Rereading backwards

[Hermes]

Good point about the death of the Baudelaires - I never believed they were dead, this being one of the major points of contention between me and another distnguished Snicketologist. L knew that Beatrice sank, and had apparently retrived some objects from it, but clearly this did not mean that all its occupants were dead, or else young B would also be dead.

Interesting theory about the apples, but is L's account of being shipwrecked consistent with his landing on an island? I thought he said he was on a barge or something like that.

Of course, I agree that he was on the island at some point. I'm doubtful, though, that he wrote all the books after going there - what would be the point of his lengthy research in all the places the B's had visited, if he had read their own account of the matter? (And why would some parts of his story differ wildly from theirs?)

[TheAsh]

May 15, 2021 13:01:29 GMT -5 Hermes said:

Good point about the death of the Baudelaires - I never believed they were dead, this being one of the major points of contention between me and another distnguished Snicketologist. L knew that Beatrice sank, and had apparently retrived some objects from it, but clearly this did not mean that all its occupants were dead, or else young B would also be dead.

Interesting theory about the apples, but is L's account of being shipwrecked consistent with his landing on an island? I thought he said he was on a barge or something like that.

Of course, I agree that he was on the island at some point. I'm doubtful, though, that he wrote all the books after going there - what would be the point of his lengthy research in all the places the B's had visited, if he had read their own account of the matter? (And why would some parts of his story differ wildly from theirs?)

First of al, jean, great thread! I really love it!

Hermes, I would say it's because I think Klaus is really bad at actually getting certain things correct. i always read the books assuming Klaus's explanation is wrong. (This starts from TWW, where Klaus basically kills Uncle Monty, as explained by The Snicket Sleuth). This is actually not canon, but its my belief. Lemony wanted to go back and see what really happened. Also, Lemony has a little OCD, as evidenced for his search for the fanbelt.

(But again, its also my belief that the Baudelaires murdered Beatrice by burning down the hotel, where Beatrice was waiting for the trial. I also believe that Lemony original wrote a first draft of ASOUE, unlike Jean, and the purpose of that draft was to tell the world, that is Beatrice, where her kids were. The End, and the revisions of ASOUE, were to add in all the notes of the Baudelaires and to tell the sad story to the world. I have some scant evidence for this, and no time to write the extensive essay it requires. But I figured I may as well put it here.)

[Optimism is my Phil-osophy]

In fact, I seriously believe that Lemony just wanted to confirm what he had already read. The questions used in TBBRE indicate precisely that he already had prior information and only confirmed things. These are questions like: "Do you confirm that on that day three children stopped by and bought this or that?" or "did you really see a walktalk in Olaf's hands?" When people denied seeing the walktalk he wrote that there was indeed the walktalk but no one seemed to notice it.

Lemony evidently promised to record the story as accurately as possible, and he certainly took into account the possibility that the Baudelaires might have been confused when reporting some details of the events in their own history. Lemony is fascinated by details that may seem insignificant to us.

But I must remind you that Lemony has information that exceeds his research findings, as in the case of the crash of the caravan where Violet and Klaus were staying, as well as what happened inside. It is evident that this information came from the Baudelaires themselves, who wrote about it at some point and such writings were found by Lemony.

Not only does the existence of this information give evidence of this, but also the absence of other indications also give evidence of this. Sunny didn't see what happened inside Olaf's tent at the top of the mountain, so Lemony doesn't know what happened inside, so Lemony doesn't write about it. Klaus cannot remember what happened while he was hypnotized, so Lemony did not write about these events from Klaus' point of view, because Lemony does not know what Klaus actually saw. This ends as soon as Klaus comes out of hypinosis and Lemony again has access to the boy's memories.

Regarding the differences between the information that Beatrice Jr has and that reported in Lemony's books, Dante solved this problem in a beautiful and logical way: The Baudelaires purposely lied to Beatrice Jr by verbally reporting some events that they were ashamed of having practiced. . It may seem contradictory for them to have lied to Beatrice Jr but to have written the truth in an abandoned book on the island, but I am sure it is easier to talk about your mistakes to a stranger than to someone you love. (I think this is the meaning of confectioners in some churches).

[TheAsh]

May 15, 2021 7:12:08 GMT -5 Optimism is my Phil-osophy said:

Still talking about chapter 4:

Perhaps that is why, according to TBBRE, Lemony says that there is a law on this island that prohibits removing apples from there. This law exists at the time that Lemony was on the island, (probably when he found the Baudelaires' writings) and then at that time there was already a very different system of laws. Prohibiting those apples would make sense, as they can cause abortive effects. And while Daniel Handler and Lisa Brown defend the right to abortion, in many countries it is still a crime.

That's a fascinating thought! 
I always believed there is another thing in the apple that does not exist in the horseradish apples on Lousy Lane, a sort of poison, which is why there is such a law. I wrote about that theory in the past. I unfortunately never finished this theory, but I think it is a poison, which was used in poison darts, and it was in the sugar bowl.
asoue.proboards.com/thread/36200/sugar-bowl-theory

[Optimism is my Phil-osophy]

Yes, I fully agree with that. In fact, subtly Dante led me to agree with you. I had said that an abortion took place on the island because Beatrice somehow knew that the fruits were abortifacient. This led me to think that she used islanders as guinea pigs. However, Dante argued the opposite, and claimed that Beatrice could have enough technology to determine this otherwise. I didn't agree with the technology part. However, it made me think that the reason she knew this is that she purposely added an element to the apple that she already knew in advance that she was abortive. This makes more sense, and strangely it is less morbid than imagining testing on humans that ended up in the death of a volunteer inside the womb.

