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Post by Chipper Coathanger on Dec 1, 2009 19:34:23 GMT -5
It seems to me that the ? is definitely organic. It's just part of the great squid-shape image I'm getting in my head. As we know nature has been one of the great unknown factors of the series; it seems to really never cooperate with anyone's plans and it follows no man's rules. Like the storm at sea in TE and the melting of the ice in TSS. They just wind up helping and hurting everyone at the same time. So I figure the ? will help the Quagmires, i.e., they won't be killed and might be brought to dry land or some means of survival, but it'll also hurt them by isolating them from the Baudelaires and the rest of their twisted, manmade world for a while. (Of course, they could also wind up being killed, which is harmful, but also saved from worse fates). It depends on how you look at it...
Anyway, what I mean is that it's a two-edged sword they're dealing with because all nature is like that in the series. Phew.
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Post by Dante on Dec 2, 2009 8:10:02 GMT -5
Your examination of its function rather than its nature strikes me as probably being closest to the mark of what we'd get if the series were ever continued in some form.
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Post by thedoctororwell on Dec 2, 2009 15:44:05 GMT -5
I've always thought the "?" was one of the Great Old Ones. Given everyone's reaction to it and its apparently incredible power, it would make sense. It wouldn't be the first time a character from another literary work makes a cameo in Asoue (Emma Bovary plays her own role in THH).  No, seriously. I think it's supposed to be like the sugar bowl - one of the great principles of the Universe, a particular, pure idea that has taken material form. Probably oblivion ; everything it touches vanishes, which is why you should always get away from it. Lemony suspects the ones he has no information about have vanished into "the Great Unknown" because as long as he doesn't hear again from them, they might as well have. |
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Post by Hermes on Dec 2, 2009 17:05:19 GMT -5
I've always thought the "?" was one of the Great Old Ones. Interesting thought. Are there any Lovecraft references in ASOUE? (Dante once conjectured that the original name of the Carmelita was the Chthulu.) Along with Clarissa Dalloway and others. And then there's Ramona Quimby. |
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Post by Dante on Dec 3, 2009 3:52:48 GMT -5
I can't think of any overt Lovecraft references in aSoUE, and it's not like it'd be hard to make one. But on the other hand, I haven't read all of Lovecraft's work, either, so there might be a subtle nod that passed me by.
Edit: I've edited the first post to change the thread title to something more accessible.
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Post by tigerseye on Dec 23, 2009 12:38:32 GMT -5
The great unkown, shall never be known.
Who knows if it is a good unknown or a bad unknown, we can never be sure, only Lemony Snicket knows and he seems pretty set on not telling anyone x
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Post by MyKindEditor on Dec 30, 2009 16:12:29 GMT -5
Maybe the 'Great Unkown' is an omnipotent being? Something that controls the world indirectly? Taking people in and out of other's lives? You could say-in a way that 'death' is omnipotent; I love the way LS left it: another one of life's great mysteries. It gives him the chance to easily pick up any of the character's stories should he ever wish to.
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Post by violet on Dec 31, 2009 15:10:50 GMT -5
The Great Unknown strikes me as iconoclast.
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Post by Dante on Jan 2, 2010 6:11:28 GMT -5
The Great Unknown strikes me as iconoclast. An intriguing interpretation. Would you care to elaborate? |
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looneylad
Catastrophic Captain
Ta-daaaaa!
Posts: 62
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Post by looneylad on Jan 2, 2010 16:09:32 GMT -5
Like many of you, I believe the Great Unknown could be some sort of metaphor for death or the afterlife. It is probably physically represented by a submarine or other aquatic transportation device. The whole concept is similar to whatever it is Frodo does at the end of Lord of the Rings.
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Post by Isadora on Feb 22, 2010 7:34:20 GMT -5
In the end of TGG, when the Baudelaires actually see the ?, it says that they watched it slither away or something like that, so I always thought it was some huge creature. Loch Ness Monster, anyone?  |
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Post by Christmas Chief on Feb 22, 2010 18:02:30 GMT -5
I think "slither away" was to help provide a visual of how stealthy the Great Unknown was. However I wouldn't dismiss the idea of it being some type of creature, although it does seem a bit outlandish.
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Post by yammiestyam on Mar 7, 2010 18:36:20 GMT -5
I think that it's a secret submarine that everyone parties it. Whoo-hoo!
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Post by Sophie-Senpi on Mar 8, 2010 18:14:13 GMT -5
whoa same here, you got good taste! ^^
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Post by monsieurlulu on Mar 30, 2010 13:32:13 GMT -5
^^  Like said already, I believe the Great Unknown is meant to represent the afterlife. |
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