Violet Baudelaire

Violet Baudelaire
A Series of Unfortunate Events character
VioletBaudelaire.png
Violet as illustrated by Brett Helquist on the boxed set of the series.
First appearance The Bad Beginning
Last appearance The End
Portrayed by Emily Browning
Occupation Runaway youth
Amateur (but skilled) inventor
Family Klaus Baudelaire (brother)
Sunny Baudelaire (sister)
Beatrice Baudelaire (mother)
Bertrand Baudelaire (father)
Beatrice Baudelaire (adoptive sister)
Relatives Count Olaf (third cousin four times removed or fourth cousin three times removed)
Monty Montgomery (cousin's brother-in-law)
Josephine Anwhistle (second cousin's sister-in-law)
(Among others, see also Baudelaire family)
Religion Jewish[nb 1]

Violet Baudelaire (pronounced /ˈvaɪ.əlɨt ˌboʊdəˈlɛər/) is one of the main characters in the children's book series A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket. Violet is the eldest child of the Baudelaire orphans. Her younger siblings are brother Klaus and sister Sunny. Violet is an inventor, and is known for inventing helpful items under severe time constraints and with few supplies. In the first book in the series Violet is 14 years old, and she turns 15 in The Grim Grotto. By the end of the series she is most likely 16. Violet's favorite book is The Life of Nikola Tesla, and she has a strong allergy to peppermints, which she shares with her siblings. She does not like the song, "Row, Row, Row Your Boat" because of the part, "Life is but a dream". She, like her siblings, is very polite. At the end of the series, she, Klaus, and Sunny adopt Kit Snicket's baby daughter, Beatrice Baudelaire. In The Bad Beginning, Snicket describes Violet as having pleasant facial features, like her siblings. She hates the color pink and finds the color lavender a sickly color, as mentioned in The Wide Window.

Contents

Biography

Before the series

When Violet Baudelaire was five years old, she won her first invention contest with an automatic rolling pin. She used a window shade and six pairs of roller skates. This clever invention earned her a gold medal and a compliment from the judge, who bet that Violet could "invent something with both her hands tied behind her back." Around her tenth birthday, she invented a new kind of pencil sharpener.[2] Prior to the demise of her parents, she enjoyed visiting the Verne Invention Museum and its many exhibits, including one of the mechanical demonstrations that had inspired her to be an inventor when she was just two years old.

During the series

Violet as portrayed by Emily Browning in the 2004 film

The Bad Beginning

At the beginning of the series, Violet loses her parents, Bertrand and Beatrice Baudelaire, in a fire that consumes their mansion. Mr. Poe sends Violet, Klaus and Sunny to their new guardian, the villainous Count Olaf, who tries to steal the enormous Baudelaire fortune using various nefarious schemes. His initial plan involves marrying Violet in a ceremony made to look like a play, The Marvelous Marriage. As Violet’s husband, Olaf would have control over her entire estate, including the fortune. Thankfully, Violet signs the marriage certificate with her left hand instead of her right. Since she is right-handed, Violet has not signed the document in her "own hand," thus voiding the marriage. After Violet and her siblings defeat Olaf’s first treacherous plan, he and his associates escape[3].

Books 2-4

Her subsequent guardians include her kind, adventurous Uncle Monty,[2] her mousy, timid Aunt Josephine,[4] and the uncaring, callous Sir[5]. However, Count Olaf always shows up in disguise, hoping to steal the fortune, ruining the trio's attempts to maintain a peaceful live. The orphans always manage to foil his plans by revealing the tattoo of an eye on his ankle, but at a cost: Olaf murders Monty and Josephine. At Sir’s lumber mill, he gets the Baudelaires fired after staging a potentially lethal accident that would have killed Sir’s business partner, Charles[5].

