Table of Contents:
1)
Q: Why was Mr. Snicket's death published in the newspaper?
A: Probably as a warning, or a signal, and he didn't really die; he might have done it himself. Or it might illustrate the unreliable sources of the newspaper industry, as we see in The Vile Village. His death, by the way, was published by the time Violet was born, for her parents were going to call her "Lemony" after their departed friend.
2)
Q: Why has Mr. Snicket dedicated his life to the Baudelaire case?
A: His devotion and love for Beatrice Baudelaire, or a promise he made to his niece Beatrice.
3)
Q: Why does Count Olaf have a tattoo of an eye on his ankle?
A: The organization of V.F.D. tattooed the ankles of all early volunteers, so even Lemony Snicket and Jacques Snicket have tattoos. Apparently Beatrice and Bertrand didn't have tattoos because their children never noticed them.
4)
Q: Where are the Quagmire triplets now?
A: What, still floating in the air with Hector, or whatever? Quigley, at least, is down to earth.
5)
Q: Who is Beatrice?
A: The mother of the Baudelaire children, but also Beatrice is the daughter of Kit Snicket.
6)
Q: What is V.F.D.?
A: Many things. Volunteer Fire Department, among others.
7)
Q: Why is there a secret passageway between the Baudelaire mansion and 667 Dark Avenue?
A: For the same reason there is a secret passageway from the Quagmire mansion to the Montgomery mansion -- an escape route, but it failed, obviously, for most.
8)
Q: Why isn't Mr. Poe as helpful as he ought to be?T
A: Lack of trust of young people -- it is his fatal flaw. Also, his sister, Eleanora Poe, works for The Daily Punctilio.
9)
Q: Why is Lemony Snicket on the run?
A: Probably the same reason the Baudelaires (and all members of V.F.D., really, even Yours Truly) are on the run. He has unearthed ugly truths that some would not like known.
10)
Q: How many associates does Count Olaf have?
A: At least 10. I heard once maybe as many as 40?
11)
Q: Are the Baudelaire parents really dead?
A: Unfortunately, yes, I believe so. But it is not as though people haven't been reported dead when they are really missing. It is hard to believe they did not make it to the passageway, but of course, Olaf is a master of treachery, and he could have made the Baudelaire mansion go up in flames within seconds. I am sure if the parents had lived, they would have found the Baudelaires at some point in the story, if only at the Hotel Denouement.
12)
Q: Is there anything a concerned citizen can do if he or she wants to help the Baudelaires?
A: Search and research. Keep your windows open at night and listen to the chirping of the crickets. Ask questions. Do not be satisfied with answers - be always inquiring. Find your specialty and become a master of your art.
13)
Q: Who is Lemony Snicket?
A: The Author of A Series of Unfortunate Events; LEMONY SNICKET: The Unauthorized Autobiography; and The Beatrice Letters, and the subject of my book, Lemony Snicket: The Truth Behind the Man.
--
Sources: The Unauthorized Autobiography, by Lemony Snicket
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The World is Quiet Here
Thursday, March 3, 2011
Theory of Relations
Since the Anwhistles are cousins of the Snickets, and Ike Anwhistle was related to Beatrice, then either Beatrice and Lemony Snicket are cousins, or Beatrice is related to Lemony only by marriage, as she'd be cousin (probably) to Ike Anwhistle through Mr. Anwhistle, who married D. Snicket.
BUT THEN, don't they name children after family members, like Violet was going to be called Lemony (dead family members, so Lemony was at that time believed to be dead). And Kit named her baby Beatrice. So Beatrice was related to the Snickets? Or was related by marriage enough?
BUT THEN, don't they name children after family members, like Violet was going to be called Lemony (dead family members, so Lemony was at that time believed to be dead). And Kit named her baby Beatrice. So Beatrice was related to the Snickets? Or was related by marriage enough?