[Optimism is my Phil-osophy]

Chapter 6:

"At this point, you may find yourself recognizing all of the sad hallmarks of the Baudelaire orphans' sad history. The word "hallmarks" refers to something's distinguishing characteristics, such as the frothy foam and loud fizz that are the hallmarks of a root beer float, or the tearstained photographs and the loud fizz that are the hallmarks of a broken heart."

I think this introduction to chapter 6 is a subtle criticism of those who accused asoue of being formulaic.

"Certainly the Baudelaires themselves, who as far as I know have not read their own sad history, but of course are its primary participants, "

Well, Lemony admits here that the Baudelaires might be dead. He practically claims that this is what he thinks is most likely. Still, he hints that this is "as far as I know" an expression that indicates that, although he thinks the Baudelaires are dead, he is also fully aware that he may be mistaken in this regard.

"My name is Kit Snicket, and I've been looking everywhere for these children."
"You're not Kit Snicket!" Mrs. Caliban cried."

I think this was Olaf's first and only disguise as some previously known character. If we think about how this plot is completely meaningless, I think we can finally get to the true meaning that exists here. Olaf is not a complete idiot. He could have disguised himself as anyone who survived a storm. If he wanted, he could have created any name for a pregnant woman. Second, the real Kit Snicket was there, beside him, and she was still alive. Why would Olaf intentionally create a character that could be quickly discarded? He certainly did not expect to deceive the Baudelaires ... Well, the only sense here is that Olaf made these strange decisions because Daniel Handler wanted him to make these strange decisions. But the question is why did Daniel Handler want this? I think the answer is this: Daniel Handler wanted to make it clear that the disguises of Olaf and his supporters were not limited to original characters, but could also include people who did exist in their universe. This increases the range of possibilities to explain some apparent contradictions.

I highlight two of them: "How could Beatrice be at the masked ball when she was already dead when the ball took place?" Answer: It was not Beatrice who was there, but someone pretending to be Beatrice.
Why did Lemony write letters to Kit after her death and even try to save her life with a salad? Answer: It wasn't Kit Snicket, but it was someone pretending to be Kit Snicket.

It is true that Lemony would not be deceived by such a ridiculous disguise as the one used by Olaf in TE. But we have to remember that in TE, Olaf had few resources at his disposal. The important thing is his intention, which could certainly be shared by his supporters or other arsonists.

[Optimism is my Phil-osophy]

"If Muhammad will not come to the mountain," Rabbi Bligh said, using an expression that the islanders understood at once, "the mountain will come to Muhammad."

I found it interesting that Daniel Handler chose a Jewish rabbi to speak these words, which are a clear reference to Islam, in a book with a clear criticism of religious hypocrisy.

How horrible! I did not remember that Ish did not agree with children to learn to read and write. His campaign to dull people was really strong.

Including Ink in chapter 6 was a wonderful idea. In a way I feel connected again to Uncle Monty, a kind character, who has been sorely missed.

I wonder now why they did not introduce it earlier at Netflix's show ... the way it appeared out of nowhere, it seemed like a deus ex machina. I think they had no time to adapt TE and Tbl and needed cut some things ... but still, I think it would be interesting to give TE two episodes to te + tbl + lstua. I think there was enough material for that.


The end of chapter 6 was really tense, with the Baudelaires being abandoned on the coastal platform, and with the risk of dying the next day when the tide rose. It is now easier to understand Ish's expression: "I will not force you ..." the other option was to be abandoned. Inwardly, everyone knew that. Ish created a community in which everyone was dependent on each other, and where social abandonment was really dangerous. But apparently he knows that the only risk was a massive sabotage of his scheme, and he tried to avoid it at all costs.

Subliminally the book asks us "would it have been better to throw Olaf into the sea at that time? After all, he will die anyway ... At least he would have died causing fewer deaths".

[Optimism is my Phil-osophy]

Chapter 7: Olaf claims to be aware that the Baudelaires parents were on the island. According to the revised chronology, this happened after Gregor A.'s Schism, and after the fight for salmon. This means that Olaf had access to information about the Baudelaires parents being on the island after the AA fire. This corresponds to the events described by Ish about the creation of a tunnel connecting the island to AA. The events surrounding Gregor A.'s schism seem to be one of the main backgraunds for understanding Beatrice and Bertrand's stay on the island. This makes sense when we think that the deadly fungus MM was directly linked to Gregor's Schism.

Considering Violet's age, and knowing that Beatrice was pregnant with her when when Beatrice was on the island, we can conclude that Gregor's schism occurred about 14-15 years before the main events described in asoue.
It is interesting to note that Phill, in TMM states that for 14 years no one had knocked on the door that the Baudelaires slammed when they arrived at the mill. This mill was next to a forest full of peculiar apple trees. Did Beatrice, after leaving the island, try to replicate her experiments near the sawmill? Well, the chronology checks.

"Of course I'm trying to trick you!" Olaf cried. "That's the way of the world, Baudelaires. Everybody runs around with their secrets and their schemes, trying to outwit everyone else. Ishmael outwitted me, and put me in this cage. But I know how to outwit him and all his islander friends. If you let me out, I can be king of Olaf-Land, and you three can be my new henchfolk. "

Olaf's dialogue with the Baudelaires is very interesting, and it is possible not to disagree at least in part with the villain. There is no safe place in this world. And Ish is as horrible a person as Olaf, despite having the opposite motivation. I think Daniel Handler wants to show that extremism in any direction leads one to become a villain.

