Madame
Gaillard was entirely incapable of emotion because she was brain
damaged as a child. Grenouille couldn't learn to feel regard for other
people and didn't have normal emotional development because he was
raised by her. She was his role model. He was never given any love and
affection. He was never given any because of his birth, his looks, and
his lack of scent. People were just disturbed by him. Madame Gaillard
gave him away at once to Grimal, the tanner, after the parish stopped
paying for him. He was always taken care of as if he were some sort of
animal. In Grimal's care he slept on a hard, bare floor, locked in a
closet where tools were kept and raw, salted hides were hung.
Afterwords, he was kept as a useful house pet. Grenouille was never
taught that he was valuable. He was always mistreated and because of
this his psychotic tendencies were magnified.
All
of this leads to Gaillard's hatred of humanity. He retreats to the
farthest point so that he can escape the smell of humans. He lives alone
for seven years on the top of a volcano in the Massif Centrale. His
hatred is so deep that Grenouille tries to be the only person in his
fantasy world. He creates the ultimate scent which inspires love from
everyone, but he finds that he has no use for this love. It doesn't
fulfill him and since he has created the greatest scent, he becomes
ready to die. Nothing in the world other than smell held any attraction
to him. No human offers love to him nor he does he to any human. This is
his final rejection of humanity.
