Perfume: A Story of a Murderer

There is more truth in fiction than in reality.

It begins with a literal nobody who was gifted with a strong, keen sense of smell. He grew up in the margins of society and was sold to slavery. As he proved himself to be rather enduring, he later had the chance to go to the city that it dawned on him how much there is to smell.

It turns out that perfume making was a profitable and perhaps a noble industry for a person to indulge in. His gift was perfectly made for it. He worked under a perfume maker whom he regards as master.

He studied as an apprentice. He had a goal in mind: preserve smell or scent. This goal consumed him as if it was his sole purpose on earth. His master told him of an undiscovered secret which, to the young man, obsessed him.

He did very well until he was given an opportunity to go off his way, in a farther land to practice what he has learned so far, and accumulate more for the betterment of his perfume workshop.

He had a chance to advance his understanding of his workshop to the extent that he killed virgin women just to somewhat extract the kind of liquid concentration needed for his perfume.

Alarmed, people in the place made efforts to find the mysterious murderer. Until finally he was found and set to be executed in the amidst the crowd (for justice).

When he was on his way to be executed, he let the crowd smell the scent he has perfected, which bewitched every man and woman in attendance, regarding him as a God-sent angel. Even the executioner knelt before him.

Not long after, with the scent, people lost their sanity and got driven by lust to each other. After the effect of the scent (or the scent has faded) the people pulled their nerves together and pretended to have never committed a sexual immorality.

He left an innocent man. On the way, he understood one thing: neither does he know how to love nor to be loved. He went back to his original place: the dark, margins of society. He poured his remaining bottle of perfume (the most powerful possession he has that he can send a letter to the Pope scented by it and let him be declared the Messiah) to his head, like an anointing to himself, and he was ravished and eaten by the poor crowd of women and men. He was consumed until no part of his body was left.

Interpretation

This is a magical realism. Although it is far from the truth, it has a fairly simple lesson.

A man was born a nobody with nothing until he was given a chance to be somebody. But in his apprenticeship, he was contented least that he wanted to possess what he can simply perceive or smell. This pushed him to be greedy along the way that he never had the conscience to restrain himself from murdering young ladies. He was a success, and got to the peak of it. He was even worshipped for the scent that he formulated. His fated death was altered. Sinner though he was, he was regarded a saint. Until he realized he cannot love nor can he be loved. He went back to where his childhood began and there he committed suicide.

It applies to all: money, position or rank, or anything. With discontentment, we want to possess more and be more. We go against the norm, the dictates of our morals. Our sins can be turned into a saintly feat. They are like justified means to achieve a greater end. But still, we feel empty deep inside. There is a void that is never filled with any success. We decide to go back to where we are from, since we already saw the peak of where we can be, and for some reasons, we just kill ourselves.