I found it interesting that Ish ate the apple just before he met Olaf and the Baudelaires on the coastal platform. Did he already suspect the possibility that Olaf had the deadly fungus MM with him? It is also interesting that Olaf already knew that Ish was going to eat those apples, and that the object that fell from his hands was exactly the core of an apple. Apparently, Olaf and Ish were in a piscological battle trying to deduce each other's next step.

"Do you think your pathetic history is the only story in the world? Do you think this island has just sat here in the sea, waiting for you to wash up on its shores?

Olaf demonstrated a great deal of knowledge about the events on the island. Probably people who left the island earlier informed him about what was happening there. But I think the concept (which started since LSTUA) that the asoue world does not revolve around the Baudelaires is really cool. This was very well reinforced by Olaf's words, when he made it very clear that the history of the Baudelaires is not the only history in the world. But the most interesting thing is that Olaf did not speak to the Baudelaires about the healing power of apples, even though he already knew that.

"Do you think that I just sat in my home in the city, waiting for you miserable orphans to stumble into my path?"


I understand that this question is ambiguous. But I understand that this question most likely indicates that Olaf was in his own affairs when suddenly and by chance from his point of view, the Baudelaires entered his life. I think this is the simplest understanding. The meaning can be the opposite, hypothetically speaking: Olaf did not just stand and wait for the Baudelaires to come into his life by chance, but he did something to make it happen. But that doesn't make sense here. Olaf is trying to prove that the world does not revolve around the Baudelaires. If Olaf had acted, causing the fire at their parents' house, this argument would have made no sense. While his last words may, hypothetically, be a way to act cruelly just before he dies, in an attempt by Olaf to leave the children in doubt as to who really was behind the death of their parents, this is not the case here. Olaf, without being encouraged, started a series of questions (he even seemed a little indignant at the Baudelaires' lack of awareness and their egocentrism) and tried to show that there are several stories going on at the same time. So, I believe that this question in this context is strong evidence that it was not Olaf (or anyone at Olaf's request) who caused the fire at the Baudelaire mansion.

"I could tell you stories, Baudelaires," Count Olaf said in a muffled wheeze. "I could tell you secrets about people and places that you would never dream of. I could tell you about arguments and schisms that started before you were born. I could even tell you things about yourselves that you could never imagine. Just open the door of my cage, orphans, and I'll tell you things you could never discover on your own. "

Those words from Olaf have always touched me. I feel like he's being sincere here in regards to him actually having a lot to say if he wanted to. I want to emphasize the fact that he talked about schisms in the plural, which reinforces the fact that there is more than one occasion in the history of VFD that can be called Schism. One of them happens when kit was a child. Another certainly happened at the time when Gregor A. planned to use the deadly fungus MM to get rid of his enemies. This caused another schism, but this time within the fire-extinguishing side. It is interesting to note that Gregor Anwhistle's Schism was caused by a fundamental question: Was the violence against enemies on the VFD fire-extinguishing side justifiable or not? When Olaf accused Captain W.'s family of never deciding which side of the schism they would support, I think Olaf was referring to Gregor Anwhistle's schism. However, I find it significant that Olaf claims that he could tell secrets about the Baudelaires themselves that they did not know. If we associate this with the hint that Olaf was orphaned by the Baudelaires 'parents, we can conclude that Olaf believed that the Baudelaires' parents supported Gregor Anwhistle's ideologies that violence is sometimes justified. If we add to this the fact that the Snickets fought for the salmon, this seems to indicate that they also came to believe this, at least up to a tolerable limit of violence. Kit was admittedly involved with the poison darts, but she still did not accept the use of the deadly fungus MM. I think all of this shows that Gregor's Schism has fragmented VFD into several factions.

Lemony says that Klaus has been curious about many books since a visitor to his home wrote the alphabet on his wall. This is very specific information and I wonder how Lemony got it. I think the simplest answer is that Lemony read about it in the Baudelaires' writings, although it is possible to obtain this information from other people. However, I think it is more likely to be through the Baudelaires' writings because two pieces of information come together: the first is that there was a visitor who wrote the alphabet on the wall and the second is that Klaus became known for reading that remarkable moment. This second information is of an internal nature, and could be accessed through Klaus' family members, or through Klaus himself. I can't imagine Beatrice and Bertrand meeting Lemony to talk about Klaus.

The end of chapter 7 considers a hypothetical secret that the Baudelaires refused to hear. Lemony's narration really makes me think of the secret about the Baudelaires' parents, that they were not as peaceful as the children wanted to believe they were. I think the children thought the same thing and refused to accept that thought for having a little cordial coconut drink.

[TheAsh]

May 22, 2021 9:24:36 GMT -5 Optimism is my Phil-osophy said:

Chapter 7: Olaf claims to be aware that the Baudelaires parents were on the island. According to the revised chronology, this happened after Gregor A.'s Schism, and after the fight for salmon. This means that Olaf had access to information about the Baudelaires parents being on the island after the AA fire. This corresponds to the events described by Ish about the creation of a tunnel connecting the island to AA. The events surrounding Gregor A.'s schism seem to be one of the main backgraunds for understanding Beatrice and Bertrand's stay on the island. This makes sense when we think that the deadly fungus MM was directly linked to Gregor's Schism.

Considering Violet's age, and knowing that Beatrice was pregnant with her when when Beatrice was on the island, we can conclude that Gregor's schism occurred about 14-15 years before the main events described in asoue.
It is interesting to note that Phill, in TMM states that for 14 years no one had knocked on the door that the Baudelaires slammed when they arrived at the mill. This mill was next to a forest full of peculiar apple trees. Did Beatrice, after leaving the island, try to replicate her experiments near the sawmill? Well, the chronology checks.

