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Post by Salex_ on Jan 4, 2006 22:39:50 GMT -5
(I'm guessing everyone caught on to this earlier than I have.)
Do you think Snicket made the double-meaning there on purpose? And what about "Dewey"? Does that have a double meaning or is it just a reference to the decimal system? I didn't catch onto this until several days after reading the book. And it's strange how he gave Ernest an inappropriate name, or maybe I'm missing the point of that.
And how do you pronounce Denouement? Is it "Dawn-oo-ma"?
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Post by RockSunner on Jan 4, 2006 23:18:06 GMT -5
On the audio book CD, it is pronounced day-NEW-mont.
I think "Dewey" could have multiple meanings, too. The phrase "dewey-eyed idealist" comes to mind. He was naive in his expectations for the trial, for example.
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Antenora
Detriment Deleter 
Fiendish Philologist
Put down that harpoon gun, in the name of these wonderful birds!
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Post by Antenora on Jan 5, 2006 8:03:42 GMT -5
Frank and Ernest are a reference to a comic strip(or, I think there's a children's book involving a bear named Frank and an elephant named Ernest, so Snicket could be alluding to either or both), but the names are also appropriate and ironic respectively because they connote honesty.
Dewey does seem very innocent and idealistic; he tells everyone that they can be noble again. And the names form another alphabetical group, DEF.
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Post by Dante on Jan 5, 2006 12:33:10 GMT -5
If the names are double-meanings (in addition to allusions), then I think Snicket could have done more with it. Played with the language a little. I don't recall him taking advantage of the double-meaning, anyway.
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Post by RockSunner on Jan 5, 2006 22:44:28 GMT -5
Earnest could also be a reference to "The Importance of Being Earnest" by Oscar Wilde, a comedy in which the female lead will only marry a man named Earnest.
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