Post by Optimism is my Phil-osophy on Apr 10, 2019 5:54:53 GMT -5
You should remember that in THH the Baudelaires siblings found page 13 of the Sinicket File. Through this page, they came to believe that one of their parents was alive. But in TSS, Quigley states that Sinicket File probably talks about Quigley’s own survival. But Quigley was wrong.
First, let’s recall where the Sinicket File was stored in the Hospital Library:
THH, chapter 6:
"What will we do?“ Violet asked, … "Where else could the file be?”
“Let’s try to think,” Klaus said. "What did Hal say about the file? We know it has to do with Jacques Snicket, and with fire.“
"Prem!” Sunny said, which meant “But we looked under Snicket, Jacques, and Fire already.”
“There must be something else,” Violet said. “We have to find this file. It has crucial information about Jacques Snicket and V.F.D.”
“And about us,” Klaus said. “Don’t forget that.”
The three children looked at one another.
“Baudelaire!” Sunny whispered. Without another word, the orphans ran to the B aisle, … Klaus tried nine keys in a row before finally opening the cabinet, and there, between the Jewish coming-of-age ceremony for young women, and the delicious filling of certain doughnuts, the children found a folder marked “Baudelaire.” “It’s here,” Klaus said, taking it out of the drawer with trembling hands.
The Sinicket File had been stored in a folder reserved for Baudelaire affairs. This is evidence that Sinicket File was talking about the survival of one of the Baudelaire siblings’ parents.
The second evidence shows that Snicket File was not talking about Quigley’s survival.
What was on page 13?
THH chapter 6:
“There were four people in the photograph, standing together outside a building the Baudelaires recognized immediately. It was 667 Dark Avenue , where the orphans had lived with Jerome and Esmé Squalor for a brief time, until it became another place too treacherous for the children to stay. The first person in the photograph was Jacques Snicket, who was looking at the photographer and smiling. Standing next to Jacques was a man who was turned away from the camera, so the children could not see his face, only one of his hands, which was clutching a notebook and pen, as if the obscured man were a writer of some sort. … standing next to these two people were another two people the Baudelaire children thought they would never see again. Bundled up in long coats, looking cold but happy, were the Baudelaire parents. "Because of the evidence discussed on page nine,” read the sentence above the photograph, "experts now suspect that there may in fact be one survivor of the fire, but the survivor’s whereabouts are unknown.“
This page has a photo of 667 Dark Avenue. You must remember that there was a secret tunnel linking the Baudelaires’ house to 667 Dark Avenue. This is further evidence that File was talking about a fire that occurred at Beatrice’s house.
In addition, Count Olaf read all the other 12 pages of the file, according to TSS, chapter 6.
"As a reward,” the woman said, "I have a gift for you, Olaf.“ … "The Snicket file!” he said, in a hushed whisper. “It’s all here,” the woman said. “Every chart, every map and every photograph from the only file that could put us all in jail.”
It’s complete except for page thirteen, of course,“ the man said. "We understand that the Baudelaires managed to steal that page from Heimlich Hospital.”
This is the most wonderful gift in the world,“ he said. "I’m going to go read it right now.” “We’ll all read it together,” said the woman with hair but no beard. “It contains secrets we all ought to know.”..
“Let’s go into my tent and read the file.” He (Olaf) started to walk toward the tent but stopped and glared at his comrades, who were beginning to follow him. "The rest of you stay out here,“ he said. "There are secrets in this file that I do not want you to know.” The two sinister visitors began to laugh, and followed Count Olaf and Esmé into the tent closing the flap behind them.“
After Esmé and Olaf read page 9 of the file, which indicated the evidence of a survivor of a fire, they were surprised when they saw Quigley alive. That’s because page 9 did not talk about Quigley.
TSS chapter 13:
The two Baudelaires nodded at one another, and then turned to see that Quigley was nodding, too, and the three children reached up and took off their masks for the greater good. Count Olaf’s mouth dropped open in surprise. "You’re dead!” he said to the eldest Baudelaire, saying something that he knew full well was ridiculous. “You perished in the caravan, along with Klaus!” Esmé stared at Klaus, looking just as astonished as her boyfriend. “You’re dead, too!” she cried. “You fell off a mountain!” “And you’re one of those twins!” Olaf said to Quigley. "You died a long time ago!“
Count Olaf’s surprise about Quigley indicates that he did not read about him on page 9 of the file.
So we can conclude that page 9 of the dossier was about a fire in the Baudelaire’s’ house.
With that in mind, let’s review the text on page 13.
"Because of the evidence discussed on page nine, experts now suspect that there may in fact be one survivor of the fire, but the survivor’s whereabouts are unknown.”
There is a bitter truth in this text. In stating that it was possible to have a survivor, the file indicates that surely one of the Baudelaire siblings’ parents died in that fire. And there is only one thing that can lead to such certainty: the discovery of a single body. The body must have been so burned that it was impossible to determine whether it belonged to the father or mother of the Baudelaires. Therefore, the text on page 13 does not distinguish between gender. What happened on that day of the fire was not an accident. It was a murder. And Bertrand died that day.
How did Beatrice survive?
Apparently there were witnesses who saw Beatrice after the fire.
In TEE, is Baudelaire siblings walked through the tunnel linking 667 Dark Avennue to the land where their house was. There they were able to suspend a trapdoor and find a man.
Observe the passage from TEE chapter 11:
The siblings had been in darkness for so long that their eyes took a long time to get used to properly lit surroundings, and they stood for a moment, rubbing their eyes and trying to see exactly where the trapdoor had led them. But in the sudden brightness of the morning sun, the only thing the children could see was the chubby shadow of a man standing near them. “Excuse me,” Violet called, while her eyes were still adjusting. "We need to get to Veblen Hall. It’s an emergency. Could you tell me where it is?“ "Ju-just two blo-blocks that way,” the shadow stuttered, and the children gradually realized that it was a slightly overweight mailman, pointing down the street and looking at the children fearfully. "Please don’t hurt me,“ the mailman added, stepping away from the youngsters. "We’re not going to hurt you,” Klaus said, wiping ashes off his glasses. “Ghosts always say that,” the mailman said, "but then they hurt you anyway.“ "But we’re not ghosts,” Violet said. “Don’t tell me you’re not ghosts,” the mailman replied. "I saw you rise out of the ashes myself, as if you had come from the center of the earth. People have always said it’s haunted here on the empty lot where the Baudelaire mansion burned down, and now I know it’s true.“
Why did the neighbors of the Baudelaire mansion claim that the land was haunted? For me, the answer is: The neighbors saw Beatrice coming off the floor. They thought she was a ghost. But she was just a survivor of the fire.
Beatrice simply shielded herself from the fire inside the tunnel. Something similar had happened to Quigley. Quigley was put in the tunnel by his mother, and stayed there, being shielded from the flames by the tunnel itself. Quigley said he tried to return home after the fire, but there was something catching the trapdoor. Beatrice did not face this problem.
