Esme "sixth most important"

[M David Steel]

So Esme proudly declares herself as the citys sixth most important financial advisor. Does she simply think it's a great achievement because she is just that dim, as there are five other people in that profession who are considered more important or better at that. Are we even supposed to think about who any of the other five could be, or is it just to indicate that she can't be taken seriously. I also think that prior to her life in crime, she told people the same thing and got tired of being turned down by clients who decided to get in touch with one of the other five, believing they would be of more help than her.

[Dante]

Maybe there are lots and lots of financial advisors in the city, though, and being sixth-most important is actually a pretty significant position near the top of the ladder. Alternatively, Esmé is simply very vain. Well, both of those things can be true... I certainly wouldn't worry about the other five, though.

[gliquey]

I think it's supposed to be a vainglorious boast amusing to the reader, because it sounds quite unimpressive and oddly specific. However, Esme is incredibly rich, as evidenced by her comically large apartment, so unless she (or possibly Jerome) inherited all that wealth (which is possible), her job must pay very well.

[Charlie]

It's Jerome's fortune right? And presumably she embezzles most of her income

[lorelai]

Yes, it's Jerome's fortune which secured the apartment, which is why Esmé wanted to marry him.

[justsylvia]

Here's a thought that just came to mind: what if Esme was the Baudelaire parents' financial advisor and she was the one who advised them to write their will the way they did so their children would have no way of buying themselves out of their situation with Olaf? Though Olaf seems to be terribly upset about this stipulation, so if that was the case then either Esme did it without Olaf's knowledge and/or approval, or else Esme made the recommendation before she went bad and then forgot or never had the chance to influence the change. It seems apparent that Esme and Beatrice were once friends, so this could have been the case...

[M David Steel]

her obsession though with what is in and out even stops her from caring about others going as far to say herself that she couldn't take them in as soon as they became orphans, because they weren't "in" at the time

About the will though, i don't understand it as I recall Poe saying they must be raised by a relative and then later saying "the most convenient way possible"

[Dante]

We are never actually shown the exact wording of the will, so we're allowed to suggest that it specifies multiple things or that Mr. Poe was sometimes paraphrasing.

[lorelai]

We are also never told that Beatrice and Esmé were friends. They were probably actresses together, but that would make them colleagues at the very least, who didn't necessarily have to think well of each other.

[justsylvia]

Jan 26, 2017 12:52:57 GMT -5 lorelai said:

We are also never told that Beatrice and Esmé were friends. They were probably actresses together, but that would make them colleagues at the very least, who didn't necessarily have to think well of each other.

I suppose that's true. I guess I thought they must have been friends since their houses were connected through the underground network, but on second thought that doesn't necessarily mean what I thought it meant.

[lorelai]

I see, though of course the thing to remember is that Esme married Jerome quite a long time after Beatrice lived in that house. Even if you just go by TEE, Jerome and Esme weren't living there long.
That said, they're both tricky things to remember!!

[justsylvia]

Jan 29, 2017 18:55:45 GMT -5 lorelai said:

I see, though of course the thing to remember is that Esme married Jerome quite a long time after Beatrice lived in that house. Even if you just go by TEE, Jerome and Esme weren't living there long.
That said, they're both tricky things to remember!!

True. I can't imagine Jerome living in that penthouse alone, though, before he met Esme. Either Esme lived there before, or neither of them did.

[Hermes]

As I understand it:

The penthouse at 667 was originally a VFD headquarters. That's why the passage linking it to the Baudelaire mansion was built. (I like to think it's where the building committee meeting in TUA takes place, though that's just a guess.)

When VFD was forced to move out, Jacques advised Jerome to buy the penthouse, to keep the passage safe.

Esme then married Jerome so as to get access to the passage.

[justsylvia]

Ah. I haven't read TUA yet, so I didn't know.... still waiting for it to come in at the library...