"

Excellent excellent excellent point! I have never thought of this. Jean,this is canon to me now.

[Optimism is my Phil-osophy]

Chapter 8:

Lemony apparently really has something against museums ... I think I can say that The End connects with ATWQ by making references to the invasion of museums, like the introduction to chapter 8.

I also want to highlight again the narration involving the thoughts of the Baudelaires. The way Lemony narrates such thoughts shows that he had access to those thoughts. This is not a guess or a trick, as he does not repeat this ability with other characters. Lemony certainly read what the Baudelaires themselves wrote about their own thoughts and feelings.

Kit confirms that sooner or later everything appears on the island. The number of people who claim this is so great that it cannot be denied.

Kit's associates talked about how the island was a very fun place before. Kit's description is very much like the reception Lemony claims to have had when he was shipwrecked. I hope this indicates that the island was once again inhabited by nice people after the Baudelaires left, although it may indicate that Lemony was shipwrecked twice ... once before Ish's arrival and once after Ish's departure. .

Kit claims that she had been informed by Thursday that the colony had suffered a schism as VFD suffered. This increases our understanding of what happened on the island a few years earlier. Shortly after Beatrice and Bertrand left, the island continued to be a fun place for some time. If Friday is about 8 years old, and Violet is 14 years old, over a 6 year period, the island was a fun place until there was the island schism. On the island's schism, Thursday parted ways with Miranda. He met Kit, and was able to describe the island as a fun place, but one that had gone through a recent schism. It is true that Miranda and Thursday may have arrived on the island just before schism happened, but it was enough time for Thursday to have good memories of the time he spent there.

I found it interesting that Kit also claims that the story of VFD is not the only story in the world ... She uses a phraseology very similar to what Olaf used to refer to the story of the Baudelaires.

"The telegram device fell on my legs when the submarine was attacked. I need your help, Baudelaires. I need to be someplace safe."

Kit said her foot injuries were caused by the telegraph that fell on her feet when the sub was attacked. But then, if I'm not mistaken, she explains that the submarine was not attacked, but by accident the Hector House plummeted in the submarine. So why did she say the sub was attacked? When and how did it happen? Did this really happen?

Kit is a really enigmatic character. As I already explained, Kit was part of a VFD faction that was not entirely pacifist but at the same time was not in favor of using weapons of mass destruction to kill enemies (like the deadly fungus MM). But we have clear evidence of Kit's gray view of peace in the following excerpts:

"Mrs. Caliban?" said Kit, in the darkness. "Miranda Caliban is here?" "Yes," Finn said. "Do you know her?" "I know her husband," Kit said. "He and I stood together in a time of great struggle, and we're still very good friends."
...
"Absolutely not!" cried Kit, from the top of the raft. "I won't hear of you putting your talents to such nefarious use, Baudelaires. I'm sure the island can solve its difficulties without resorting to violence."
"Did you solve your difficulties without resorting to violence?" Erewhon asked sharply. "Is that how you survived the great struggle you mentioned, and ended up shipwrecked on a raft of books?"

"My history is not important," Kit replied. "I'm worried about the Baudelaires."

Kit Snicket was on the defensive. She really seemed to be a hypocrite at this point: she defended pacifism but she herself had admittedly participated in violent battles. I am not judging Kit, but I want to highlight the fact that Kit continued to demonstrate the same attitude of years before: she agreed that violence is necessary from time to time, but she does not like it. Kit demonstrates the same attitude as Lemony Snicket on ATWQ in book 4.

The question is to what extent Kit speaks the truth: she did not speak about Dewey to the Baudelaires when she met them the first time. Then she said the submarine was attacked. And now it was understood (through her defensive attitude) that what brought her to the island was in fact the participation in some violent activity. It is interesting that she gives an excuse similar to what Captain W gave Fiona about her mother, and the excuse that Miranda gave Friday about her father: a marine entity devoured them. I wonder to what extent the story about what happened to the W family and the Quagmires is real and not an attempt to romanticize a possible schism.

The shine of the flashlight reminded Klaus of all of the nights he spent reading under the covers in the Baudelaire mansion, while outside the night made mysterious noises his parents always insisted were nothing more than the wind, even on windless evenings."

This is a clear reference to the recruitment procedures for VFD as shown in LSTUA. Beatrice and Bertrand refused to allow their children to enter VFD. Evidently, they preferred a type of home education for children. They tried to educate their children in skills (similar to skills that would be developed in VFD schools) in their own home.

The riot is quite representative: The Baudelaires were put in a situation where they had no choice but to support one side of the schism. This certainly made her think that many of the volunteers were placed in similar situations, and ended up being forced into a war that they did not even want to enter. This time it was all very explicit: those who planned the riot were willing to fight (and probably kill their neighbors). They wanted weapons and allies. This was exactly the opposite philosophy to that taught by Ish, who preached total pacifism. We can see the Great Schism of VFD represented here: one side preached that the world should be quiet while the other preached that fire is fought with fire.


"The children traveled in the dark, just as so many other people had done before them, from the nomadic travels of the Cimmerians to the desperate voyages of the Quagmire triplets, who at that very moment were in circumstances just as dark although quite a bit damper than the Baudelaires', and as the children drew closer and closer to the island that had abandoned them, their thoughts made them heavier and heavier, and the Baudelaire orphans wished things were very different indeed."

