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Post by SadOccasion on Sept 18, 2006 19:39:30 GMT -5
In The Bad Beginning, we are told that Olaf's house is decorated in eyes identical to the one tattooed onto his ankle.
We know know this eye is a logo of sorts for V.F.D. So was Olaf's house a former V.F.D. headquarters that he had let go to seed during his stay in it, or had Olaf merely adopted the eye as his won signature in a vain attempt to, in his own mind, convicne himself that the owrld of V.F.D. somehow revolved around him? (Indeed, in the book, it says that Olaf signs his letters with a picture of an eye rather than his name.)
Discuss.
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Post by s on Sept 18, 2006 20:14:23 GMT -5
Information found in The Bad Beginning regarding VFD is likely unreliable (and, really, nonexistent), seeing as how Handler only thought up the organization prior to his writing of Book the Fifth.
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Post by SadOccasion on Sept 21, 2006 14:13:57 GMT -5
True, but Handler used retroactive continuity to tie everything together, so I'm just trying to come up with a reasonable explenation for Olaf's use of the eye for the reader's benefit.
Did it mention anywhere that Olaf's house was made of green wood?
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Post by Dante on Sept 21, 2006 14:17:04 GMT -5
Not that I can recall, although equally, it may be enough that it doesn't say that it wasn't.
With retroactive continuity, I still feel it's best to be fairly sparing. The implication was that Olaf's house is linked to V.F.D.; maybe it was an old safe place, or meeting place (if there's a difference), or maybe all volunteer homes had that mark on the door. Most such buildings would have been destroyed, but Olaf's house hasn't been, probably by simple merit of the fact that it's occupied by a villain rather than a volunteer. Although he probably inherited it from his parents, who may well have been equally villainous. Equally, he could have stolen it through dubious legal means from its previous owners. (Either way, I imagine that the tower is his own addition, as it looks somewhat at odds with the rest of the architecture.) I suspect, though, that the eye insignia wasn't added to the door simply for the purposes of Olaf's own vanity, as that would, to my mind, defeat the point of adding the insignia genuinely to other such doors.
Edit: And I feel the best explanation for Olaf's love of eyes is simply that he just likes them. His decoration of the Carmelita in TGG was fairly outrageous. Perhaps he appreciates a more subversive explanation of the eye, that of a dark force (himself) that's always watching. Like he adopts the eye for himself for the same reason that the Baudelaires fear it for so many books.
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Post by RemainedOnShoals on Sept 30, 2006 7:53:38 GMT -5
I agree Dante things. Olaf take eye as symbol of "Everwhere Look". I can`t explanation it another thats way cause i haven`t big word stock.
I hope someone understand me.
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Post by SadOccasion on Oct 1, 2006 21:06:58 GMT -5
I agree Dante things. Olaf take eye as symbol of "Everwhere Look". I can`t explanation it another thats way cause i haven`t big word stock. I hope someone understand me. Uhm, I think you mean something alogn the lines of: "I agree with what Dante thinks. Olaf uses the eye as a symbol of him "Always Watching". I can't explain this in any better way because I haven't got a very large vocabulary. I hope someone understands me!" Don't worry, we understand j00.
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spencar
Bewildered Beginner
Posts: 5
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Post by spencar on Oct 1, 2006 21:43:36 GMT -5
does anyone know what vfd standsfor and was count olaf a member of vfd.
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Post by Dante on Oct 2, 2006 1:32:11 GMT -5
What V.F.D. stands for hasn't been conclusively revealed, but "Volunteer Fire Department" is the most common suggestion, and the implication within the books as well. Count Olaf was indeed a member of V.F.D.; he still bears its tattoo on his ankle.
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Post by RemainedOnShoals on Oct 3, 2006 12:09:45 GMT -5
oh thank`s SadOccasion. You nice.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 15, 2006 18:27:58 GMT -5
seeing as how Handler only thought up the organization prior to his writing of Book the Fifth. how do you know that
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Post by Dante on Oct 16, 2006 2:42:40 GMT -5
It's a fairly general consensus, given that V.F.D. was only introduced in Book the Fifth and there was absolutely no hint of the existence of anything of the kind earlier, and the way past things were later hooked into the V.F.D. plot often caused continuity errors or implausibilities, e.g. that couldn't have happened at that time, why didn't X recognise Y, etc.
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klaus12
Reptile Researcher
Posts: 40
Likes: 1
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Post by klaus12 on Oct 19, 2006 16:31:42 GMT -5
Actually, if you look at the illustration in TMM on page * rushes upstairs to retrieve copy* 45, the middle book has an eye on it. Of course, that is the ocular science book, but Dr Orwell used to be in VFD. Then she went on the villain side when the schism started, so maybe Lemony had an idea boiling in his head. Also, in TWW, doesnt Josephine have Ivan Lachrymose Lake Explorer? Doesn't that hold transcript for the rest of the meeting that was partially in TUA? BUT in TRR monty doesnt seem to know who olaf is, and monty was in VFD. So earliest in between TRR and TWW, and latest in between TMM and TAA.
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Post by queequegcaptain on Oct 30, 2006 19:29:28 GMT -5
I think that Olaf prided himself inbeing in VFD, whether or not it was on the "good" side or the "bad" side.
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Post by The Man With Hair But No Beard on Mar 20, 2007 22:21:46 GMT -5
In the LSUA meeting transcript, someone mentioned that they "long ago" stopped marking the outsides of their meeting places with the logo. It's very possible that the green wood was adopted as a less obvious substitute signal for volunteers that a building was a safe place. Olaf's home, therefore, may have once been as was suggested a former meeting place (yes, I use the terms interchangably). His famous "What else can I do?" line in TPP suggests that despite his impresarious bravado and obvious sociopathic tendencies, he wasn't entirely comfortable with his lot in life. His mysterious past with Kit, and the simple fact that he was a volunteer at one point, all indicate that he had a good side. Covering his home in eyes (we'll ignore that they don't look like the VFD eye for purposes of believing the retcon) may have been his way of coming to terms with his side in the schism. "VFD is all mine," he reasons, "and since it is inherently noble, all that I do is justifiable."
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Post by euro bateman on Dec 1, 2007 16:50:19 GMT -5
True, but Handler used retroactive continuity to tie everything together, so I'm just trying to come up with a reasonable explenation for Olaf's use of the eye for the reader's benefit. Did it mention anywhere that Olaf's house was made of green wood? His house was made of brick.
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