A comparison of relationships between Grenouille in Perfume and Meursault in The Outsider All human beings crave for and

certainly need social contacts. It is a known fact that relationships are important to all people whatever age, whatever nationality, whichever sex. In both Perfume by Patrick Sskind and The Outsider by Albert Camus, We dont find the normal crave or even the need for a relationship with Grenouille and Meursault. Grenouille never actually had a relationship with anyone where his abnormality didnt show the need or the significance of having it in the first place. With Meursaults character, a relationship wasnt a priority or necessity in his life but on the other hand its also not disapproval. The two characters are both considered outsiders in there society due to their peculiar personalities. Both Perfume and The Outsider start with the separation of the main characters mothers which leads to their isolation from society. Meursaults character had the chance to be loved in different relationships, He had a chance with his mother but he sent her to a home assuming shed be better of with people her age rather than with him. Even though Meursault said that he loved his mother, his reaction concerning his mothers death was contradictory. His particular emotionless words showed that in the first sentence of the book saying Mother died today. Or maybe yesterday. I dont know (Camus 9). Grenouille on the other hand, never actually had the chance to be loved. His mother was executed after the towns people found out that she threw her son (Grenouille) under a table in the fish market after giving birth to him, the same place where she gave birth to four others! But Grenouille lived unlike the others, but lived with an odd personality, one that craved for love and acceptance like any normal person, but never found it. In The Outsider, Meursault grew up having relationships with a few friends outside of work. Marie Cordona, who used to be a typist, became a close girlfriend to Meursault. She loved him, understood and accepted the way he was and showed care for him by writing and visiting him in jail. On the contrary, Meursault didnt show much care for her personally and only cared about her pretty looks, So he didnt much care or show the need for her relationship saying after he as in jail no that we were physically separated, there was nothing left to keep us together or to remind us of each other (Camus110) showing that her being in his life as no a necessity. Raymond as also close to Meursault most people dont like him much. Bur he often talks to me and sometime comes for a minute or two because I listen to him (Camus 32). Meursaults character justifies his relationship with Raymond saying that [he] has no reason not to talk to him (Camus 32) which also shows that he doesnt need to talk to Raymond but is because he cant find a reason to do otherwise. Grenouilles character had an appalling affect to any relationship he had with anyone, which was death. Anyone who used him in any way ended up dying. Madame Gaillard who had no sense of smell compared to

Grenouille. In charge of the boarding house, her goal was to save money for a proper death and funeral but after she grows suspicious of Grenouille who as able to locate her money, she sell him to Grimal (a tanner).Ironically, she loses all her money in old age and dies a miserable death, and is not even buried but thrown onto a heap with other bodies. Baldini, an old perfumer who uses Grenouille after discovering his unique talent, also ends up with an unfortunate death after Grenouille leaves him; where his house collapses with the bridge holding it. And thats ho everybody ended after using Grenouille in any way. Meursault and Grenouille both show the lack care to their murdered victims. Meursault unintentionally becomes involved in a dispute between Raymond and Raymonds mistress and her brother, the Arab. Meursault without any motivation ends up killing the Arab and blaming the weather for it. He shows no Regret and just accepting the fact that he killed a man and he gets the blame for it. He doesnt speak through the trial to defend any himself from what they say and the only time he did mixing up [his] words a bit and realizing that [he] sounded ridiculous, [he] said that it as because of the sun. Grenouille also shows a lack of care after his not one but many murders, though he didnt really know that he as killing innocents. The only thing Grenouille cared about was capturing the scent of women by these murders and nothing else.

Literature in Question The outsider , written by Albert Camus and Perfumer by Patrick Suskind are two books that have addressed critically the concept of rationality and absurdity . The protagonist in the outsider is a controversial one , since he apparently does not have feelings even to his own mother . He goes undeterred even with her mother s death . He does not care about Marie- his girl friend- and even God . He wonders why the priest worries himself by visiting him . In a way he has created a world that he himself can understand . It is absurd that Meursault s inability to lie and his insensitivity make the authority to perceive him as a threat . The concept of reason for any action he does is irrelevant . It is in this breath that the author of The Outsider perhaps wants the readers to believe that it is not always that we have emotions that we ought to have had . And sometimes we play up an emotion that was expected to exist but in actual sense the emotion did not exist within us . It is to this effect that Mersault s only acknowledgement of life is tangible ,physical things rather than corruptible emotion . He is , in this case , a model in which the author shows the principle of existentialism where individuals have full responsibility for creating the meaning of their own lives . He does not need to rationally think with the rest of the society . Camus becomes an existentialist in this case by showing that conscious human beings will always find in themselves a world of their own . Existentialists believe that the ultimate and unquestionable is not reality , is not thinking consciousness but being in the world . Mersault is just in the world . In fact no one- even the society- can give a reason for Meursault to be in the world . He does not need a justification to exist in the world . Camus wants to show us that a person cannot go against the society and the majority , be it good or bad , will always win this is shown by the change of attitude by Mersault at

the end of the novel . At this point the society has won by converting Meursault to its side but still there is no justification in the way the society perceives what transpires in Mersault s life . He has got the right to think the way he thinks and do whatever he does . The book focuses on absurdity of life and death , as well as the society . It is in this sense that Camus expounds on the theme of existentialism and rationalism . He addresses the concept of subjectivity , individual freedom and choice , where life becomes a choice . Mersault s behaviours might be attributed to his choice in life rather than subjecting it to societal conventional reasoning . For him ,apparently , rationalism is relative and depends on individual . He does not even succumb to the mercies offered by the priest while he awaits his execution . It is the choice of

* Feel free to rephrase the paper title and anything else on this outline * The format of the essay should be the following:

Introduction: my point is to emphasize the difference of alienation in these two characters. aspect one ex: [there is nothing in eithers physical appearances that set them apart or made them outsiders *quote physical descriptions*] aspect two ex: [Grenouille makes a human perfume but rejects humanity, just like Meursault knows its socially unacceptable to say somethings but he says them anyway because its more logical to him to be honest *find quote*] aspect three ex: [for our understanding of Gren's character we are provided with his past, though we are not provided with Meursault's past because it is not need. Why is it not needed? Because there was nothing significant about Meursaults birth that made him an outsider. Though the birth of Grenouilles made him different, Gren. sacrificed the life of his mother (by yelling after birth) to cling on to his own,

aspect four choosing survival over love GREN choosing truth over survival Meur. aspect five ex: [society accepts Grenouilles lies but does not accept Meursaults honesty] aspect six ex: [the way that Grenouille reacts to his mothers death(she dies because of his birth so life over love) and the way Meursault deals with his mothers death (he is accepting of death and does to conform to expectations, so logic over love) and how both of their mothers deaths in a way determined their fates.] etc... please find more. Also the order of the examples do not matter

Conclusion: though very different in character and situation both set their fates on stone by choosing against conforming to society. Bibliography : "directly in text after quote" [p.22]