This stretch is really interesting. As I said, when Lemony narrates his story, he is trying to narrate what he believes to be true. This means that Lemony was able to synchronize the history of the Baudelaires with the history of the Quagmires. If what Kit said about the end of the Quagmires meant that they did indeed die, it would be impossible for Lemony to know the Quagmires were at that very moment. Lemony manages to synchronize the stories because the Quagmires survived and were able to narrate their own story to Lemony directly or indirectly about what really happened.
Lemony talks about desperate voyages (in the plural). They did more than one voyage, they felt desperate while doing them. Although Kit spoke the truth about the gigantic entity in the form of a question mark, the fact is that they survived, made several trips and felt desperate while traveling. There is a possibility that submarine Q has been attacked, however, as the first version of Kit's story seems to indicate, and that led the Quagmires to be taken, and so the voyages were desperate.

[Optimism is my Phil-osophy]

Rereading of chapter 9 of The End.



For me, the island's library is one of the coolest. As I explained, here are some important tips on some asoue mysteries. For example, we find an important tip for the Sugar Bowl content in the excerpt below:


" 'Library' " is another word that can mean two different things, which means even in a library you cannot be safe from the confusion and mystery of the world. The most common use of the word "library," of course, refers to a collection of books or documents, such as the libraries the Baudelaires had encountered during their travels and troubles, from the legal library of Justice Strauss to the Hotel Denouement, which was itself an enormous library— with, it turned out, another library hidden nearby. "

There are two buildings that can be called Hotel Denouement, one being a real hotel and the other a real library. Despite the shape and the way of organizing the rooms, the real hotel could not be called a collection of books and documents (which is the way Lemony defines "library" here). The submerged library, on the other hand, was a collection of documents. So, what would be the other library that was hidden nearby? I deduce that it is the SB. According to the secret letter in TSS, the SB contains information and it was Lemony's sister's idea to use a container to keep something small in case of a dark day. According to Captain W, inside the SB there are dangerous secrets, and according to Kit and Dewey, if the SB fell into the hands of the enemies, we would be in a situation almost as bad as if the deadly fungus MM fell into their hands. So, putting all this together, we have a set of dangerous information stored in a small container, something like a backup in the format of a digital library. It is not so difficult to deduce this after all.

This is not exactly very important, but among the items found in the arboretum library is a stone that appears to have the glow of an Indian moon that comes from a different story from the Baudelaires. I think this is a literary reference to The Moonstone, one of the most important detective books ever written. I can see some similarities between Lemony Snicket's style and this book: it's an epistolary novel, like TBL. There is use of laudanum in the plot, as well as ATWQ. There is a theft of a rare and mysterious item just like in ATWQ.

Violet tied her hair with a pink ribbon ... Everything indicates that this was the same ribbon used as evidence by Olaf on TVV. If I'm not mistaken, Violet doesn't like this color.

"Maybe a schism is necessary," Klaus said. "There are millions of items here that could help the colony, but thanks to Ishmael, they've all been abandoned here."

I didn't remember Klaus saying that. Klaus really seems to have inherited this trait from his parents. Even though he is not a violent person, he deeply believes that sometimes it is necessary to resort to hostile measures in order to achieve justice.

"But do we really want to defeat Ishmael?" Klaus asked. "He's made the island a safe place, even if it is a little boring, and he kept Count Olaf away, even if he is a little cruel. He has feet of clay, but I'm not sure he's the root of the problem."

Well, he seems to have come back to thinking rationally and not emotionally quickly.

"What is the root of the problem?" - That question was left unanswered, I think intentionally.

A postcard from Kit was sent to Olivia Caliban. We know from LSTUA that postcards are used to send VFD messages. In the case of Lemony, a postcard was sent by two allies. Were Oliva and Kit allies in a time of crisis? But more importantly, it is very likely that this card did not reach Olivia's hands. That would probably explain why Olivia was an abandoned agent. During Gregore's schism Count Olaf became a person of ambiguous utility. Fernald saw him as someone capable of helping him to destroy the deadly fungus MM. The lack of information on what to do from Kit Snicket's faction certainly left Olivia very confused. I can already understand why she simply adopted an attitude of support for either side. And with side effects, the factions no longer saw her as someone to be trusted, which left her even more isolated from VFD. Olaf certainly found use for her quickly, even though he did believe in her disguise. I can also say that the mechanism of messages that are not delivered correctly is well used in TBL that was written at the same time.

[Optimism is my Phil-osophy]

Rereading: Chapter 10

One of the biggest mysteries for me in Chapter 19 is what the end of the story Ish started to tell about his student who had only one eyebrow would be.

- "Did you know I used to be a schoolteacher?" he asked. "This was many years ago, in the city. There were always a few children in my chemistry classes who had the same gleam in their eyes that you Baudelaires have. Those students always turned into the most interesting assignments." He sighed, and sat down on one of the reading chairs in the center of the room. "They also always gave me the most trouble. I remember a child in particular, who had scraggly dark hair and just one eyebrow... This was a little girl. only one ear. She was an orphan, and she lived with her siblings in a house owned by a terrible woman, a violent drunkard who was famous for having killed a man in her youth with nothing but her bare hands and a very ripe cantaloupe. .. the student in my class began to be very suspicious about the tea her guardian would pour for her when she got home from school. Rather than drink it, she would dump it into a house-plant that had been used to decorate a well -known stylish restaurant with a fish theme... The Bistro Smelt. he houseplant's owner was whisked off to Peru aboard a mysterious ship [,The Prospero,] even though at the time the ship was called the Pericles. But my student didn't know that. She only wanted to avoid being poisoned, and I had an idea that an antidote might be hidden—"... What is happening now and what happened then is part of the same story, If I don't tell you how I came to prefer tea that's as bitter as wormwood, then you won't know how I came to have a very important conversation with a waiter in a lakeside town. And if I don't tell you about that conversation, then you won't know how I ended up on a certain bathyscaphe, or how I ended up shipwrecked here, or how I came to meet your parents, or anything else contained in this book."