As an inventor, Violet often plays a pivotal role in foiling Count Olaf. At Uncle Monty’s, she proves that Olaf (disguised as a man named Stephano) had murdered Monty, using a homemade lock pick. With it, she unlocks Olaf’s suitcase, finding the evidence she needs within. During her time with Aunt Josephine, she invents a signaling device while she, her siblings, and Josephine are adrift on the dangerous Lake Lachrymose. This saved the Baudelaires, but their rescuer is Olaf himself, and Olaf tosses Aunt Josephine to the Lachrymose Leeches. At Sir’s lumbermill, Violet does not invent anything; rather, she takes up Klaus’ role as a researcher, as Klaus is currently under the influence of hypnosis. Using information she learned in a book called Advanced Ocular Science, she is able to un-hypnotize Klaus.

The Austere Academy

Violet and her siblings first meet their close friends Duncan and Isadora Quagmire when Mr. Poe sends them to boarding school[6]. The Quagmires play a role in helping them foil Count Olaf (now disguised as a gym teacher) and his plan to get them expelled. Unfortunately, Olaf kidnaps Duncan and Isadora, leaving the orphans alone once again, this time haunted by a cryptic clue: "V. F. D. "

The Ersatz Elevator

Jerome and Esmé Squalor adopt the Baudelaires at the start of The Ersatz Elevator, mainly because Esmé considers orphans to be "in"[7]. Olaf comes disguised as an auctioneer named Gunther, and this time he brings something else: the Quagmire triplets, hidden in a secret location. This location turns out to be a secretly empty elevator shaft in the Squalors' apartment building. Violet invents a makeshift rope to assist the orphans in descending the shaft. At the bottom of this shaft, they find Duncan and Isadora, trapped in a cage. Since they do not have the tools needed to free the triplets, Violet and her siblings must ascend the shaft alone. Back in the Squalors' apartment, Violet invents welding torches so as to free the Quagmires, and when the Baudelaires return to the cage, only to find it empty. Later, Esmé throws the Baudelaires down the elevator shaft and reveals that she is in cahoots with Olaf. Sunny manages them all by using her teeth, and the three discover a secret passageway leading to the charred remains of the Baudelaire mansion. Eventually, the Baudelaires make their way to Veblen Hall, where Klaus had learned the Quagmires are to be auctioned off by "Gunther." The orphans bid on the wrong lot, however, and the Quagmires are carried away again. Instead of staying with Jerome, who they know will be useless, the Baudelaires decided to hunt down Duncan and Isadora.

The Vile Village

Following the clue of V.F.D., Violet and her siblings decide to be adopted by the Village of Fowl Devotees[8], specifically by a caring but skittish villager named Hector. Hector has an inventing studio and a library which seem to be very comfortable for the Baudelaires. There, the three siblings received coded couplets from Isadora, via the migrating crows that lived in the village. When the villagers capture a distinctive-looking man, they think they have caught Olaf at last. Only Violet, Klaus and Sunny know that this man is not Olaf. The Baudelaires try to rescue the man, Jacques Snicket[8], from being burned at the stake, but they end up being accused of his murder of Jacques by none other than the real Count Olaf (disguised as Detective Dupin). The village jails the Baudelaires, who see no hope for escape. In the nick of time, however, Violet invents a water pump to dissolve the mortar of the jail cell’s brick walls, and the bench upon which she sits proves to be a handy battering ram. After escaping, the Baudelaires rescue Duncan and Isadora from a fountain, using clues in the coded poems. Duncan and Isadora escape with Hector, but Violet, Klaus and Sunny are separated from the Quagmires by Esmé, who disguised as the village’s chief of police[8]. Thanks to the Daily Punctilio, the news of what the Baudelaires are accused of spreads quickly. Thus, the Baudelaire children flee from the authorities.

The Hostile Hospital

Violet and her siblings find shelter in a general store, then escape with Volunteers Fighting Disease and receive a job helping a man named Hal at Heimlich Hospital's library of records[9]. Esmé catches up with the siblings while the children are trying to locate a file on their parents in the library. The file they find suggests that one Baudelaire parent may still be alive. Klaus and Sunny manage to escape from Esmé by climbing up a chute, but Esmé captures Violet before she can get away. Count Olaf and his assistants, disguised as doctors, attempt to perform a "cranioectemy" on Violet in the hospital, which would have killed her. Klaus and Sunny try to save their sister by disguising themselves as two of Olaf’s henchmen (disguised as doctors), but are exposed by Esmé and the real henchmen during the operation. Luckily for the Baudelaires, the anesthesia wears off on Violet, and Klaus and Sunny wheel her through the hospital and into a supply closet. Violet is able to invent a small intercom, which she uses to order everyone searching for the "Baudelaire murderers" to look somewhere far from their actual location[9]. Violet then invents a bungee cord so that the siblings can escape from Heimlich Hospital, which Olaf has set on fire, an act he blames on the orphans.

