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The Tick
Grenouille's inner world (also referred to as his fortress, inner palace, or purple room) is where Grenouille keeps all of his scents catalogued and is a place where he has complete control as “Grenouille the Great.” Thus, Grenouille's inner world can be seen to represent both how Grenouille conceptualizes himself and illustrates how he'd like the world to be. Grenouille the Great is capable of molding this inner world to look and smell exactly how Grenouille wants, a power that Grenouille seeks to gain over the outside world. Further, while Grenouille the Great's world has servants to wait on him, they're invisible and don't smell, and in the same vein, the girl from the rue de Marais features in Grenouille's world as bottles of scent to be drunk. This fleshes out and illustrates Grenouille's misanthropic view of people; he sees them as items to be used and enjoyed rather than as actual beings.
Grenouille's Inner World Quotes in Perfume
The Perfume quotes below all refer to the symbol of Grenouille's Inner World. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Part 2, Chapter 27
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... he clapped his hands and called his servants, who were invisible, intangible, inaudible, and above all inodorous, and thus totally imaginary servants...
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That odor had been the pledge of freedom. It had been the pledge of a different life. The odor of that morning was for Grenouille the odor of hope. He guarded it carefully. And he drank it daily.
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Part 2, Chapter 29
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What he now felt was the fear of not knowing much of anything about himself... He could not flee it, but had to move toward it.
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Grenouille's Inner World Symbol Timeline in Perfume
The timeline below shows where the symbol Grenouille's Inner World appears in Perfume. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Part 1, Chapter 8
...and over the next week he refines his system. He begins to construct an inner fortress of smell. Grenouille feels no remorse at having murdered the girl; all that matters to...
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Part 1, Chapter 16
...Baldini's laboratory. As Grenouille falls asleep, he dreams of a victorious entrance into his inner fortress where there's a banquet and an orgy with clouds of incense and myrrh held in...
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Part 2, Chapter 26
Grenouille's "debaucheries" take place in his inner fortress. He begins by thinking about scents from his childhood, and if his disgust at them...
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Afterwards, Grenouille stretches out inside his cave. In his mental fortress, he dozes and enjoys pleasant scents. In the late afternoon of Grenouille's inner world, he...
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Part 2, Chapter 27
The inner Grenouille, " Grenouille the Great ," is tired after his day of destruction, creation, and celebration. His heart is a...
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When Grenouille wakes, he wakes up in his cave rather than in his fortress or his inner empire. He feels as miserable as if he'd truly been drinking, and...
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Part 2, Chapter 28
...empire. One winter, Grenouille nearly freezes to death without realizing it. He lies in his purple room for five days, and when he finally wakes, is so cold he can't move. He...
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Part 2, Chapter 29
...part of Grenouille's dream fantasies. One night he lies on his sofa in his purple fortress, asleep after drinking a huge amount, including two bottles of the scent of the girl...
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Part 3, Chapter 49
...He knows that if he asked them to, the people would renounce God and worship Grenouille the Great instead, who is now manifest in the real world.
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