The Symbolic Intersection of Desire and Cannibalism

Cannibalism and the innate desire for human connection are two seemingly polarising concepts in a literal sense. Our taboo perception of cannibalism stems from the psychological essentialism of human essence, which is ingrained in our contemporary culture. It is what roots our tendency to see personhood and identity within one another, and subsequently, in our flesh. This notion of human essence prevents us from viewing ourselves and anyone around us as food. 

Cannibalism is often split into two categories, cultural and pathological. But if we take a look at this from a figurative angle, couldn’t cannibalism be interpreted as the attempt to amalgamate oneself with another? Let’s take a look at two (of my favorite) pieces of media that focus on the interplay between cannibalism and the desire for love and belonging. 

“Perfume: The Story of a Murderer” by German author Patrick Süskind is a historical fantasy set in 18th-century France. Süskin’s classic has an intense and all-consuming sensory impressionistic writing style. It follows protagonist Jean-Baptiste Grenouille. He is an orphan with hyperosmia—a heightened sensitivity to smells. Grenouille devotes himself to this ability as compensation for his incapacity to love. He sets himself the ultimate goal of capturing the most exquisite essence possible, after having learned the ways of a perfumer. This essence, which he captures from a human, is where the novel takes a turn. 

The movie “Bones and All,” directed by Luca Guadagnino, is a romantic thriller set in the late 1980s in the vast countryside of Cincinnati, Ohio. The film centers on a pair of young cannibals, Lee and Maren, who fall in love while taking a road trip across the United States. They unravel their unresolved internal and family traumas along the way. 

For Guadanigno, cannibalism is the source of Lee and Maren’s struggle with identity and humanity. It’s a psychological disorder that seemingly denies them that. However, in Maren’s case, the end scene ends up ironically reflecting cannibalistic urge as an expression of love. When Lee is dying in her arms, she internalizes/eats him. 

The last page of “Perfume” concerns itself with Grenouille’s death at the hands of homeless people in a graveyard. This occurs after he douses himself in what he deemed to be the greatest smell he had the privilege to know: the smell of a girl who encapsulated the warmth of love and adoration. Wearing this scent, he became a desirable vision to those he encountered, from highly regarded images like God’s messenger and prince charming. Once drenched and saturated in this smell, the beggars were drawn to him like moths to a flame. They were magnetized by all that he exuded: love, something unfamiliar to them. They then began to eat him as if bewitched. 

“Perfume” displays the concept of cannibalism in an animalistic and pathological way. Though jarring, the ending suits the narrative of the novel. Grenouille’s journey of capturing the essence of a girl involved spreading animal fat onto the body and waiting for the bodily scent to saturate it. This overall theme of absorption could be deemed an assertion of power in order to obtain the ability to acquire love. In that sense, cannibalism here can be an act of power. 

“Bones and All” similarly conveys cannibalism in a pathological way. Throughout the film, it is characterised as an urge that needs to be met that mirrors addiction. Necessity never seems to be implied, which both pieces have in common. But cannibalism is much more central in “Bones and All,” as it is an obstacle to loving freely and embracing humanity. In contrast, “Perfume” depicts cannibalism as a momentary outcome for the drifters and Grenouille. It’s a decision they make in response to not being able to feel the love that comes with humanity. 

A further divergence in the two pieces is that the drifters in “Perfume” attempt to consume love in order to attempt to make themselves whole. Love is something that is not preexisting in their corporality as well as in Grenouille’s. In contrast, Maren and Lee strive for the coexistence of their humanity with a part of them that is deemed inherently inhumane. 

Nevertheless, the two media find convergence in another way. Grenouille’s final act of being consumed by the crowd is the culmination of his lifelong desire for acceptance. This is also the end notion in “Bones and All,” being loved and accepted. Maren accepts Lee in his last moments by consuming him as per his final request. The film thus displays the concept of cannibalism in this moment as a final expression of love. All three characters notably experienced childhood neglect and alienation from society, running up until the present. 

Cannibalism can be interpreted as an attempt to amalgamate oneself with another. Both pieces express a unity that occurs with this cannibalism. This is due to the desire to connect in some way, rather than it being a pure act of consumption that would result in the ‘erasure’ of what, or rather who, is consumed. There’s a gain in this sense that is in no way nutritional, but spiritual. 

Both Lee and Grenouille are quite literally absorbed by humanity in an attempt to feel what they have been denied their entire lives. However, “Perfume” looks at the attempt to absorb an essential aspect of what it means to be human, like an essential vitamin, something that the body cannot produce itself. Lee and Maren’s humanity is made clear from the start, even with the perverse intrusion of their struggle with cannibalism. So, in the end, Grenouille’s consumption was an attempt to feel accepted, and Lee actually got to feel that, not with his grotesque demise, but rather with the love he and Maren got to feel for one another. The ending solidifies that for him.