JS Mystery: mistake or intentional?

[doetwin]

In TPP, there was a lot of confusion over who JS was. The Baudelaires weren't sure whether they were male or female, a volunteer or a villain, etc. It was later revealed that JS could have stood for Justice Strauss or Jerome Squalor; except that "Justice" was not actually Justice Strauss's first name, but rather her title, as was established in TBB.



“Yes, I heard about the accident,” the woman said, as everyone said how do you do. “I am Justice

Strauss.”


“That’s an unusual first name,” Klaus remarked.


“It is my title,” she explained, “not my first name. I serve as a judge on the High Court.”



Since Justice Strauss's first name was never revealed, it's more likely than not that her actual first name did not begin with "J", meaning her initials were not JS, which would have left Jerome Squalor as the true JS. What I'm curious to know is if you think that Handler had simply forgotten that he hadn't meant for "Justice" to be Justice Strauss's name and wanted to keep the JS mysterious ambiguous, or if he intended for that small exchange between Klaus and Justice Strauss from 11 books earlier to serve as a hint that Jerome was the real JS.

[Dante]

I think it's highly unlikely that Handler would have forgotten that Justice Strauss had "Justice" as a title rather than a first name, given that her position as a judge was crucial to the plot of TPP; more than that, the plot doesn't give Jerome any superior role to Strauss or give any indication that the J.S. messages were by and large left for him. (Which would also suppose that the volunteers had a clear idea of who J.S. actually was, which is unclear; Quigley CCed his Volunteer Factual Dispatch in TGG to a J.S. who then acted contrary to his intentions, as I discuss below.) I think you may just have to accept that either Justice Strauss's first name does indeed begin with a J., or that it's so customary for her to be referred to by her title that it gets used as a first initial because her real forename is so obscure.

It's also worth remembering that there's an unaccounted-for villainous J.S. who directed Mr. Poe to intercept the Baudelaires at Briny Beach, and who invited Sir to Olaf and Esmé's cocktail party with an instruction to bring all his valuables. The former could have been a well-meaning but ultimately misguided suggestion from Jerome or Strauss; either could possibly have been just Olaf or some other villain impersonating the late Jacques Snicket; but it's still an interesting loose end.

[Foxy]

I definitely think Handler remembered Justice was Strauss's title.  I think, however, her first name is likely Johanna.  This would make her "Johanna Strauss," which would be a play on both Johann Strauss and Johann Strauss, Jr.  I conjecture this due to Snicket's love of borrowing names and making allusions to literature and music.

I also agree with Dante's surmising of the dispatches not necessarily being to Justice Strauss or Jerome Squalor, or some of the dispatches being sent by an impostor of Jacques Snicket.

[A comet crashing into Earth]

My instinctive reaction to 'Johanna Strauss' was that it was a little on the nose. Then I remembered that there's a character named Georgina Orwell.

[Uncle Algernon]

Sept 20, 2018 9:07:40 GMT -5 Foxy said:

I definitely think Handler remembered Justice was Strauss's title.  I think, however, her first name is likely Johanna. 

I was about to suggest "Joan".