Notes from The Austere Academy
In The Austere Academy, Lemony Snicket writes: "So as I hide out here in this mountain cabin and write the words 'hee hee hee,' and you, wherever you are hiding out, read the words, 'hee hee hee,' you should know that 'hee hee hee' stands for the words sound the Baudelaires had ever heard." (page 30)
In The Austere Academy, Lemony Snicket writes: "When Violet was ten and Klaus was eight, and Sunny was not even a fetus, the Baudelaire family went to a country fair in order to see a pig that their Uncle Elwyn had entered in a contest." This Uncle Elwyn could be the brother of Beatrice, or, more likely, the brother of Bertrand, or he could be a great-uncle, which would not be so interesting, but more likely, for why didn't he become a guardian of the children? (page 38-39)
When did the Quagmires move from the Orphan Shack to the dorms? Because a guardian had to sign papers - who is their guardian? See: " 'Duncan and I had to live here for three semesters because we needed a parent or guardian to sign our permission slips and we didn't have one.' " (page 48, The Austere Academy)
"If you have walked into a museum recently -- whether you did so to attend an art exhibition or to escape from the police . . ." (page 55, The Austere Academy)
"My friend Professor Reed made a triptych for me, and he painted a fire on one panel, a typewriter on another, and the face of a beautiful and intelligent woman on the third. The triptych is entitled What Happened to Beatrice, and I cannot look upon it without weeping." (page 55, The Austere Academy)
"Prufrock Preparatory School is now closed. It has been closed for many years, ever since Mrs. Bass was arrested for bank robbery. . ." (page 83, The Austere Academy)
Duncan: "We found a person matching his [Count Olaf's] description in the Bangkok Gazette, who was arrested for strangling a bishop but escaped from prison in just ten minutes." (page 157, The Austere Academy)
Duncan: And then in the Verona Daily News there was a man who had thrown a rich widow off of a cliff. He had a tattoo of an eye on his ankle, but he had eluded authorities. And then we found a newspaper from your [the Baudelaires'] hometown that said --" (page 158, The Austere Academy)
The above quotes of Duncan Quagmire could mean any V.F.D. member who could disguise themselves well and dodge capture. In the case of Count Olaf, he really committed the crimes, but if it was Mr. Snicket, he was falsely accused. That would be the only difference.)
"I once attended one of the famed masked balls hosted by the Duchess of Winnipeg, and it was one of the most exciting and dangerous evenings of my life. I was disguised as a bullfighter, and slipped into the party while being pursued by the palace guards, who were disguised as scorpions. The moment I entered the Grand Ballroom, I felt as if Lemony Snicket had disappeared. I was wearing clothes I had never worn before -- a scarlet cape made of silk, and a vest embroidered with gold thread and a skinny black mask -- and it made me feel as if I were a different person. And because I felt like a different person, I dared to approach woman I had been forbidden to approach for the rest of my life. She was alone on the veranda -- the word "veranda" is a fancy term for a porch made of polished gray marble -- and costumed as a dragonfly, with a glittering green mask and enormous silvery wings. As my pursuers scurried around the party, trying to guess which guest was me, I slipped out onto the veranda and gave her the message I'd been trying to give her for fifteen long and lonely years. "Beatrice," I cried, just as the scorpions spotted me, "Count Olaf is
I cannot go on. It makes me weep to think of that evening, and of the dark and desperate times that followed, and in the meantime . . ." (page 167-168 The Austere Academy)
". . . any more than a woman disguised as a dragonfly can actually take wing and escape the disaster awaiting her." (page 171 The Austere Academy)
In The Austere Academy, Lemony Snicket writes: "When Violet was ten and Klaus was eight, and Sunny was not even a fetus, the Baudelaire family went to a country fair in order to see a pig that their Uncle Elwyn had entered in a contest." This Uncle Elwyn could be the brother of Beatrice, or, more likely, the brother of Bertrand, or he could be a great-uncle, which would not be so interesting, but more likely, for why didn't he become a guardian of the children? (page 38-39)
