Post by Optimism is my Phil-osophy on Sept 18, 2020 6:38:35 GMT -5
In the text of the link below, I explained why I believe that Olaf spent a long time without attacking anyone. I called it a truce.
However, I have reason now to believe that this was more than a truce. It was an alliance, a reconciliation of Olaf with the fire-extinguishing side, albeit in a feigned way.
In Jacques' letter to Jerome, on pages 122-124 of LSTUA, Jacques makes the following statement:
"For years this organization has behaved in ways that were as noble as they were secret, but recently that organization has experienced a schism."
Watch out for the word "recently". It always bothered me when it came to assigning the moment to write this letter. The Great Schism happened at a time when Kit and Jacques were about 4 years old. Olaf's Schism happened at the time of Lemony's wedding cancellation. While the murder at Lucky Smells Lumbermaill to which Jerome refers in this letter occurred at the time of the events recorded in TAA, that is, more than 14 years after Violet was born. To say that any of these schisms happened "recently" does not seem to make sense.
But now I believe that Olaf went through a kind of "redemption" during the time of truce since Violet's birth. In a way, he came to be seen again as a member of VFD. He could even do plays again. The Snicket File, which possibly contained the record of his previous crimes, was simply not handed over to the authorities. This means that VFD did not want Olaf arrested. Thus, the events of Olaf trying to marry Violet and then chasing the Baudelaire were seen by Jacques as a new schism, that is, a breach of the alliance.
"For years this organization has behaved in ways that were as noble as they were secret, but recently that organization has experienced a schism."
Watch out for the word "recently". It always bothered me when it came to assigning the moment to write this letter. The Great Schism happened at a time when Kit and Jacques were about 4 years old. Olaf's Schism happened at the time of Lemony's wedding cancellation. While the murder at Lucky Smells Lumbermaill to which Jerome refers in this letter occurred at the time of the events recorded in TAA, that is, more than 14 years after Violet was born. To say that any of these schisms happened "recently" does not seem to make sense.
But now I believe that Olaf went through a kind of "redemption" during the time of truce since Violet's birth. In a way, he came to be seen again as a member of VFD. He could even do plays again. The Snicket File, which possibly contained the record of his previous crimes, was simply not handed over to the authorities. This means that VFD did not want Olaf arrested. Thus, the events of Olaf trying to marry Violet and then chasing the Baudelaire were seen by Jacques as a new schism, that is, a breach of the alliance.