The Papercut discussion

In the first part, we are quickly drawn to the point of the murder. It's almost surprising how little the author dwells on the murder of a 14 year old girl. In fact, he describes it in such an off-hand and casual way, and in one short paragraph, with as little thought to it as Grenouille probably had at the time he was doing it.

I have a theory about this particular act, and the victim. We are told that Grenouille is drawn to her like a magnet across the Seine by her intoxicating scent. This all happens in Chapter 8. When I look at the way he describes this fabulous aroma, and if I forget about the fact that he is talking about a smell, I can almost imagine that he's actually talking about love. Here are a few quotes about this magical smell:

"He had to have it, not simply in order to possess it, but for his heart to be at peace."

"Grenouille felt his heart pounding, and he knew that it was not the exertion of running that had set it to pounding, but rather his excited helplessness in the presence of this scent."

"This one scent was the higher principle, the pattern by which the others must be ordered. It was pure beauty."

Is this 'higher principle' meant to represent something here? Is it a metaphor for love, beauty, perfection, innocence, or any other positive virtue you can imagine? Or is it simply what it is: the perfect scent?

Actually, I know I posted this topic five minutes ago, but I've already changed my mind about what I wrote. I don't think this is about love.

I remember earlier in the book, when Grenouille is still a baby, and he describes the smell of human flesh as a 'sinful odour'. This is when the priest Terrier smells the wet-nurse and is attracted to her womanly scent.

My own feeling now about what's happening in the murder scene has changed. It's possible that Suskind has created an allegory for virtue and sin, in an almost biblical sense. Before, Grenouille knew or cared very little about anything except for a rough survival of some sort. He may be unpleasant, but other than that, he's totally innocent. Then he discovers this beauty, the "higher principle", which is in the form of a young virginal girl, a forbidden fruit, so to speak. He violates her perfection by murdering her and stealing her scent. He's taken a bite out of the forbidden fruit. He's fallen from grace, and he's now in the same realm as the rest of the world, with the same base thoughts and feelings, and most importantly, he has vices: greed and ambition. He wants things, he wants to be a perfumier - the best perfumier of all!

Any thoughts?