Post by Optimism is my Phil-osophy on Mar 15, 2019 23:44:56 GMT -5
This is part 8 of the Strange Interpretation of Jean Lúcio from Brazil
To understand this thread, it is necessary to read my previous threads.
1 - asoue.proboards.com/thread/35828/lemony-snickets-narration-culturally-different
2 - asoue.proboards.com/thread/35834/lemony-dialogues-events
3 - asoue.proboards.com/thread/35835/little-chronology-theory
4 - asoue.proboards.com/thread/35843/daniel-handler-duplicates-events-confuse
5 - asoue.proboards.com/thread/35845/great-hiatus-theory-enigma
6 - asoue.proboards.com/thread/35847/letter-lemony-sent-real
7 - asoue.proboards.com/thread/35850/beatrice-alive-years-after-house
Today we are going to talk about my interpretation of the secret letter found in TSS. The letter is as follows:
"My dear sister, I am taking a great risk in hiding a letter to you inside one of my books, but I am certain that even the most melancholy and well-read people in the world have found my account of the lives of the three Baudelaire children even more wretched than I had promised, and this book will stay on the shelves of libraries, utterly ignored, waiting for you to open it and find this message. As an additional precaution, I placed a warning that the rest of this chapter contains a description of the Baudelaires' miserable journey up the Vertical Flame Diversion, so anyone who has the courage to read such a description is probably brave enough to read my letter to you I have at last learned the whereabouts of the evidence that will exonerate me, a phrase which here means "prove to the authorities that it is Count Olaf, and not me, who has started so many fires." Your suggestion, so many years ago at that picnic, that a tea set would be a handy place to hide anything important and small in the event of a dark day, has turned out to be correct. (Incidentally, your other picnic suggestion, that a simple combination of sliced mango, black beans, and chopped celery mixed with black pepper, lime juice, and olive oil would make a delicious chilled salad also turned out to be correct.) I am on my way now to the Valley of Four Drafts, in order to continue my research on the Baudelaire case. I hope also to retrieve the aforementioned evidence at last. It is too late to restore my happiness, of course, but at least I can clear my name. From the site of V.F.D. I will head straight for the Hotel Denouement. I should arrive by - well, it would not be wise to type the date, but it should be easy for you to remember Beatrice 's birthday. Meet me at the hotel. Try to get us a room without ugly curtains. With all due respect, Lemony Snicket P.S. If you substitute the chopped celery with hearts of palm, it is equally delicious. "
Because of this letter many fans believe that Daniel Handler made chronological mistakes in ASOUE. The reason they think so is evident: in this letter Lemony Snicket states that he will meet with his sister at the Denouement Hotel. Lemony said the hotel was fully operational. However, in TRR and TAA, Lemony implies that several years have passed between the major events reported in the books, and the publication of the books themselves. However, the main events reported in the books happen in full in a maximum of 2 years. (To confirm this, just remember which books Klaus and Violet celebrated their birthdays.) The first of these two years is recorded from chapter 1 of TBB to chapter 13 of TE. At the end of chapter 13, the death of Kit Snicket is recorded. At the end of TPP, there is a fire that destroyed the Hotel Denouement. So how could this letter, which was written at the time of the publication of the book TSS, be considered with the recipient about the hotel Denouement still in full operation? And how could this letter be destined to Lemony's sister, since she died in a maximum of one year after the fire at the Baudelaire mansion?
In order to try to justify this apparent contradiction, some fans created the following theory: Lemony wrote ASOUE during the main events recorded on them, hence Lemony sent these originals to Kit. From there Kit sent Lemony back, Lemony revised the books and then, many years later, books have been published in their current format. Dante explained this theory to me recently. I will call this theory "The theory of writing ASOUE books shortly after the main events and publication in the final format many years after these events".
Frankly speaking, I do not like this theory at all, and I do not believe it. I respect it, of course, as a possibility. But I do not agree with the theory. Nor do I agree with the statement that Daniel Handler made chronological errors. If you have accompanied all my Threads, you know that I created the theory of the Great Hiatus, which is very logical and coherent from my point of view. The theory of the Great Hiatus results in the assurance that many years have passed between the events recorded in the books TMM until TE, and the publication of these books in Lemony's universe.