When did the Quagmires move from the Orphan Shack to the dorms? Because a guardian had to sign papers - who is their guardian? See: " 'Duncan and I had to live here for three semesters because we needed a parent or guardian to sign our permission slips and we didn't have one.' " (page 48, The Austere Academy)
"If you have walked into a museum recently -- whether you did so to attend an art exhibition or to escape from the police . . ." (page 55, The Austere Academy)
"My friend Professor Reed made a triptych for me, and he painted a fire on one panel, a typewriter on another, and the face of a beautiful and intelligent woman on the third. The triptych is entitled What Happened to Beatrice, and I cannot look upon it without weeping." (page 55, The Austere Academy)
"Prufrock Preparatory School is now closed. It has been closed for many years, ever since Mrs. Bass was arrested for bank robbery. . ." (page 83, The Austere Academy)
Duncan: "We found a person matching his [Count Olaf's] description in the Bangkok Gazette, who was arrested for strangling a bishop but escaped from prison in just ten minutes." (page 157, The Austere Academy)
Duncan: And then in the Verona Daily News there was a man who had thrown a rich widow off of a cliff. He had a tattoo of an eye on his ankle, but he had eluded authorities. And then we found a newspaper from your [the Baudelaires'] hometown that said --" (page 158, The Austere Academy)
The above quotes of Duncan Quagmire could mean any V.F.D. member who could disguise themselves well and dodge capture. In the case of Count Olaf, he really committed the crimes, but if it was Mr. Snicket, he was falsely accused. That would be the only difference.)
"I once attended one of the famed masked balls hosted by the Duchess of Winnipeg, and it was one of the most exciting and dangerous evenings of my life. I was disguised as a bullfighter, and slipped into the party while being pursued by the palace guards, who were disguised as scorpions. The moment I entered the Grand Ballroom, I felt as if Lemony Snicket had disappeared. I was wearing clothes I had never worn before -- a scarlet cape made of silk, and a vest embroidered with gold thread and a skinny black mask -- and it made me feel as if I were a different person. And because I felt like a different person, I dared to approach woman I had been forbidden to approach for the rest of my life. She was alone on the veranda -- the word "veranda" is a fancy term for a porch made of polished gray marble -- and costumed as a dragonfly, with a glittering green mask and enormous silvery wings. As my pursuers scurried around the party, trying to guess which guest was me, I slipped out onto the veranda and gave her the message I'd been trying to give her for fifteen long and lonely years. "Beatrice," I cried, just as the scorpions spotted me, "Count Olaf is
I cannot go on. It makes me weep to think of that evening, and of the dark and desperate times that followed, and in the meantime . . ." (page 167-168 The Austere Academy)
". . . any more than a woman disguised as a dragonfly can actually take wing and escape the disaster awaiting her." (page 171 The Austere Academy)
Lemony Snicket Notes
He is in love with Beatrice, who married "another man," (Bertrand Baudelaire).
He has promised to chronicle the lives of the Baudelaire children. (Whom did he promise? My theory is his niece, Beatrice Baudelaire, who somehow was separated from the Baudelaires, and perhaps his books are an answer to her endless questions.)
The Snickets had a mansion, along with the Baudelaire and Quagmire mansions, made of green wood, possibly endeavoring to be fireproof, milled at Lucky Smells Lumber Mill. The same could go for the Montgomery mansion, the Anwhistle House, possibly 667 Dark Avenue...
In The Miserable Mill, Lemony Snicket mentions his friend, a sculptor named Tatiana, who had a sculpture called "Twisted, Cracked, and Hopelessly Broken."
Also in The Miserable Mill, Lemony Snicket mentions that he once spent the night on a desert island with his chauffeur, surrounded by man-eating crocodiles, and his chauffeur told him it would be "better in the morning." (It wasn't.)
--
The World is Quiet Here.
He has promised to chronicle the lives of the Baudelaire children. (Whom did he promise? My theory is his niece, Beatrice Baudelaire, who somehow was separated from the Baudelaires, and perhaps his books are an answer to her endless questions.)
