Study of Social Critcism in "Perfume" by Suskind and "A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich
The Criticism of society and human nature implicit in "Perfume" by Suskind
And "A Day in The Life of Ivan Denisovich" by solzenitsyn
The criticism of society and human nature found in these two novels, is extremely subtle. The criticism in the novels differs through the difference in era. "A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich" is based on a prisoner of war camp in Russia during the Second World War or right after and is a criticism of the treatment they receive inside the camp. Whereas "Perfume" is set in 18th century France, and is a criticism of society in which we live. It is not so much criticism of a historical era but in a more general sense, of the world we live in today. As well as, a virulent criticism of merchants and trade. It is also an undeniable parody of the story of Christ while "One Day" is not a very religiously centered novel. The criticism of society in perfume comes in many different forms and is usually quite obvious. Throughout the entire novel Grenouille, the protagonist of perfume is described in such a way that he is seen as a despicable character. However although this is what he is, the description that the narrator makes of the society around him is as terrifying as the one made of Grenouille. In fact it is my belief that society creates this monstrous being which is Grenouille. Throughout the novel several merchants who although pretend to help him, all end up using him to make large amounts of money exploit Grenouille. For example the perfume maker Baldini uses Grenouille's perfume recipes to become rich by deceiving him and manipulating him. Also Taillade-Espinade takes advantage of Grenouille's physical appearance to become rich and famous. (expand) This is a criticism of merchants in general which tells us that although merchants pretend to be professionals at their line of work they are not above exploiting someone to make more profit. A merchant will go to any lengths no matter how dishonest to make more profit.
And "A Day in The Life of Ivan Denisovich" by solzenitsyn
The criticism of society and human nature found in these two novels, is extremely subtle. The criticism in the novels differs through the difference in era. "A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich" is based on a prisoner of war camp in Russia during the Second World War or right after and is a criticism of the treatment they receive inside the camp. Whereas "Perfume" is set in 18th century France, and is a criticism of society in which we live. It is not so much criticism of a historical era but in a more general sense, of the world we live in today. As well as, a virulent criticism of merchants and trade. It is also an undeniable parody of the story of Christ while "One Day" is not a very religiously centered novel. The criticism of society in perfume comes in many different forms and is usually quite obvious. Throughout the entire novel Grenouille, the protagonist of perfume is described in such a way that he is seen as a despicable character. However although this is what he is, the description that the narrator makes of the society around him is as terrifying as the one made of Grenouille. In fact it is my belief that society creates this monstrous being which is Grenouille. Throughout the novel several merchants who although pretend to help him, all end up using him to make large amounts of money exploit Grenouille. For example the perfume maker Baldini uses Grenouille's perfume recipes to become rich by deceiving him and manipulating him. Also Taillade-Espinade takes advantage of Grenouille's physical appearance to become rich and famous. (expand) This is a criticism of merchants in general which tells us that although merchants pretend to be professionals at their line of work they are not above exploiting someone to make more profit. A merchant will go to any lengths no matter how dishonest to make more profit.