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Post by Uncle Algernon on Feb 4, 2021 12:03:04 GMT -5
Just a random question that occurred to me as I pondered Mr Poe: does the bank Mulctuary Money Management have a generic name where “mulctuary” is being used in its actual sense, or was it founded by a person by the name of Mulctuary? After all, the Averse isn't, er, averse, to surnames taken from common words that aren't actually family names in our world (“Remora”, “Widdershins”, etc.).
But, on the other hand, the adjective “mulctuary” can plausibly be applied to a bank. What led me down the alternative hypothesis of a family name is that “Mulctuary” refers to something related to, or payable as, a fine or other penalty. It's not a particularly winning name, indeed, it's rather an ominous name, for an organisation to which people are expected to entrust their hard-earned money. But then again, per TUA, MMM's motto is “Where your money is counted”, so it doesn't seem they have a particularly thoughtful or creative marketing department. On the fourth hand, a man called Mr Mulctuary is very much the sort of man who, in Handler's work, you'd expect to come up with “Where your money is counted” as the motto of his bank.
So: thoughts? Have any of you considered this question before? If not, what was your defautl assumption?
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Post by the panopticountolaf on Feb 4, 2021 13:11:49 GMT -5
Oh, wow! When you think that everything that can be discussed has been...
I personally always thought of Mulctuary as an adjective simply because the other banks that the Baudelaire children visit in THE BAD BEGINNING have adjectives in their names. "Subservient Financial Services" and "Trustworthy Bank and Loan", wasn't it? Seeing as words like "subservient" and "trustworthy" are unlikely to be last names in the Snicketverse, I had just assumed that "mulctuary" was also an adjective, but it could absolutely be a name, too! Of course, this raises the question -- are there other families named after locations/institutions in the Snicketverse? Maybe there's a Lachrymose family? Or perhaps a "Prufrock" or a "Gorgonian"?
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Post by Uncle Algernon on Feb 4, 2021 13:46:32 GMT -5
Oh, wow! When you think that everything that can be discussed has been... I personally always thought of Mulctuary as an adjective simply because the other banks that the Baudelaire children visit in THE BAD BEGINNING have adjectives in their names. "Subservient Financial Services" and "Trustworthy Bank and Loan", wasn't it? Seeing as words like "subservient" and "trustworthy" are unlikely to be last names in the Snicketverse, I had just assumed that "mulctuary" was also an adjective Good point — though I note that “Subservience” and “Trustworthiness” are both things that customers would indeed be looking for in a bank, unlike “mulctuariness”. Unless we're getting that wrong, and the “mulctuariness” of the Money Management is to the benefit of the client — a bank that pledges to give you money if you're dissatisfied with their services? It might be an attractive business model if you're very confident in your staff, but I shudder to think how much money Arthur Poe would cost on a monthly basis. Actually, maybe that's why the Baudelaire Fortune is so enormous: Poe is in charge of handling it, and since he keeps bungling, what was originally a modest account got larger and larger with every fine the Bank paid back to the Baudelaires. All of which being said, “Trustworthy” is perhaps too common a word, but even then I wouldn't entirely rule it out, nor “Subservient”. Would you blink at a namedrop of “the Honorable Arabella Righton-Trustworthy”, or “the twins Armand and Zéphyrin Subservient,” or what have you, as socialites in Esmé's acquaintance? I'm not sure I would. Of course, this raises the question -- are there other families named after locations/institutions in the Snicketverse? Maybe there's a Lachrymose family? Or perhaps a "Prufrock" or a "Gorgonian"? I don't think “Gorgonian” is likely to be a name, especially if we buy that the Woman With Hair But No Beard's name is Justice Gorgon; it'd be weirdly redundant to have both a Gorgonian family and a Gorgon family around. Since Medusa is a Gorgon and the Mycellium is “Medusoid”, I always supposed the Grotto was called that in reference to the presence of the Mycellium; it's home to a metaphorical Medusa, therefore it is gorgonian. This raises the question of what it was called before it was contaminated by Mycellium, though. I do wonder at “Mediocre Barrier Reef”, though; that'd be a weird name to give to a reef, whereas Mediocre is a perfectly plausible Averse surname. |
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Post by the panopticountolaf on Feb 4, 2021 14:08:10 GMT -5
Actually, maybe that's why the Baudelaire Fortune is so enormous: Poe is in charge of handling it, and since he keeps bungling, what was originally a modest account got larger and larger with every fine the Bank paid back to the Baudelaires. This is the single greatest theory I have read in my entire life. Post of the Year right here. |
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Post by R. on Feb 4, 2021 14:22:53 GMT -5
I do wonder at “Mediocre Barrier Reef”, though; that'd be a weird name to give to a reef, whereas Mediocre is a perfectly plausible Averse surname. Sadly that is not the case. I have heard that it was a beautiful place in its time, but as time wore on it began to wither away, until it was hardly deserving of the name ‘great’. |
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Post by Optimism is my Phil-osophy on Feb 4, 2021 14:30:45 GMT -5
I think that the bank owners intentionally wanted to avoid customers who were not from secret organizations or previously advised by others to deposit their money there. A bank that avoids customers, would that exist? Well, it is a bank that avoids customers who live by withdrawing money ... It is a bank specialized in saving large fortunes, and yes, elitizing customers is a strategy used by some banks.
