor to command him, he smells the miss begins to follow her aroma until he finds her, and when does he is so haunted with her aroma he kills her. His senses are his most valued ownership, and he relies on them the most, his determinations are biased towards fulfilling his odor. This is one of the factors that make him kill so easy. But the chief contributing factor is the fact that he had a really hapless upbringing, his female parent left him to decease, he was ne’er loved, so he had really small respect for human life.
The Sun and the extrasensory sense of odor used by Camus and Suskind severally are tools to pass on the force per unit areas of the societies they live in. Meursault who pushed to slay, by the Sun, is imagery used by Camus to demo how much Meursault hatreds judgement by society, after killing the Arab he says that “ I ‘d realized that I ‘d destruct the balance of the twenty-four hours and the perfect silence of this beach where I ‘d been happy[ 4 ]“ . Meursault shows no understanding at killing the Arab, but is instead more concerned about how he had ruined his twenty-four hours at the beach. This is what leads him to his decease. Because he has no odor, Grenouille is rejected by his female parent, Jean Bussie, Father Terrier, the kids at the orphanhood, and the society, in general, Suskind ‘s manner of depicting the effects of being an foreigner, but bizarrely, all those who rejected him ended up deceasing. Smell, used often in this book carries a batch of intending in Perfume, as it drives a alone adult male, who people hate because he has none, to kill 25 virgins, in order to make his ain and fit into society. Unlike Meursault, he tries to suit in, and he ends up worse than Meursault. Because of this, because he was non all to fault, Suskind leaves a infinite though little for the readers to sympathise with him, he creates every bit small relationship between the readers and the virgins as possible, apart from Laure who meant something to Meursault so as to cut down the hate for Grenouille.
As similar as these characters may look, as they are both liquidators, they murder for different grounds, Meursault slayings in ego defence as he said that “ the Arab drew his knife and held it out towards me in the Sun[ 5 ]“ , this partly motivates Meursault to kill the Arab, in add-on to the influence from the Sun. Grenouille ‘s amorality and hunt for an individuality in society is the secondary cause of his slayings, he does non bask slaying people but he does non resent it either, he is merely focused on his end. However, though Grenouille seems a worse individual, he deserves more sympathy than Meursault as the fortunes that drive him to slaying are awful.
The two characters, motivated to slay by their compulsions, Meursault motivated by the Sun to slaying, Grenouille driven by his hunt for an individuality, through his astonishing sense of odor, they lived against society ‘s norms, usually they would be contained and rehabilitated by society, but non these two, they consent to disapprobation. Meursault, is sentenced to beheading, on the twenty-four hours of his decease, he reaffirms his position stating “ I was happy, and I was still happy[ 6 ]. ” While Grenouille, who after wining in making the perfect aroma was non fulfilled, he stopped seeking, and realized his intent. “ But to eat a human being, they would ne’er, so they thought, have been capable of anything that atrocious. And they were amazed that it had been so really easy for them and that, embarrassed as they were, they did non experience the tiniest bite of scruples[ 7 ]. ” After Grenouille had poured the balance of his aroma on himself, it received a cannibalistic reaction from the people, hence demoing that even society is capable of ultimate immorality.