The Carnivorous Carnival

Having hid in the trunk of Olaf’s car, the Baudelaires emerge to find themselves at Caligari Carnival. They disguise themselves as "freaks" and are hired by Madame Lulu, the carnival’s owner. The children discover an archival library under the table in Lulu’s fortune-telling tent, and it is using this library that Lulu is able to give Olaf the whereabouts of the Baudelaire orphans. After the Baudelaires confront Lulu about this, she breaks down and reveals that she used to be a noble person, but had been giving information to anyone that asked for it, be they "volunteer or villain". Lulu, whose real name is Olivia, is part of the same secret organization as Olaf and Jacques are, V.F.D., which the children already suspected began with "Volunteer". She promises not to tell Olaf about the Baudelaires' whereabouts, in exchange for Violet’s invention of a means of escape from the carnival. Violet gussies up a pair of disused roller coaster carts at the carnival, and she only needs a fan belt of Olivia’s to complete the escape vehicle. Violet never receives it, however, for Olivia falls into a lion pit that Olaf had dug. The Baudelaires pretend to decide to join Count Olaf, and they ride in a caravan up into the Mortmain Mountains, where Olaf believes one of the Baudelaire parents are hiding, based on a map the children had found in Olivia’s library. Olaf knows, however, that the "freaks" are really the Baudelaires, having been told by Madame Lulu. Olaf’s associates unhook the caravan from Olaf’s car, where Sunny is held hostage[10].

The Slippery Slope

Violet manages to devise a brake for the caravan using hammocks as a drag chute and spreading sticky foods on the wheels. Once they get the caravan stopped, the siblings disguise themselves as Snow Scouts and meet Quigley Quagmire. They find that V.F.D. Headquarters has burnt down. At the burnt wreck that was Headquarters, Violet learns the true meaning of V.F.D..[11]

Over the course of The Slippery Slope, Violet and Quigley form a strong attachment to each other.[11] They share a private moment and it is implied that they share romantic feelings for one another. (What would become of this relationship is unknown, as Quigley ultimately disappears during the events of The End, carried off by the "Great Unknown"[12].)

Violet, Quigley and Klaus hatch a plan to lure Esmé to them and use her to bait Olaf into giving Sunny back. They dig a pit and light a Verdant Flammable Device next to it. Esmé sees green smoke at the bottom of the slope. Thinking the smoke is coming from "in" cigarettes, she goes down toward it. The children, however, realize that two wrongs don't equal a right and that there is a better way to rescue Sunny than kidnapping Esmé. When she reaches the bottom, she runs into three masked strangers (the two Baudelaires and Quigley), who help her climb back up the slope, hoping to get Sunny as a reward for their efforts.

Claiming to be Volunteers, Violet, Klaus and Quigley demand Sunny's return. Olaf refuses, until Violet pretends to know the location of a missing sugar bowl (of unknown importance) from Esmé's tea set. While Olaf is attempting to barter for the dish, the Snow Scouts reach the peak of the mountain. Klaus, Violet, and Quigley take off their masks to convince the scouts to run. Seeing the "volunteers" for who they really are, Olaf orders the two white-faced women to grab Sunny and throw her off the mountain, but they leave, quitting the troupe. As they leave, they tell Olaf that one of their siblings was killed when their house burned down. The freaks, the hook-handed man and all of the Scouts (except for Carmelita) are captured in a net and carried off by eagles. Olaf and Esmé convince Carmelita to join their evil schemes. The Baudelaires and Quigley grab a toboggan and slide down the slope. When they reach the bottom, the frozen waterfall shatters, and the ensuing flood flood separates the Baudelaire siblings from Quigley Quagmire. Quigley tries to tell them to meet him somewhere, but the Baudelaires cannot hear him over the rush of the running water.