On the other hand, "The theory of writing ASOUE books shortly after the main events and publication in the final format many years after these events" leaves several points loose. And I'm going to list some of the loose spots here.
1 - In writing this letter, Lemony does not know the location of his "sister".
There is only one reason to hide a letter in a book that will be published in various parts of the world. Lemony explains: "this book will stay on the shelves of libraries, utterly ignored, waiting for you to open it and find this message." If Lemony knew where her "sister" is, he could send her a message by letter, using some code. But instead, Lemony expected her "sister" wherever she was, to buy a copy of the book and then get the message.
2 - In the secret letter printed in TSS, Lemony demonstrates that it intends that the letter be printed in what would become the final version of the book TSS.
Note these excerpts: "this book will stay on the shelves of libraries,"
"I am certain that even the most melancholy and well-read people in the world have found my account of the lives of the three Baudelaire children even more wretched than I had promised"
These excerpts show that Lemony was convinced that this book would be sent to various parts of the world. If he really did draft the book early, this letter was not sent in advance draft, but the letter was sent in the final version, where readers around the world would have access to that letter. Thus, the letter could only be referring to relevant events many years after the major events recorded in the book. So this letter does not help prove that Lemony wrote the books, sent them to Kit, and these were returned to him by Kit and then revised by Lemony to be published in the final version years later.
I am not saying that I do not believe that Lemony began to write what would one day become ASOUE a few months after the main events recorded in TBB. Or even some time before the events recorded in TBB. According to The UA pag. 177 and 178, before the Heimlich Hospital was destroyed, Lemony was already trying to write what would one day become the introduction of TBB. However, his plan was to write a story about his own life, the plan was not to write about Beatrice's children.
"" The writing theory of ASOUE books shortly after the main events and publication in the final format many years after these events "does not explain how Lemony knew the content of the particular dialogues of the Baudelaire siblings.
This theory depends on another theory that does not make sense to me either. I found out about this theory by reading some posts here. The theory says that Lemony was following the Baudelaire siblings, and listening to what they were talking about, which is why Lemony knows the contents of the dialogues. But that does not make sense.
Some places where the Baudelaire siblings only talked to each other were completely isolated, such as an elevator shaft, a caravan about to fall off a cliff, a trunk of a car, a jail cell or a submarine at the bottom of the ocean. Also, in TBB the rare edition, Lemony says that access to Count Olaf's house was hindered, so Lemony did not enter Olaf's house to be able to write TBB. Thus the dialogues that took place inside Olaf's house, as recorded in TBB, could not be heard by Lemony if he were following the Baudelaires siblings.
"" The writing theory of ASOUE books shortly after the main events and publication in the final format many years after these events "does not explain how Lemony knew the content of the particular dialogues of the Baudelaire siblings.
This theory depends on another theory that does not make sense to me either. I found out about this theory by reading some posts here. The theory says that Lemony was following the Baudelaire siblings, and listening to what they were talking about, which is why Lemony knows the contents of the dialogues. But that does not make sense.
Some places where the Baudelaire siblings only talked to each other were completely isolated, such as an elevator shaft, a caravan about to fall off a cliff, a trunk of a car, a jail cell or a submarine at the bottom of the ocean. Also, in TBB the rare edition, Lemony says that access to Count Olaf's house was hindered, so Lemony did not enter Olaf's house to be able to write TBB. Thus the dialogues that took place inside Olaf's house, as recorded in TBB, could not be heard by Lemony if he were following the Baudelaires siblings.
Another theory states that Lemony invented most of the dialogues. This theory I heard in my own country, which in case you do not know, is Brazil. The people who created this theory agree with me in stating that Lemony is an unreliable narrator. But I disagree that Lemony invented the dialogues because he assured himself in TUA that he would make an accurate record of what happened to the Baudelaire siblings.
(Personal note: It is interesting that these people believe that Lemony may have invented part of the main story, but they severely criticized me for believing that Lemony lied about Beatrice's death. They called me crazy several times.