What I can deduce from this story is this: Ish was a VFD teacher. Ish was informed by his student that her tutor was trying to drug her. Knowing this stopped Ish from drinking sweet tea. Also, because of this attitude, Ish had to talk to a waiter in a town near a lake. This is very similar to what Lemony had to do after being told that Olaf wanted to kill him and Beatrice. Lemony had to take a special ticket to a ship and flee abroad. Clearly Ish had to do something similar, perhaps in the same place, as the consequence was that he stopped on the island, meaning he was at sea at some point. Parallel to this, we know at what time this happened: at the time of Gregor's Schism. In other words, Ish's student would be drugged in preparation for being kidnapped by one side of Gregor's schism. We can see that this plan to drug children to be kidnapped during a VFD fragmentation is basically the initial plot of ATWQ. It is true that the times when this happened were different, but the attitude of S. Theodora Markson shows that this type of situation was already common and this was repeated at the time of Gregor's Schism. Professor Ish ended up having to flee so as not to be harmed by the possible violence that would take place during Gregor's schism. He was a total pacifist at this time, and Olaf knew it. When he arrived on the island, he was still with the aftermath of the violent world he was forced to flee from, and more determined than ever to establish a community based on total pacifism.

According to Ish, The Island Book is where castaways write their stories. This shows how Lemony Snicket has access to stories experienced by the Baudelaires since before their house burned down: the Baudelaires wrote about it in the island book, and Lemony found this book later.

The Baudelaires' parents arrived on the island a few months before Ish. In all, they only spent a few months on the island. Beatrice probably arrived on the island pregnant with Violet and left it pregnant as well. Is it possible that Lemony is Violet's father? Talking about possibilities, yes it is possible. Coitus would have had to have taken place not around the time of the canceled quasi-marriage, but around the time of Gregor's schism, around the time Lemony fought over the salmon along with Kit and Jacques. However, I find this unlikely. On TBL we have access to a letter from Lemony to Beatrice. In this letter, we learn that Lemony was informed of Beatrice's pregnancy, and it appears that the person inside Beatrice was Violet. In the letter, Lemony indicates that he hasn't seen Beatrice in a few years. This suggests that Violet is indeed Bertrand's daughter. (You can always think of a grand scheme involving lies, but I find that unlikely. If Lemony wanted to hide the fact that he might be the father of Beatrice's baby, the smartest thing he could do was do nothing. , Beatrice's hasty marriage would have already hidden any suspicion as to the paternity of Beatrice's baby).

"They wanted to dig a passageway that would lead to a marine research center and rhetorical advice service some miles away." The Baudelaires exchanged amazed looks. Captain Widdershins had described such a place, and in fact the children had spent some desperate hours in its ruined basement. "You mean if we walk along the bookcase," Klaus said, "we'll reach Anwhistle Aquatics?" Ishmael shook his head. "The passageway was never finished," he said, "and it's a good thing, too. The research center was destroyed in a fire, which might have spread through the passageway and reached the island. was contained in that place. I shudder to think what might happen if the Medusoid Mycelium ever reached these shores."

Beatrice and Bertrand arranged to begin construction of a tunnel connecting the island to AA's facilities. The justification was to take the documents to Dewey's library. If we are to believe that Beatrice's genuine interest was in providing content for the library, we also need to believe that at this time, Beatrice did not yet know of the danger Gregor A posed to the world. On the other hand, Beatrice and Bertrand's interest in finding a cure for the deadly MM fungus, as well as the precautions they took in case the deadly fungus reached the island, is evidence that they already knew about the possibility of the fungus being used as a weapon of mass destruction and start a great pandemic that could reach the island somehow. So it is more likely that Beatrice and Bertrand's real interest in building the tunnel was to see that the cure for the MM fungus reached the place where the fungus was contained. In fact, if everyone on the island had immunity to the fungus, they could provide for the controlled destruction of the deadly fungus, without having to resort to wildfire to eliminate that danger. Ish's narration makes it clear that Beatrice and Bertrand have found allies on the island. In fact, it's possible that their arrival on the island was not accidental. They were perhaps looking for a safe place for their experiments involving finding a cure for the deadly MM fungus. That Beatrice had already begun to perform tests that she considered dangerous is evident from the prior knowledge she had about the hybrid apple. After all, neither apples nor the roots used in the experiment have abortive properties in themselves. Some exotic substance was formed in the genetic crossing between species, and Beatrice was already aware of this substance to the point that she never ate her own bitter apples. I have a hypothesis that this information could have been gleaned from Mrs. Widdershins' studies, but this is still very speculative. If there had been no schism on the island at the time of Beatrice and Bertrand, Gregor's schism would not have had so many consequences, for the weapon of mass destruction would have been destroyed without the need to resort to Olaf's incendiary methods. I think this plot also explains another mystery of ASOUE: "the great truce." From Violet's birth until the Baudelaire mansion burned down, Olaf was apparently not chased by the VFD and he maintained a town house and theater group. This truce must have been a kind of reward Olaf received for helping to destroy a bigger and more powerful enemy of VFD: Gregor A and the deadly fungus MM.