The Grim Grotto

Now lost in the water, the Baudelaires board the Queequeg, captained by Captain Widdershins and his daughter Fiona[13]. The siblings embark on a mission to the Gorgonian Grotto, but upon arrival, they find that the Grotto is a breeding ground for the Medusoid Mycelium. Returning to the Queequeg, Violet is surprised to find that its inhabitants are throwing her a surprise birthday party. Some balloons are tied to chairs, with the letters "V.F.D." on them (standing for "Violet's Fifteenth Date"). This surprise, however is nothing compared to the shock of what happens next: The children discover that a spore of the poisonous Medusoid Mycelium has infiltrated Sunny's helmet. They do not have much time to research a cure, however, as Count Olaf's giant octopus-shaped ship, the Carmelita, approaches, swallowing the Queequeg. The Baudelaire orphans are taken captive and subsequently interrogated, but they manage to escape, thanks to Carmelita Spats' actions. A question mark-shaped ship drives the Carmelita off.

Then, she and Klaus received the Voluntary Factual Dispatch from Quigley Quagmire, who needs the Baudelaires at a certain coded location by Tuesday, the very next day, and just two days before the meeting at the Hotel. Violet suggested that responding the code and looking for Widdershins are the highest priority than saving Fiona, and Klaus agreed reluctantly. As soon as Klaus solved half the message, Violet started decoding the other part. Olaf, having discovered the children, announced they are nearing Hotel Denouement and Fiona had sided with his team. He told them that once they arrive at the Hotel Denouement, he will have won. Violet and Klaus tried to reason with Fiona and offered her the mushroom sample still inside the helmet, which she could study. She was clearly tempted, however Olaf returns and takes it. Suddenly, on the radar, the mysterious question mark ship appeared and Olaf clearly knows what it is, as he ordered everyone to battle stations to flee. Fiona, knowing that she has made the mistake, allowed the Baudelaires to escape in the Queequeg. Violet reactivated the Queequeg, as Klaus assumed her control to escape from the Carmelita safely.

Back to the Briny Beach, Mr. Poe tells the orphans to come to the police station, ostensibly to resolve all their troubles. Knowing that Mr. Poe cannot and will not help them, the trio instead climbs into a taxi driven by Kit Snicket.

The Penultimate Peril

Kit turned out to be driving them to the Hotel Denouement[14]. There, they disguised as concierges as Violet, Klaus, and Sunny started their first day of work after being introduced to the hotel by Frank and Ernest, the identical twin managers. The Baudelaires are to serve and help the people of the Hotel, as a front so they can be flâneurs, and in particular learn whether the mysterious "J.S." is not helping V.F.D. or its enemies.

When the three bells suddenly start ringing at once, splitting up the three Baudelaires. Violet went to the rooftop sunbathing salon, where she find Esmé, Carmelita and Geraldine Julienne, a Daily Punctilio reporter responsible for false reports that the Baudelaire children killed Count Omar. She eavesdropped on Esme and Geraldine on a discussion of a cocktail party which J.S. will try to spoil, but was interrupted when Carmelita ordered Violet to get her a harpoon gun, which she did so. Frank oddly asked if she was who he thought she was.