I do not force anyone to agree with me, but my theory is well grounded and deserves respect as any other well-founded theory. Notice the difference how Dante and Foxy treat me, they do not agree with me (not yet, at least), but respect me and my theory, even though I am from another country! I promised myself that one day ASOUE fans from around the world would hear about my theory, and I thank Dante very much for giving me this opportunity and helping me achieve that dream, and for you for reading that theory.)
The more I think about it, the more I'm sure that Lemony read the book on the island, where the Baudelaire siblings recorded their dialogues, and the events they lived through. But for this to be so, Lemony must have written and published all the books of ASOUE after the Baudelaires siblings had left the island. If you accept this as fact, you will allow yourself to think of other possibilities to explain the secret letter in TSS. That's what I did. And I found the following possibilities.
1 - The true recipient of the letter is not Kit. Because Kit was already dead when the letter was written.
2 - Lemony can call other sister people besides Kit.
See the dictionary definition:
www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sister
Sister: a girl or woman regarded as a comrade.
A similar definition was used in THH chapter 3:
"I'm confused," Klaus said. "I always thought that brothers and sisters are people who share the same parents." "Not always, brother," the bearded man said. "Sometimes brothers and sisters are just people who are united for a common cause."
3 - Hotel Denouement was rebuilt during the many years that have passed since the first destruction of the Denouement hotel until the publication of the book TSS. And between the publication of TGG and TPP the Hotel Denouement was destroyed again.
If you have understood the Great Hiatus Theory, you must have noticed something important about how the ASOUE books were published in Lemony's universe. The natural consequence of the Great Hiatus theory is the need to accept that most of the ASOUE books were not published in a short time between one book and another in Lemony's universe.
ASOUE contains two stories that do not happen simultaneously. When Lemony Snicket narrated the main story, he told events of the past. But when Lemony recounted the events of his own life during the publication years of the books, including how his research was conducted, Lemony was talking about events that occurred over many, many years.
According to Lemony, he devoted most of his life to the investigation of what happened to the Baudelaires.
Note the excerpt below TSS 10 Chapter 13:
"Even for an author like myself, who has devoted his entire life to investigating the mysteries that surround the Baudelaire case, there is still much I have been unable to discover."
Lemony spent several months of his life only to discover or confirm some details of the history of the Baudelaires.
In THH Chapter 4, Lemony states that he spent more than 9 months just to be reasonably certain that Hal was not a spy. In TSS Chapter 13, Lemony states that he investigated the whereabouts of the two white-faced women. He even searched for bones and took these bones to a specialist several times. Imagine how long it took Lemony to carry out the verifications of every detail of what is recorded in the main story of ASOUE! It is interesting that Lemony to write TSS spent a lot of time looking for the caravan where Violet and Klaus were and did not find the caravan.
The world in which Lemony is publishing his books undergoes great changes over time. So, all this leads me to believe that the Hotel Denouement was rebuilt over the period of many, many years that Lemony took by writing and publishing each of the books of ASOUE. Accepting this helps to understand that the letter is talking about another quest for another sugar blow at the Denouement hotel.
However, between the day Lemony published TSS and the day he published TPP, the Hotel Denouement was destroyed again. Remember, "Daniel Handler doubles events to confuse you." The evidence that I have that the hotel has been rebuilt is as follows: Lemony states that he wrote ASOUE many years after the events in ASOUE, including the destruction of the Hotel Denouement. Still, when Lemony published TSS, he wrote a letter to a woman reserving a room at the Hotel Denouement, the only way to make sense of it, is to accept that the hotel has been rebuilt. There is other evidence:
You should remember the secret signal to tell one of the hotel managers that a VFD member is on the outside calling for him. Kit explained:
TPP chapter 3:
"Frank should be watching from one of the windows of the hotel, unless of course Ernest has intercepted my message and is watching instead. In any case, when you're ready to meet him, you can throw the rock into the pond, and he'll see the ripples and know you're on your way. "
Now notice what Lemony says:
"... even after months of research, and many sleepless nights, and many dreary afternoons spent in front of an enormous pond, throwing stones in the hopes that someone would notice the ripples I was making, I have no way of knowing if the Baudelaires should have been sad or relieved to see him go either. "
Lemony was at the hotel doing his research on the Baudelaire case. In the letter, he said he would go to the hotel and actually went there. When Lemony went there, he picked up some papers from some notepad at the reconstructed hotel desk. Lemony used these papers to write letters to his editor, which are printed at the end of TGG.
