The Unanswered Questions

[Dante]

Oct 4, 2009 4:56:59 GMT -5 matthew said:

The only problem is, you get tonnes of fanfics. Mostly pretty rubbish. I've seen some good ones though.

I don't consider "tonnes of fanfics" to be a problem in itself, but I agree that a lack of quality fanfiction would be regrettable. And even if it is good, does it approach that open ending?

[Sophie-Senpi]

in 'The End' it said ' the quagmire triplets were just as in the dark, if a lot more damper, than the baudelaires at this moment' or somthing like that..........
well i think its some sort of prison, and i will be writing a fanfic about it later

[L'enfant terrible]

Or maybe they're under the sea...dead? Hope not :S Looking forward to read your fanfic though

[Vadron]

I seem to recall Quigley (but not the other two) ending up under the sea dead in your fanfic...
On-Topic: The reason the unanswered questions are so great is that they provide plenty of materials for fanfics.

[L'enfant terrible]

Yes that is true about Quigley...or is it? Daniel Handler mostly just frustrated us by giving thousands of unanswered questions for our imaginations to work on

[jacquessnicket]

I agree that it leaves you hanging at the end of the series and that Lemony should release a copy of the diary that would make me happy

[Christmas Chief]

I don't think Handler ever intended to answer half the questions he created- some subtle hints he gives turn out to be much more problematic than problem-solving. Of course, some of these hints indeed lead us to actual answers, but it even says in The End that A Series of Unfortunate Events only unlocked more mysteries, and therefore we would have an endless circle of questions that would never be answered.

I agree, though. It would be nice to have it released.

[tigerseye]

I would love to know more there are so many mysteries left unsolved at the end of 'the end', but then again those questions left behind are the main part of what makes the books so exciting =D
one thing i would like to know is what happened to the Quagmires? I doubt i will ever know the answer :\ x

[Hermes]

I think the series falls into three parts. In the first part there aren't any real mysteries, except the mystery in each book, 'What is Olaf up to, and how might he be beaten?'

In the second part, which begins round about TAA, where VFD is first mentioned, ongoing mysteries begin to develop. They include 'What is VFD?' and 'Who is Beatrice?' - both of which are in a way aspects of the same question, 'How is the Baudelaires' story connected to Lemony's own story?' Also, starting from THH, we get the question 'Is there a survivor of the fire?' Most of these questions are answered in the end.

The third part begins with TSS, and in this he really begins to blow mystery up into a theme in its own right. So we get the sugar bowl made into something really important, and the Great Unknown - neither of which are ever explained - and also a lot of smaller things about which we are constantly told how mysterious they are. Here, he's trying to emphasise how mysterious the world is; the point isn't to find a solution. Indeed, if there had been a solution to everything, I think it might have been rather dull and left us saying 'Is that all?' - leaving us with the puzzles is better.

[hieitouyaicedemon]

Hermes presents an interesting point, and one that I agree with. I believe the books mature as the series goes on, turning into a poignant metaphor of life. Do you remember the shows you used to watch as a child, when every problem was solved by the end of the episode? Then, as you grew older, the shows became more complicated, storylines stretching over episodes and seasons. There would even be some themes that applied to the whole series. This is the way I see the ASOUE books.

In the beginning of the series, the books were a lot like those children's shows - individual to their books, following a set format that, while not fun for the Baudelaires, was consistent for us, the readers. In a way, it is very similar to childhood - living life in a day-to-day state of mind, the day's problems solved neatly for us by its end. Then the formula changes. Things get more complicated - we develop fears, dramas, loves, and loss that stay with us, and suddenly we're expected to be able to deal with them in a mature way. That format, like the Baudelaires' guardian-to-guardian pattern, disappears, and we aren't sure how to proceed. We have to figure out some things for ourselves, but we have help, and ultimately, we come to realize the solutions to our issues.

And then, as we get even older, we come to realize there are things we will never understand. Like the timeless classic "Why are we here?", there are simply some things we do not know. But we have to keep going on with our lives, occasionally stopping to ponder the greater questions when we have time, but distracted by those ever-persistent issues in our ever-more complicated lives. I believe there's a reason why Lemony Snicket kept some things open, because if we knew everything, it would be just like those shows when we were young, when everything was neatly-wrapped and explained at the end. Just like the Baudelaires, we've grown since then, and thus we must accept that there are some things we'll never understand. However, that shouldn't stop us from trying, just like every person who's ever stopped to ponder exactly why we're here.

[Christmas Chief]

Interesting metaphor.

I see the ASOUE books to be intertwined, in a way. The beginning books, TBB, TRR, TWW, and TMM, have their own individual mysteries that are solved at the end of the books, like Hermes said. But they also have ongoing mysteries that are explored in deeper depths in the later books. In the beginning, those mysteries are only touched on: they're subtle hints that lead us to the bigger, more complex mysteries in TAA, TEE, TVV, and THH. The mysteries in these books have more possible solutions. The theories develop, and the plot thickens. The books TCC-TPP are where those solutions and theories are either promoted, destroyed, or simply ignored. These are the books, though, where ends start to meet ends. The End is where Lemony starts bringing us to accept the questions he created could never be answered, and even if they were, even more mysteries would be unlocked, thus leading us to a never-ending circle of questions.

[Dante]

These thoughts about the structure of the series are extremely insightful; I'm very impressed. One response I have is whether the increasing complexity of the series is self-conscious; that is, did Handler make events more complicated, more long-running, more open, simply because that's what you do to make a series mature and evolve, or did he do it with full awareness that he was looking back on literary tradition? In other words, is it literature, or literature about literature? I think that the last few books are the latter, but before that it's more straightforward.

[indyrams]

Interesting thing about the Sugar bowl.
Wasn't it said that, if the good side aquired it, Olaf would be brought to justice and end the evil side? (Or something along those lines not specifically)

I just find it odd that proving Olaf's guilt would stop all the evil side. I mean, he's only one person.

The sugar bowl had to contain something that would threaten many of the villains and bring them to justice.

[Dante]

I'm not wholly sure that was ever among the criteria, but it is conversely emphasised that the villains getting their hands on the sugar bowl would be a disaster for the volunteer side; Kit states that she can't think of anything worse, except for the villains getting hold of the Medusoid Mycelium (TPP p. 36). It is difficult to think of exactly what could qualify.