That night, the Baudelaires puzzle over how Frank and Ernest can be in three places at the same time (all of their trips happened at the same time). Finally, Klaus deduces that a crow will bring the sugar bowl to the Hotel. It will be shot down by the harpoon gun, fall onto the flypaper, and drop the sugar bowl into the laundry room vent. All of a sudden, they see a man descending from the ceiling of the Hotel. They think it is Ernest or Frank, but it turns out to be Dewey Denouement, the third triplet, whom was the one Sunny encountered. Klaus had encountered Ernest, who wanted the birdpaper hung to catch the crow for the villains. And Violet had encountered Frank, who slyly tried to tell Violet not to give the harpoon gun to Carmelita by saying "Do you really think its a good idea for a little girl to have a harpoon gun?" Dewey tells them that there is a duplicate of the Hotel at the bottom of the pond, containing a catalogue of all the secrets of V.F.D., which he has spent his entire life collecting. Then Justice Strauss and Jerome Squalor, who both believe that they are the J.S. being contacted, arrive by taxi. Justice Strauss has been working with the High Court to help the Baudelaires, and Jerome - who also felt bad over how he treated the orphans - has written a book on the matter called Odious Lusting After Finance, in order to bring more attention to Olaf's misdeeds. The High Court justices are coming to put Count Olaf and the other evil people of V.F.D. on trial and so - on Thursday - all of the noble people will arrive to give evidence.

Re-entering the hotel, they encounter Count Olaf who says that the Hook-handed man and Fiona stole his submarine. Hugo, Colette and Kevin, the three carnival freaks who joined Olaf in The Carnivorous Carnival, all arrive. Olaf also hints that the Baudelaire's own parents were not noble, and that they had something to do with a box of poison darts in an opera. Later, it is said that the poison darts were used to kill Olaf's parents, which Kit and Lemony Snicket say they were invoved in, at the " fateful night at the opera". Dewey tells Olaf of the catalogue he has made, which prompts Esmé to comment that he must already know what is inside the sugar bowl, and why it is so important. She also mentions that Beatrice stole the sugar bowl from her. Olaf takes the harpoon gun from Carmelita and threatens Dewey. The Baudelaires shield him and approach Olaf as he counts to ten, however he is interrupted by the coughing of Mr. Poe, who has come from his room to see what is happening. Count Olaf quickly shoves the gun into the Baudelaire's hands. The Baudelaires accidentally drop the gun to the ground. It discharges, and a harpoon hits Dewey, inflicting a fatal wound. As he dies, he utters one word: "Kit." He is referring to Kit Snicket who is the love of his life, and is now carrying his baby, his baby daughter, Beatrice Baudelaire.

Dewey stumbles out of the hotel and the Baudelaires watch as he sinks into the pond. It is hinted that the secret of the sugar bowl died with him, and the mystery will continue forever. Justice Strauss's taxi driver - an enigmatic man smoking a cigarette - talks to them, but they cannot tell whether he is a volunteer or a villain, and they realize they cannot leave the scene of the crime. It is possible that the driver is Lemony Snicket himself. As the entire hotel is awakened, the Baudelaires walk back into the hotel, and the taxi driver drives away. Justice Strauss breaks the ensuing chaos up by saying that the accused must have a legal trial, and the Baudelaires are locked in one room, Count Olaf in another.

It is early Wednesday morning when the Baudelaires go to bed, and they wake in the afternoon where they are returned to the lobby for the trial. Due to a literal reading of the phrase "justice is blind", everyone except the judges are blindfolded. The trial begins and Olaf gives a brief speech where he states his innocence. The Baudelaires, however, are beginning to question their own nobility and morality and so they answer that they are "comparatively innocent". When Justice Strauss stops commenting in sentences, the Baudelaires get suspicious and remove their blindfolds to discover that the other justices are Olaf's compatriots: the man with a beard but no hair, and the woman with hair but no beard. The false judges and Olaf are fleeing with the gagged and bound Justice Strauss and the Baudelaires chase them to the elevator, while telling everyone else to take off their blindfolds.

Realizing that they need to follow Olaf, both to stop him from getting away and because there are authorities at the door of the hotel, the Baudelaires go with him and Justice Strauss in the elevator. He goes first to the laundry room, believing the sugar bowl to be inside. Using three clues, they break in, only to find that the sugar bowl is not there. Angered, Olaf declares that he is going to the roof to get the specimen of Medusoid Mycelium which he will spread through the hotel, killing everyone. He will then escape, by jumping off the roof in a boat. Violet, realizing his plan is foolish, agrees to help. Klaus is surprised that she would do this but Violet knows that they also need an escape route, and going with Olaf may be the only way. Then, Sunny abruptly suggests that they burn down the Hotel, and Olaf agrees.