However, probably while writing TPP, the Hotel Denouement was again destroyed. Notice what Lemony said:
TPP Chapter 11:
"If you were to put this book down, and travel to the pond that now reflects nothing but a few burnt scraps of wood and the empty skies, and if you were to find the hidden passageway that leads to the underwater catalog that you have remained secret and safe for all these years, you could read an account of an interpretation of sausages that went horribly wrong. "
It is interesting that Lemony again makes a point of emphasizing that years have passed since the events narrated, and the moment in which he is writing history. Daniel Handler made that clear from TRR to TPP. At no point was there a change of plans in this regard. And by the time Lemony wrote Chapter 11 of TPP, the hotel was again destroyed. But the Secret Library was intact.
So briefly. From my point of view the best way to interpret the letter is as follows:
1 - Lemony is writing to someone else, not to Kit.
2 - The hotel Denouement has been rebuilt.
3 - Lemony arranged a meeting with the recipient of the letter, in the hotel where he would find the proof that would clear his name.
This proof is probably inside another sugar bowl. It's not the same sugar bowl Olaf had been looking for years before.
Who could be the other person to whom Lemony wrote this letter? Speaking frankly, all the evidence points to Beatrice. As explained in the last Thread, Beatrice remained alive for many years after the fire of her house. According to TSS chapter 6, Sunny recalled that her mother could prepare a salad exactly with the same ingredients as the recipient of the letter. Lemony states that the recipient of the letter could remember Beatrice's birthday. And Lemony asked the recipient of the letter to book a single room for himself and her. All this points to Beatrice as the recipient of the letter. But now think of a few more details: Lemony made a point of pointing out that Beatrice should arrive at the Denouement hotel before him. Lemony was probably throwing rocks at Pond to get Beatrice's attention. But he could not get her attention. Soon after, the hotel was burned down. Lemony had said that the evidence that would clear his name was in the hotel. But apparently the proof was from the secret library. The wrong question is, "Did someone who read that letter try to destroy the hotel again to destroy the evidence that would clear Lemony's name?" However, Count Olaf was already dead by then. So the other wrong question is: "Did the proof inside that sugar bowl indicate that someone else had started the fire at the Baudelaire mansion? Was this person doing everything for Lemony not to find out the truth? "I will talk about these my hypotheses in a future text.
But we have come to an important part of our research. There is strong evidence that Beatrice survived the fire at her house. There is strong evidence that Beatrice is the true recipient of the secret letter in TSS. But in addition, there is strong evidence that Lemony, in calling her sister Beatrice, was collaborating to conceal Beatrice's identity. There is evidence that Beatrice was pretending to be Kit, many years after Kit's death. Remember that Kit died on a deserted island where few witnesses witnessed her death. Few people in the world knew Kit was dead. So Beatrice took advantage of this to pretend to be Kit. Miss K's account of Prufrock Pre is evidence of this, as I have already explained. But in addition, in TGG, Lemony told a purposeful lie.
Lemony wrote in TGG chapter 10:
"As the hook-handed man circled the brig, it was as if the baudelaires were picking through the chef's salad, mostly of dreadful - and perhaps even poisonous - ingredients, trying desperately to find the one noble crouton that might save their sister, just I am, among the paragraphs, am picking through this salad in front of me, hoping that my waiter is more noble than wicked, and that my sister, Kit, might be saved by the small, herbed piece of toast I hope to retrieve from my bowl. "
Lemony states that Kit is alive and could be saved by him. Lemony is lying because Kit was dead long ago. He's protecting Beatrice's secret identity.
It is very important to understand this part of my theory. The sugar bowl that Lemony said he was picking up at the hotel while he was writing TSS is not the same thing Olaf had been looking for many years before. Do not forget: "Daniel Handler duplicates events to confuse you." In the next Thread we will answer the question: "What was in the sugar bowl that belonged to Esmé, according to the Strange Theory of Jean Lúcio from Brazil?" and "What has to be that Beatrice survived the fire with the contents of the sugar bowl? "
Please, comment!