The Snickets had a mansion, along with the Baudelaire and Quagmire mansions, made of green wood, possibly endeavoring to be fireproof, milled at Lucky Smells Lumber Mill. The same could go for the Montgomery mansion, the Anwhistle House, possibly 667 Dark Avenue...
In The Miserable Mill, Lemony Snicket mentions his friend, a sculptor named Tatiana, who had a sculpture called "Twisted, Cracked, and Hopelessly Broken."
Also in The Miserable Mill, Lemony Snicket mentions that he once spent the night on a desert island with his chauffeur, surrounded by man-eating crocodiles, and his chauffeur told him it would be "better in the morning." (It wasn't.)
--
The World is Quiet Here.
Baudelaire Notes 2
Notes from The Slippery Slope, by Lemony Snicket:
Page 1: "The Road Less Traveled," by a poet who is now dead, mentioned again on page 25 by Klaus.
A possibly significant sentence on page 27: "But wishing, like sipping a glass of punch, or pulling aside a bearskin rug in order to access a hidden trapdoor in the floor, is merely a quiet way to spend one's time before the candles are extinguished on one's birthday cake, ad the Baudelaires knew that it would be best to stop wishing and start their journey." Underlined is what I consider to be significant, and could reference an event in the life of Mr. Snicket.
Page 36: ". . . It is a dreadful question, and nearly everyone who has found themselves asking it has ended up wishing they'd never brought up the subject. My brother asked the question once, and had nightmares about it for weeks. An associate of mine asked the question and found himself falling through the air before he could hear the answer. It is a question I asked once, a very long time ago, and in a very timid voice, and a woman replied by quickly putting a motorcycle helmet on her head and wrapping her body in a red silk cape. . . ."
--
The World is Quiet Here.
Page 1: "The Road Less Traveled," by a poet who is now dead, mentioned again on page 25 by Klaus.
A possibly significant sentence on page 27: "But wishing, like sipping a glass of punch, or pulling aside a bearskin rug in order to access a hidden trapdoor in the floor, is merely a quiet way to spend one's time before the candles are extinguished on one's birthday cake, ad the Baudelaires knew that it would be best to stop wishing and start their journey." Underlined is what I consider to be significant, and could reference an event in the life of Mr. Snicket.
Page 36: ". . . It is a dreadful question, and nearly everyone who has found themselves asking it has ended up wishing they'd never brought up the subject. My brother asked the question once, and had nightmares about it for weeks. An associate of mine asked the question and found himself falling through the air before he could hear the answer. It is a question I asked once, a very long time ago, and in a very timid voice, and a woman replied by quickly putting a motorcycle helmet on her head and wrapping her body in a red silk cape. . . ."
--
The World is Quiet Here.
"13 Shocking Secrets You'll Wish You Never Knew About Lemony Snicket"
1. Lemony Snicket is not who you think he is.
2. Lemony Snicket is one of three siblings. (His other siblings are Kit Snicket and Jacques Snicket.)
3. Lemony Snicket's niece is an orphan. (Beatrice Baudelaire, daughter of Kit Snicket and Dewey Denouement, and adopted child of Violet, Klaus, and Sunny Baudelaire.)
4. Lemony Snicket is wanted for arson. (As, indeed, Count Olaf is. However, Count Olaf is guilty, whereas Mr. Snicket is innocent.)
5. Lemony Snicket grew up with a terrible villain. (Count Olaf, naturally, who was a neophyte of V.F.D. at the same time as Mr. Snicket and Beatrice, among others.)
6. Lemony Snicket attended boarding school. (One might think this meant Prufrock Preparatory School, which I suppose it might, if Prufrock had ever been inhabited by V.F.D. and been used to train neophytes.)
7. When he was a baby, Lemony Snicket was kidnapped by a secret organization. (V.F.D.)
8. Lemony Snicket was fired from The Daily Punctilio. (After his criticism of the actress Esme, performing a role that Beatrice was cast for originally. The editor-in-chief Eleanora Poe fired him.)