"In my experience, the Snickets are as much trouble as the Baudelaires"

So, this is hard to understand. Ish considers the Snickets problematic, and he considers this based on his personal experience. His experience is with Jacques or Lemony, as in his writings he had claimed that Kit was someone's sister. This reveals exactly what I had previously thought: the Baudelaires and the Snickets were part of a different faction than Ish was. Ish preached total pacifism with the help of librarianship. His behavior on the island for all these 15 years only demonstrates that he has taken this philosophy to the max. He became like a monk during the Middle Ages, who retreated into its mysteries surrounded by manuscripts, while laymen were prevented from learning to read.

Ish reveals in chapter 10 his entire philosophy of life: to keep the peace it is necessary to alienate 


the people of the world. He really considers himself a father to the island, and it's interesting that father is a religious term in many languages, including English. The answer to this way of thinking was said by Sunny:

"I don't believe that bridging the freedom of expression and the free exercise thereof is the proper way to run a community."

"This ring," he said, "once belonged to the Duchess of Winnipeg, who gave it to her daughter, who was also the Duchess of Winnipeg, who gave it to her daughter, and so on and so on and so on. , the last Duchess of Winnipeg joined VFD, and gave it to Kit Snicket's brother. It to your father, who gave it to your mother when they were married. Learned from her grandfather. The wooden box turned to ashes in the fire that destroyed the Baudelaire mansion, and Captain Widdershins found the ring in the wreckage only to lose it in a storm at sea, which eventually wa shed it onto our shores."

This is a delightfully intriguing story. This story spans hundreds of years. Firstly: what is the importance of the ring? It appears to be originally a family heirloom. After that the rings are given to other people. We know Lemony gave the ring to Beatrice and in his mind it must be an engagement ring.



I wonder why R gave this family inheritance to Lemony. He could have used any ring to ask Beatrice to marry him. Did he want something special, but being poor R decided to give him something dear? In this case, was Beatrice already rich? Among the reasons Beatrice would return the ring was certainly the fact that she would not marry Lemony. Was differences between social classes an important factor? Why did Lemony give the ring to Kit instead of keeping it, or instead of giving it back to R? And why did Kit give the ring to Bertrand? Did she want Bertrand to marry Beatrice? And why did Beatrice keep the ring so carefully instead of displaying it on her finger? The only answer I can think of is that Beatrice kept the ring as a symbol of the forbidden love she could have lived with Lemony but didn't. She was his bride at heart. I believe that Beatrice's marriage to Bertrand was not motivated by love, but it was a suggestion that VFD gave her, especially since she has inherited a large fortune. But in any case, Bertrand gave this ring to Beatrice only on the day they were married, not on their engagement. At the time, Beatrice believed Lemony was dead. No wonder she decided to keep a memento of her true love. Of course, these are all hypotheses. But the most important question is: How does Ish know all this? The last information he has is that Captain W took the ring from the wreckage of the Baudelaire mansion and left it lost at sea. How does he know it was exactly Captain W who took the ring? This information can only have been generated by Captain W himself. Did the captain drop his logbook overboard? Chances are, yes.

[TheAsh]

Wow Jean! A really long rewarding post. I want to respond thoroughly when I have time.

Just this for now:
"Ish was informed by his student that her tutor was trying to drug her. Knowing this stopped Ish from drinking sweet tea. Also, because of this attitude, Ish had to talk to a waiter in a town near a lake. This is very similar to what Lemony had to do after being told that Olaf wanted to kill him and Beatrice."

The sweet tea brings to mind the sugar bowl. I assume that poison from the sugar bowl entered the tea, making it sweet, and to counteract that he had to drink bitter tea, which brings to mind the bitter apples. I suspect that this is Daniel Handler's intended solution to the sugar bowl mystery. Unfortunately, it is quite obtuse and unclear what actually are the two substances.

[Optimism is my Phil-osophy]

I understand your point of view, and I've been taking that into account. But however much I think, the fact remains that the secrets contained within the sugar bowl in the wrong hands would lead to a situation almost as bad as the deadly MM fungus in the wrong hands. A poison that does not spread by itself does not fit the description. Still, the contents of the SB contain information, according to the TSS secret letter. Speaking of references to the old testament, I'm sure some prophets (at least one of them) ate a message that in the mouth was sweet and in the stomach was bitter. I don't know if Daniel Handler thought of this point of view, but the phrase about tea being bitter is an Old Testament reference... so it's possible. In any case, this would be another indication that the content of the SB is either sweet or bitter information, depending on the usage.So, as much as I think, the only logical solution (even if not intended by Daniel Handler) is that the SB contains a set of dangerous information, a backup in case of a dark day. Among that information was something that would exonerate Lemony, but I don't think it's limited to that.

[Optimism is my Phil-osophy]

Chapter 11 -

In chapter 11 the schism takes place. Apparently it's something really violent and worrisome. If there were weapons in the hands of some, it is possible that there would have been deaths. Interestingly, this schism only proves that even Ish's attempts to keep the peace on the island didn't work. Even if the Baudelaires had not reached the island, the schism would have taken place. The End has proven to be one of the few ASOUE books in which the plot advances independently of the Baudelaires' presence. And this is increasingly reinforced in the speeches of the characters and Lemony, who claim that the story of the Baudelaires is not the only story in the world. In TE they are more witnesses to the events. This is a counterpoint to their performance in TPP. In TPP their presence and decisions affected the fate of many people who were in the hotel. But on the island, they're just castaways who are less willing to change than many of the characters who were already there.