To understand this thread, it is necessary to read my previous threads.
1 - asoue.proboards.com/thread/35828/lemony-snickets-narration-culturally-different
2 - asoue.proboards.com/thread/35834/lemony-dialogues-events
3 - asoue.proboards.com/thread/35835/little-chronology-theory
4 - asoue.proboards.com/thread/35843/daniel-handler-duplicates-events-confuse
5 - asoue.proboards.com/thread/35845/great-hiatus-theory-enigma
6 - asoue.proboards.com/thread/35847/letter-lemony-sent-real
7 - asoue.proboards.com/thread/35850/beatrice-alive-years-after-house
Today we are going to talk about my interpretation of the secret letter found in TSS. The letter is as follows:
"My dear sister, I am taking a great risk in hiding a letter to you inside one of my books, but I am certain that even the most melancholy and well-read people in the world have found my account of the lives of the three Baudelaire children even more wretched than I had promised, and this book will stay on the shelves of libraries, utterly ignored, waiting for you to open it and find this message. As an additional precaution, I placed a warning that the rest of this chapter contains a description of the Baudelaires' miserable journey up the Vertical Flame Diversion, so anyone who has the courage to read such a description is probably brave enough to read my letter to you I have at last learned the whereabouts of the evidence that will exonerate me, a phrase which here means "prove to the authorities that it is Count Olaf, and not me, who has started so many fires." Your suggestion, so many years ago at that picnic, that a tea set would be a handy place to hide anything important and small in the event of a dark day, has turned out to be correct. (Incidentally, your other picnic suggestion, that a simple combination of sliced mango, black beans, and chopped celery mixed with black pepper, lime juice, and olive oil would make a delicious chilled salad also turned out to be correct.) I am on my way now to the Valley of Four Drafts, in order to continue my research on the Baudelaire case. I hope also to retrieve the aforementioned evidence at last. It is too late to restore my happiness, of course, but at least I can clear my name. From the site of V.F.D. I will head straight for the Hotel Denouement. I should arrive by - well, it would not be wise to type the date, but it should be easy for you to remember Beatrice 's birthday. Meet me at the hotel. Try to get us a room without ugly curtains. With all due respect, Lemony Snicket P.S. If you substitute the chopped celery with hearts of palm, it is equally delicious. "
Because of this letter many fans believe that Daniel Handler made chronological mistakes in ASOUE. The reason they think so is evident: in this letter Lemony Snicket states that he will meet with his sister at the Denouement Hotel. Lemony said the hotel was fully operational. However, in TRR and TAA, Lemony implies that several years have passed between the major events reported in the books, and the publication of the books themselves. However, the main events reported in the books happen in full in a maximum of 2 years. (To confirm this, just remember which books Klaus and Violet celebrated their birthdays.) The first of these two years is recorded from chapter 1 of TBB to chapter 13 of TE. At the end of chapter 13, the death of Kit Snicket is recorded. At the end of TPP, there is a fire that destroyed the Hotel Denouement. So how could this letter, which was written at the time of the publication of the book TSS, be considered with the recipient about the hotel Denouement still in full operation? And how could this letter be destined to Lemony's sister, since she died in a maximum of one year after the fire at the Baudelaire mansion?
In order to try to justify this apparent contradiction, some fans created the following theory: Lemony wrote ASOUE during the main events recorded on them, hence Lemony sent these originals to Kit. From there Kit sent Lemony back, Lemony revised the books and then, many years later, books have been published in their current format. Dante explained this theory to me recently. I will call this theory "The theory of writing ASOUE books shortly after the main events and publication in the final format many years after these events".
Frankly speaking, I do not like this theory at all, and I do not believe it. I respect it, of course, as a possibility. But I do not agree with the theory. Nor do I agree with the statement that Daniel Handler made chronological errors. If you have accompanied all my Threads, you know that I created the theory of the Great Hiatus, which is very logical and coherent from my point of view. The theory of the Great Hiatus results in the assurance that many years have passed between the events recorded in the books TMM until TE, and the publication of these books in Lemony's universe.
