The Mysterious Taxi Driver ~ SPOILERS

[lauren]

"the children felt a shadow over them, and looked up to see a tall, skinny figure standing over them. In the darkness the children could not see any of his features, only the glowing tip of a skinny cigarette in his mouth" pg244-245 TPP Is this the same taxi driver as the one in TWW pg 8-9 " "It's the off season," the cabdriver said. He was a skinny man with a skinny cigarette hanging out of his mouth, and as he talked to the children he looked at them through the rearview mirror.", and could he also be the same taxidriver who took Olaf to Monty's house insisting on showing OlaF pictures of his new baby. Anyone have ideas on who the taxidriver is?

[kitsnicketrox]

i think he's a member of VFD. on which side? i have absolutly no idea. but that is definately very interesting.

(ps: that avatar thing rox!)

[Dante]

Flaneur made the case that he's the same taxi driver from TWW, and I agree. The illustration of him at the start of TPP Chapter Ten doesn't match up with the illustration of the mysterious man in the first picture, but his description does, so I'm willing to believe that they're the same person as well.

And I also think that this person might have been Lemony. He had a sandwich with certain ingredients which could have been the coded sandwich mentioned in TSS. He had a musical instrument which took up a lot of space and needed to be laid down carefully - Lemony plays the accordian. Lemony also knew all the details of the taxi and its contents. Finally, the taxi driver apparently had the sugar bowl with him, and on page 231-2 Lemony says: "...in an instant, you can realize where something is hidden and decide whether you are going to retrieve it or let it stay hidden, where it might never be found and eventually be forgotten by all but a few very well-read and very distraught figures..." etc. And Lemony also apparently mentioned being a taxi driver somewhere in TPP, although I don't recall it myself, and I'd be glad if somebody could track it down.

Edit: Oh, and he fits Lemony's description as well - tall, has a hat which hides his features.

[PJ]

I think it's the same guy from TWW, but not Lemony, because...well, he just doesn't seem like Lemony, to me.

[Antenora]

It's been said that Lemony would be unlikely to be smoking(I'm pretty sure he's said that he thinks it's disgusting, and it's a fire hazard) but I think he'd be willing to adopt this habit as part of a disguise.

And I think this has been mentioned before, but the woman in the trunk of the taxi could have been the swimming woman from TGG. Possibly the Duchess.

[Dante]

If the Duchess were the swimming woman, then that would be convenient, as it would be one lesson character to introduce.

And I find it pretty unlikely that Lemony would smoke, too, but Handler might have written it like that to reinforce the connection to the taxi driver in TWW.

[Antenora]

The taxi driver in TWW, though, didn't seem much like Lemony--he was a bit impolite, if I remember(Someone's borrowing my copy of TWW, so I can't check). But, again, it could have been a convincing disguise.

[Dante]

The taxi driver in TWW wasn't particularly rude, although he was rather frank (and he ran over a cat earlier in the day). That's the trouble with retroactive continuity, I guess - things don't always entirely fit (as we know from most of the series).

Or the taxi driver could just have been the taxi driver. He could have been a mysterious, anonymous figure, like the question mark.

[Violet862]

in the autobiography, isn't one of the VFD disguises something to do with a taxi driver? complete with pictures of newborn baby??

[RockSunner]

Here is a quote, but it's not as specific about Lemony being the driver as I was remembering (pp. 92-93):

"If you are riding in a taxi, you might prefer silence so that you can study your map in peace, but the occasion may require you to shout, "Please turn around! I think they've driven through those hedges."

[LargeManFeOrMale]

When the taxi driver started talking to the bauds I immediatly thought lemony

[lauren]

My sister also thinks it s Lemony but I dsagree for several (not very good) reasons includng:
1. I fnd it hard to believe Lemony to be the type to smoke
2. I would have thought he'd tell that part of the story in 1st person pov
3. The many is descrbed as tall and skinny but judging from his pictures I would describe him as more medum hieght and medium weight
4. ....that is all I can think of... actually as I was wrting those reasons and trying to make a good argument i think I have converted, it s actually possible for him to be L:emony

[Antenora]

Snicket's referred to himself in third person before, though. There was the photograph in THH, in which he referred to himself simply as "the obscured man...". Then again, in that case he was only referring to his image, not to a person.

[Dante]

lauren said:

3. The many is descrbed as tall and skinny but judging from his pictures I would describe him as more medum hieght and medium weight

A fair point, but it could be a moment of vanity on Handler's part (or simply wishing to separate himself from the actual character within the books). And the actual illustration of the Chapter Ten man (found at the beginning of Chapter Ten, surprise surprise) looks much more like Lemony's photographs.

[Grace]

I believe it's Snicket or Handler. I purposely chose not to read the thread so my ideas aren't influenced (and the spoilers). I'm gonna read it now.

EDIT: Dante, your first post in this thread is what I thought. Though the smoking bit is a bit odd. Who knows? I think I read somewhere he smoked a pipe. Or I may have made that up. *shrug*

YET ANOTHER EDIT: And if that bit wasn't obvious enough already (at least to me), if he had put it in first person it'd be so obvious and alot of the series includes us solving the mysteries for ourselves as opposed to him giving us all the answers.