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Post by Hermes on Feb 4, 2021 18:52:39 GMT -5
'Prufrock' is almost certainly a family name: 'Gorgonian', on the other hand, reads like a perfectly intelligible description of the grotto, and goes naturally with 'Medusoid'. As for 'Lachrymose', I take the line that it is not a family name, despite appearances. We know of Ivan Lachrymose only through his biography, and his biogrpahy was not written to be read, but to hide things between the pages. So I think it is simply a lachrymose, i.e. tearful, lake, and IL was invented by VFD for purposes of deception.
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Post by Uncle Algernon on Feb 4, 2021 19:54:49 GMT -5
'Prufrock' is almost certainly a family name. Could also be a place name, though. Do we know quite where Prufrock Prep is? Could there be a small town by the name of Prufrock in the area? As for 'Lachrymose', I take the line that it is not a family name, despite appearances. We know of Ivan Lachrymose only through his biography, and his biogrpahy was not written to be read, but to hide things between the pages. So I think it is simply a lachrymose, i.e. tearful, lake, and IL was invented by VFD for purposes of deception. I would be inclined to believe that the Lake is named for the leeches, not the other way around. The Lachrymose Leeches are more directly tear-inducing than the Lake, through their charming habit of widowing the spouses of people who aren't careful about when they go have a swim (which spouses then tend to mourn in tears). If I were a communist, I would be inclined to suggest that, as most bankers are leeches, we may be dealing with a Lachrymose Leech called Mulctuary here, but unfortunately I am not, so there we are, our search tragically un-narrowed. (Although, interesting side-quest: are there any communists in Asoueland? They couldn't be Villains, who are selfish; but Volunteers tend to have big family fortunes, or be friendly with people who do. Where would this leave a communist? Uninformed? But such a person would investigate the potential wrongdoing of the owners of enormous fortunes, and therefore find out anyway; not to mention communist theorists tend to be well-read, within a certain field of research.) |
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Post by Dante on Feb 5, 2021 3:10:43 GMT -5
'Prufrock' is almost certainly a family name. Could also be a place name, though. Do we know quite where Prufrock Prep is? Could there be a small town by the name of Prufrock in the area? The books are a little bit mysterious about this; it is entirely unclear whether Prufrock is located in the middle of nowhere as in the Netflix series, or perhaps in the suburbs or even in the middle of the city. The context of TEE's plot suggests it's potentially the latter, but we simply don't know; the entire plot takes place within the school and its surroundings are never mentioned. While there is no evidence per se on communism (much though it would fit snugly within the themes and tone of the overall series), in TWW Snicket rather oddly mentions that his friend Gina-Sue "is socialist" (p. 65). |
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Post by Optimism is my Phil-osophy on Feb 5, 2021 4:10:57 GMT -5
I have already said this here and I repeat: the great fortunes that some VFD families have are not considered family money. They are considered organization money. They cannot keep the money in the name of the organization, because they are a secret organization. But the evidence indicates that families do not use the money for their own benefit (or use very little). The Snicket fortune is an example of this. Snicket is accused by his enemies (who wrote The Litle Snicket Lad) of being born in a golden cradle. But this is a lie. The family had money in his name, but the family did not consider themselves wealthy. The Baudelaires, similarly, had no employees. (At least they are never mentioned). Even mansions are apparently considered as assets of the organization, which is why real estate brokers are just as problematic as indicated by Kit and Josephine. I explored this idea a little in my Fanfic "Untie My Silence Knot". But I think the construction committee meeting shows that, too. They were discussing how to use the organization's money. There is a real estate construction committee. Nobody resented the misuse of their own money. But it is a feeling regarding the use of the organization's money, which was on behalf of individuals.
So I can say that VFD ideas are similar to socialist ideas, even though they need money to get what they want. However, they do not consider the accumulation of capital as what should motivate man to work. That is why it is so important to put this on children's heads as early as possible, even if using unconventional methods.
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