On the other hand, "The theory of writing ASOUE books shortly after the main events and publication in the final format many years after these events" leaves several points loose. And I'm going to list some of the loose spots here.
1 - In writing this letter, Lemony does not know the location of his "sister".
There is only one reason to hide a letter in a book that will be published in various parts of the world. Lemony explains: "this book will stay on the shelves of libraries, utterly ignored, waiting for you to open it and find this message." If Lemony knew where her "sister" is, he could send her a message by letter, using some code. But instead, Lemony expected her "sister" wherever she was, to buy a copy of the book and then get the message.
2 - In the secret letter printed in TSS, Lemony demonstrates that it intends that the letter be printed in what would become the final version of the book TSS.
Note these excerpts: "this book will stay on the shelves of libraries,"
"I am certain that even the most melancholy and well-read people in the world have found my account of the lives of the three Baudelaire children even more wretched than I had promised"
These excerpts show that Lemony was convinced that this book would be sent to various parts of the world. If he really did draft the book early, this letter was not sent in advance draft, but the letter was sent in the final version, where readers around the world would have access to that letter. Thus, the letter could only be referring to relevant events many years after the major events recorded in the book. So this letter does not help prove that Lemony wrote the books, sent them to Kit, and these were returned to him by Kit and then revised by Lemony to be published in the final version years later.
I am not saying that I do not believe that Lemony began to write what would one day become ASOUE a few months after the main events recorded in TBB. Or even some time before the events recorded in TBB. According to The UA pag. 177 and 178, before the Heimlich Hospital was destroyed, Lemony was already trying to write what would one day become the introduction of TBB. However, his plan was to write a story about his own life, the plan was not to write about Beatrice's children.
"" The writing theory of ASOUE books shortly after the main events and publication in the final format many years after these events "does not explain how Lemony knew the content of the particular dialogues of the Baudelaire siblings.
This theory depends on another theory that does not make sense to me either. I found out about this theory by reading some posts here. The theory says that Lemony was following the Baudelaire siblings, and listening to what they were talking about, which is why Lemony knows the contents of the dialogues. But that does not make sense.
Some places where the Baudelaire siblings only talked to each other were completely isolated, such as an elevator shaft, a caravan about to fall off a cliff, a trunk of a car, a jail cell or a submarine at the bottom of the ocean. Also, in TBB the rare edition, Lemony says that access to Count Olaf's house was hindered, so Lemony did not enter Olaf's house to be able to write TBB. Thus the dialogues that took place inside Olaf's house, as recorded in TBB, could not be heard by Lemony if he were following the Baudelaires siblings.
"" The writing theory of ASOUE books shortly after the main events and publication in the final format many years after these events "does not explain how Lemony knew the content of the particular dialogues of the Baudelaire siblings.
This theory depends on another theory that does not make sense to me either. I found out about this theory by reading some posts here. The theory says that Lemony was following the Baudelaire siblings, and listening to what they were talking about, which is why Lemony knows the contents of the dialogues. But that does not make sense.
Some places where the Baudelaire siblings only talked to each other were completely isolated, such as an elevator shaft, a caravan about to fall off a cliff, a trunk of a car, a jail cell or a submarine at the bottom of the ocean. Also, in TBB the rare edition, Lemony says that access to Count Olaf's house was hindered, so Lemony did not enter Olaf's house to be able to write TBB. Thus the dialogues that took place inside Olaf's house, as recorded in TBB, could not be heard by Lemony if he were following the Baudelaires siblings.
Another theory states that Lemony invented most of the dialogues. This theory I heard in my own country, which in case you do not know, is Brazil. The people who created this theory agree with me in stating that Lemony is an unreliable narrator. But I disagree that Lemony invented the dialogues because he assured himself in TUA that he would make an accurate record of what happened to the Baudelaire siblings.
(Personal note: It is interesting that these people believe that Lemony may have invented part of the main story, but they severely criticized me for believing that Lemony lied about Beatrice's death. They called me crazy several times.
