Ishmael/the apples

[ghostie]

is Ishmael and the islanders eating the apples at the end supposed to be like an allegory for the Jonestown mass suicide or that type of thing? like the poisoned apples are kool aid analogs

maybe I'm actually remembering the book wrong since I haven't read it in a couple years but this thought just occurred to me. I mean since I first read these books in elementary school some of the darker stuff might have gone over my head

but yes if that's a thing then wow! dark

[Dante]

I don't know much about the Jonestown mass suicide, but looking it up, I'd say it's not the most direct parallel; the Jonestown cultists died from knowingly ingesting poisoned drinks, while the islanders would have died by not eating apples which contained an antidote. It's almost an inversion on a practical level. On a thematic level, though, you're right that there's some similarity - a powerful personality, leader of a cult-like group with very strong beliefs and in a desperate situation, essentially dooming them to death rather than give up an inch of his power. I don't think it's a direct Jonestown reference, but it's in the same spirit.

[Emerald Snicket]

I've always thought that it was a Biblical allusion? You know, the island being the Garden of Eden and Ishmael being God, the islanders the animals, the Baudelaires Adam and Eve, and the tree in the arboretum the Tree of Knowledge and Good and Evil with the apples as forbidden fruit? Besides, a snake literally offers them an apple.

[Hermes]

Yes indeed. Just to confirm this, Sunny at one point says 'Gentreefive' (Genesis Three, Five).

[Dante]

I'm sure Sofia wasn't neglecting the broader Biblical metaphor, but there's a lot going on within and around that, and it's quite possible to have multiple resonances at once.

[ghostie]

Thanks Dante, always got my back
But yeah basically whenever something involves apples it's probably a biblical allusion. This is just an additional thing I thought of