9. Lemony Snicket helped Beatrice commit a serious crime before her death. (I believe this was the crime involving poisoned darts, and the victims of this crime were the parents of Count Olaf. I believe Lemony Snicket and Beatrice, and possibly others, planned this murder, but their motive is less clear.)
10. Lemony Snicket was disguised as a bullfighter when he was captured. (He was at the ball of the Duchess of Winnipeg, and he was about to give Beatrice a message, when the palace guards, disguised as scorpions, caught him.)
11. Lemony Snicket's work is filled with secret messages meant for his associates. (You can say that again!)
11. Lemony Snicket's work is filled with secret messages meant for his associates.
12. Lemony Snicket has a tattoo of an eye on his ankle. (As does Jacques Snicket, and Count Olaf, and anyone who was recruited by V.F.D. in the old days when they tattooed ankles of members. That custom backfired after the Schism.)
13. He is Finished. (Hopefully not meaning he himself is finished, but only that his books are completed. Which must be a relief, however frightening it may be.)
The World is Quiet Here.
2. Lemony Snicket is one of three siblings. (His other siblings are Kit Snicket and Jacques Snicket.)
3. Lemony Snicket's niece is an orphan. (Beatrice Baudelaire, daughter of Kit Snicket and Dewey Denouement, and adopted child of Violet, Klaus, and Sunny Baudelaire.)
4. Lemony Snicket is wanted for arson. (As, indeed, Count Olaf is. However, Count Olaf is guilty, whereas Mr. Snicket is innocent.)
5. Lemony Snicket grew up with a terrible villain. (Count Olaf, naturally, who was a neophyte of V.F.D. at the same time as Mr. Snicket and Beatrice, among others.)
6. Lemony Snicket attended boarding school. (One might think this meant Prufrock Preparatory School, which I suppose it might, if Prufrock had ever been inhabited by V.F.D. and been used to train neophytes.)
7. When he was a baby, Lemony Snicket was kidnapped by a secret organization. (V.F.D.)
8. Lemony Snicket was fired from The Daily Punctilio. (After his criticism of the actress Esme, performing a role that Beatrice was cast for originally. The editor-in-chief Eleanora Poe fired him.)
9. Lemony Snicket helped Beatrice commit a serious crime before her death. (I believe this was the crime involving poisoned darts, and the victims of this crime were the parents of Count Olaf. I believe Lemony Snicket and Beatrice, and possibly others, planned this murder, but their motive is less clear.)
10. Lemony Snicket was disguised as a bullfighter when he was captured. (He was at the ball of the Duchess of Winnipeg, and he was about to give Beatrice a message, when the palace guards, disguised as scorpions, caught him.)
11. Lemony Snicket's work is filled with secret messages meant for his associates. (You can say that again!)
11. Lemony Snicket's work is filled with secret messages meant for his associates.
12. Lemony Snicket has a tattoo of an eye on his ankle. (As does Jacques Snicket, and Count Olaf, and anyone who was recruited by V.F.D. in the old days when they tattooed ankles of members. That custom backfired after the Schism.)
13. He is Finished. (Hopefully not meaning he himself is finished, but only that his books are completed. Which must be a relief, however frightening it may be.)
The World is Quiet Here.
Baudelaire Notes
Notes from Book the First, The Bad Beginning, by Lemony Snicket, which may or may not be useful:
Violet Baudelaire is right-handed (p.2)
Count Olaf is either a third cousin four times removed, or fourth cousin three times removed (p.15) -- (For a cousin chart, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cousin, as cousins removed can be quite confusing)
On the question of a time period, they had both horse-drawn carriages and motorcycles (p.18)
Doldrum Drive - a road in the city
Stuffed head of a lion in Count Olaf's house (p.23)
Violet Baudelaire is right-handed (p.2)
Count Olaf is either a third cousin four times removed, or fourth cousin three times removed (p.15) -- (For a cousin chart, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cousin, as cousins removed can be quite confusing)
On the question of a time period, they had both horse-drawn carriages and motorcycles (p.18)
Doldrum Drive - a road in the city
Stuffed head of a lion in Count Olaf's house (p.23)
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