I do not force anyone to agree with me, but my theory is well grounded and deserves respect as any other well-founded theory. Notice the difference how Dante and Foxy treat me, they do not agree with me (not yet, at least), but respect me and my theory, even though I am from another country! I promised myself that one day ASOUE fans from around the world would hear about my theory, and I thank Dante very much for giving me this opportunity and helping me achieve that dream, and for you for reading that theory.)
The more I think about it, the more I'm sure that Lemony read the book on the island, where the Baudelaire siblings recorded their dialogues, and the events they lived through. But for this to be so, Lemony must have written and published all the books of ASOUE after the Baudelaires siblings had left the island. If you accept this as fact, you will allow yourself to think of other possibilities to explain the secret letter in TSS. That's what I did. And I found the following possibilities.
1 - The true recipient of the letter is not Kit. Because Kit was already dead when the letter was written.
2 - Lemony can call other sister people besides Kit.
See the dictionary definition:
www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sister
Sister: a girl or woman regarded as a comrade.
A similar definition was used in THH chapter 3:
"I'm confused," Klaus said. "I always thought that brothers and sisters are people who share the same parents." "Not always, brother," the bearded man said. "Sometimes brothers and sisters are just people who are united for a common cause."
3 - Hotel Denouement was rebuilt during the many years that have passed since the first destruction of the Denouement hotel until the publication of the book TSS. And between the publication of TGG and TPP the Hotel Denouement was destroyed again.
If you have understood the Great Hiatus Theory, you must have noticed something important about how the ASOUE books were published in Lemony's universe. The natural consequence of the Great Hiatus theory is the need to accept that most of the ASOUE books were not published in a short time between one book and another in Lemony's universe.
ASOUE contains two stories that do not happen simultaneously. When Lemony Snicket narrated the main story, he told events of the past. But when Lemony recounted the events of his own life during the publication years of the books, including how his research was conducted, Lemony was talking about events that occurred over many, many years.
According to Lemony, he devoted most of his life to the investigation of what happened to the Baudelaires.
Note the excerpt below TSS 10 Chapter 13:
"Even for an author like myself, who has devoted his entire life to investigating the mysteries that surround the Baudelaire case, there is still much I have been unable to discover."
Lemony spent several months of his life only to discover or confirm some details of the history of the Baudelaires.
In THH Chapter 4, Lemony states that he spent more than 9 months just to be reasonably certain that Hal was not a spy. In TSS Chapter 13, Lemony states that he investigated the whereabouts of the two white-faced women. He even searched for bones and took these bones to a specialist several times. Imagine how long it took Lemony to carry out the verifications of every detail of what is recorded in the main story of ASOUE! It is interesting that Lemony to write TSS spent a lot of time looking for the caravan where Violet and Klaus were and did not find the caravan.
The world in which Lemony is publishing his books undergoes great changes over time. So, all this leads me to believe that the Hotel Denouement was rebuilt over the period of many, many years that Lemony took by writing and publishing each of the books of ASOUE. Accepting this helps to understand that the letter is talking about another quest for another sugar blow at the Denouement hotel.
However, between the day Lemony published TSS and the day he published TPP, the Hotel Denouement was destroyed again. Remember, "Daniel Handler doubles events to confuse you." The evidence that I have that the hotel has been rebuilt is as follows: Lemony states that he wrote ASOUE many years after the events in ASOUE, including the destruction of the Hotel Denouement. Still, when Lemony published TSS, he wrote a letter to a woman reserving a room at the Hotel Denouement, the only way to make sense of it, is to accept that the hotel has been rebuilt. There is other evidence:
You should remember the secret signal to tell one of the hotel managers that a VFD member is on the outside calling for him. Kit explained:
TPP chapter 3:
"Frank should be watching from one of the windows of the hotel, unless of course Ernest has intercepted my message and is watching instead. In any case, when you're ready to meet him, you can throw the rock into the pond, and he'll see the ripples and know you're on your way. "
Now notice what Lemony says:
"... even after months of research, and many sleepless nights, and many dreary afternoons spent in front of an enormous pond, throwing stones in the hopes that someone would notice the ripples I was making, I have no way of knowing if the Baudelaires should have been sad or relieved to see him go either. "
Lemony was at the hotel doing his research on the Baudelaire case. In the letter, he said he would go to the hotel and actually went there. When Lemony went there, he picked up some papers from some notepad at the reconstructed hotel desk. Lemony used these papers to write letters to his editor, which are printed at the end of TGG.