This time the cause of the schism is the question of whether it is worth sacrificing the fun that a non-peaceful life brings or not. Of course you could just talk about it, but it's hard to convince people of anything. This is even a religious issue. Erewhon came from a peaceful island, and ended up on another peaceful island. He wanted to venture out into the world, and take risks and have the fun of a free life as a reward. On the other hand, Alonso came had a troubled life involved in politics, and all he wanted was a quiet life. Is it worth leaving the peace promoted by a rigid religious community and venturing far away? It is interesting that the solution to the problem was well ahead of everyone: those who wanted a life full of adventure and problems should have the courage to venture out to sea and leave the island. But the real problem is that these people didn't want to leave the island. They wanted to stay on the island and make the island a place full of dangerous adventures, and drive out those who defended the distance from the dangers of the world. War was practically inevitable, as it was not just an ideological issue... It became a territorial issue: who would be able to stay on the island and establish their way of thinking there? Daniel Handler exemplifies here how civil wars start.

I found it interesting that Friday is the most confusing... She says that all she wanted was a simple life with her father and mother together. She doesn't think that learning to read is making life difficult.

Suddenly, the schism that seemed to have only two sides starts to fragment, each one screaming that they prefer something different. We can assume that the VFD schisms ended up generating several fragmentations, taking as an example what happened on the island.

It is interesting that only Olaf calls Ishmael Ish. But let's talk about Olaf's monologue, which is just as intriguing as Ish's monologue.

I will summarize the important parts of the monologue here:





- Oh, Ish, I told you many years ago that I would triumph over you someday, and at last that day has arrived. My (female) associate with the weekday for a name (Monday) told me that you were still hiding out on this island. She (Monday) was trying to blackmail an old man who was involved in a political scandal. 

Well... that's the only part that really matters in Olaf's monologue. And the fact that Poe was once an actor. So... Who is Monday? She is a woman, who was an associate of Olaf. She knew Ish was on the island, which makes us assume she was someone who was on the island at the same time as Ish. She left the island or at the time Beatrice and Bertrand left there, making her a former supporter of Beatrice and Bertrand or she left the island at the time Thursday left the island. Another important piece of information is that Olaf swore he would triumph over Ish. This shows that Ish ended up becoming an important leader of one of the VFD factions. Olaf wanted to triumph over Ish, certainly he wanted to defeat the ideology espoused by Ish.

Another important detail we have here is that, unlike the Netflix series, in which Olaf frees himself from his prison, in the book TE Olaf is released by some who believed he had enough power to dethrone Ish. This attitude certainly reflects what had happened years earlier, when one of the VFD factions decided to enlist Olaf's help in destroying the deadly MM fungus.

No longer part of Olaf's monologue, but rather a dialogue in which Olaf explains the differences between him and Ish, we have a very important phrase for us to understand the VFD schism:

"If you were to wash the clay off Ishmael's feet,
you'd see he has the same tattoo as I do... The difference is that Ishmael is unarmed. He abandoned his weapons long ago, during the V.F.D. schism, refusing to use violence of any sort."

Olaf speaks here about The VFD Schism. The use of the definite article only makes me conclude that it refers to the Great Schism. Ish is old enough to have been a part of VFD since before the Great Schism. He also has the tattoo, indicating that he had been part of the organization since before this event that took place in Kit and Dewey's childhood. Hence we have the conclusion that Ish was part of the side that refused guns of any kind. This underscores the nature of the Great Schism of VFD: one side advocated violence as a mechanism to bring peace, after all for them fire must be fought with fire. The other side, which Ish supported, argued that the world should be quiet, and refused to use violence of any kind. In ATWQ and in some parts of TBL we find texts that reflect the way of thinking of the pacifist side of VFD. And we also know that Olaf stayed on the pacifist side of VFD along with Lemony and Beatrice for a few years. But eventually Olaf became an outspoken villain, meaning Oalf stopped trying to help the world. His violent methods are not motivated by an attempt to fight fire with fire. He's greedy, and that's evident here when he wants to become king of the island. Lemony soon realized that fire sometimes needed to be fought with fire when he killed Hangfire. Kit, Beatrice and Bertrad, as adults, also surrendered to the ideology that it is sometimes necessary to kill people to bring peace. They didn't become outright villains. They just changed their views. And, after many years, we have witnessed the downfall of the main herald of total pacifism in VFD history: Ish.

"Don't be so sure about that," Ishmael said, and raised an object in the air so everyone could see it... Now the weapon was adding another chapter to its secret history, and was pointing right at Count Olaf. "I had Omeros keep this weapon handy," Ishmael said, "instead of tossing it in the arboretum, because I thought you might escape from that cage, Count Olaf, just as I escaped from the cage you put me in when you set fire to my home... I'm going to do what I should have done years ago, Olaf, and slaughter you. I'm going to fire this harpoon gun right into that bulging belly of yours!" 

I find it interesting that Olaf denies setting fire to Ish's house. For some reason, I believe him. It is not like Olaf to deny having killed someone when his cover is no longer working. Anyway, we already know Ish shot him. And I find it very bizarre that Olaf falls down laughing, as if he has triumphed over Ish. After all, Olaf managed to turn the harbour of peace into someone violent, not only by inducing him to kill him, but also by making him responsible for the deaths of dozens of people. Olaf could have displayed the helmet containing the MM fungus, and made Ish surrender. But that wouldn't have been as complete a victory as making Ish an assassin. Of course, this at the same time induced him to unmask his hypocrisy in front of everyone on the island. Ish showed that she was a hypocrite by guarding a weapon. Ish showed he was a liar by showing that he had no foot problems. Olaf had managed to turn the Baudelaires into arsonists and now managed to turn Ish into an assassin. It is true that there is nothing to indicate that Olaf planned all this unfolding of events. However, as he fell to the ground laughing, he certainly thought about how all this just proved that he had indeed triumphed.