However, probably while writing TPP, the Hotel Denouement was again destroyed. Notice what Lemony said:
TPP Chapter 11:
"If you were to put this book down, and travel to the pond that now reflects nothing but a few burnt scraps of wood and the empty skies, and if you were to find the hidden passageway that leads to the underwater catalog that you have remained secret and safe for all these years, you could read an account of an interpretation of sausages that went horribly wrong. "
It is interesting that Lemony again makes a point of emphasizing that years have passed since the events narrated, and the moment in which he is writing history. Daniel Handler made that clear from TRR to TPP. At no point was there a change of plans in this regard. And by the time Lemony wrote Chapter 11 of TPP, the hotel was again destroyed. But the Secret Library was intact.
So briefly. From my point of view the best way to interpret the letter is as follows:
1 - Lemony is writing to someone else, not to Kit.
2 - The hotel Denouement has been rebuilt.
3 - Lemony arranged a meeting with the recipient of the letter, in the hotel where he would find the proof that would clear his name.
This proof is probably inside another sugar bowl. It's not the same sugar bowl Olaf had been looking for years before.
Who could be the other person to whom Lemony wrote this letter? Speaking frankly, all the evidence points to Beatrice. As explained in the last Thread, Beatrice remained alive for many years after the fire of her house. According to TSS chapter 6, Sunny recalled that her mother could prepare a salad exactly with the same ingredients as the recipient of the letter. Lemony states that the recipient of the letter could remember Beatrice's birthday. And Lemony asked the recipient of the letter to book a single room for himself and her. All this points to Beatrice as the recipient of the letter. But now think of a few more details: Lemony made a point of pointing out that Beatrice should arrive at the Denouement hotel before him. Lemony was probably throwing rocks at Pond to get Beatrice's attention. But he could not get her attention. Soon after, the hotel was burned down. Lemony had said that the evidence that would clear his name was in the hotel. But apparently the proof was from the secret library. The wrong question is, "Did someone who read that letter try to destroy the hotel again to destroy the evidence that would clear Lemony's name?" However, Count Olaf was already dead by then. So the other wrong question is: "Did the proof inside that sugar bowl indicate that someone else had started the fire at the Baudelaire mansion? Was this person doing everything for Lemony not to find out the truth? "I will talk about these my hypotheses in a future text.
But we have come to an important part of our research. There is strong evidence that Beatrice survived the fire at her house. There is strong evidence that Beatrice is the true recipient of the secret letter in TSS. But in addition, there is strong evidence that Lemony, in calling her sister Beatrice, was collaborating to conceal Beatrice's identity. There is evidence that Beatrice was pretending to be Kit, many years after Kit's death. Remember that Kit died on a deserted island where few witnesses witnessed her death. Few people in the world knew Kit was dead. So Beatrice took advantage of this to pretend to be Kit. Miss K's account of Prufrock Pre is evidence of this, as I have already explained. But in addition, in TGG, Lemony told a purposeful lie.
Lemony wrote in TGG chapter 10:
"As the hook-handed man circled the brig, it was as if the baudelaires were picking through the chef's salad, mostly of dreadful - and perhaps even poisonous - ingredients, trying desperately to find the one noble crouton that might save their sister, just I am, among the paragraphs, am picking through this salad in front of me, hoping that my waiter is more noble than wicked, and that my sister, Kit, might be saved by the small, herbed piece of toast I hope to retrieve from my bowl. "
Lemony states that Kit is alive and could be saved by him. Lemony is lying because Kit was dead long ago. He's protecting Beatrice's secret identity.
It is very important to understand this part of my theory. The sugar bowl that Lemony said he was picking up at the hotel while he was writing TSS is not the same thing Olaf had been looking for many years before. Do not forget: "Daniel Handler duplicates events to confuse you." In the next Thread we will answer the question: "What was in the sugar bowl that belonged to Esmé, according to the Strange Theory of Jean Lúcio from Brazil?" and "What has to be that Beatrice survived the fire with the contents of the sugar bowl? "
Please, comment!