As the elevator goes up, the Baudelaires use a trick their parents taught them and press all of the buttons so the elevator stops on every floor. This gives them and Justice Strauss an opportunity to warn all of the guests of the fire. However, the other guests are still blindfolded from the trial and Olaf shouts that the fire warning is fake. The narrative does not reveal which guests believed the Baudelaires and which believed the Count, but hints that some of them died in the fire. It is also stated here that the Baudelaires will not see Esmé or Carmelita again. This perhaps reveals that they both died in the fire, along with others.

On the roof, Klaus reveals that the sugar bowl fell into the pond and not into the laundry room. Here, Violet deduces that Sunny suggested they set the Hotel on fire as a signal so that noble people like Kit, Hector and the Quagmires would cancel the meeting. As Sunny says, "the last safe place is safe no more". Violet makes a chute for the boat to safely make it off the building, and they use the giant spatulas used for flipping sunbathers as oars. Justice Strauss attempts to stop the Baudelaires leaving on the boat, but Sunny bites her hand and makes her let go. The boat floats safely down to the ocean, and the Baudelaires are left "in the same boat" as Count Olaf. Flames engulf the Hotel Denouement, and Justice Strauss is possibly killed in the fire. Count Olaf gets away yet again.

The End

The boat carries Violet, Klaus, Sunny and Olaf away from the burning hotel[12]. After surviving a storm, they find themselves on a coastal shelf of an island inhabited by a mysterious group of people. They are first greeted by a little girl, Friday Caliban. Count Olaf, who had previously proclaimed himself king of Olaf-Land, threatens the girl with a harpoon gun. Friday is unfazed; she refuses Olaf permission to land on the island, but invites the Baudelaires onto the island. Along the way, she describes what the islanders do with their time—all year long, they build an outrigger on the coastal shelf, and once a year the water rises high enough to submerge the shelf and launch the outrigger. This is known as Decision Day, when anyone who wishes can board the ship, bite a bitter apple, spit it back out, and sail away. The island facilitator, Ishmael, introduces the Baudelaires to the strange island customs. Also, Ishmael has the islanders (most named after famous literary or historical castaways) introduce themselves to the Baudelaires.

Although Ishmael always tells the islanders "I won't force you", it soon becomes apparent that his decisions go largely unquestioned and his suggestions are obeyed like orders. After the Baudelaires introduce themselves, Ishmael toasts the "Baudelaire orphans" (despite their not having mentioned their lost parents) with the coconut cordial which everybody carries, but which the orphans themselves dislike.

After another storm, more objects wash up including a giant pile of books tied together in the shape of a cube, an unconscious and pregnant Kit Snicket, and the Incredibly Deadly Viper from Uncle Monty's collection. The island people arrive and Count Olaf tries to fool them with a bad Kit Snicket disguise (with the diving-helmet containing the Medusoid Mycelium tucked under his dress as his supposed baby). Strangely, the islanders immediately see through Olaf's flimsy disguise and cage him. They then debate whether the orphans should be expelled from the colony when they discover that the Baudelaires are carrying "contraband" items. Ishmael decides that the children, Kit, and Olaf should all be abandoned unless they agree to abide by the colony's rules. After everyone leaves, Olaf tries to tempt the children to let him out of the cage by promising to explain the many mysteries and secrets which they have been surrounded by since The Bad Beginning, but they ignore him.

That night, two of the islanders Erewhon and Finn sneak out to feed the children onion soup for dinner and ask them a favor. A group of discontented colonists are planning a mutiny against Ishmael in the morning, and they ask the Baudelaires to go over to the arboretum where all the contraband items are collected, and find or make some weapons to use in the rebellion. Further, the mutineers refuse to help Kit unless the Baudelaires help them. The children agree, and set off for the arboretum. The orphans discover a well-appointed living area, before they are in turn discovered by Ishmael. They learn that their parents were once the island's leaders and were responsible for many improvements meant to make island-life easier and more pleasant, but they were eventually overthrown by Ishmael, who believed that a strictly-enforced simple life (combined with the opiate of the coconut cordial) was the best way to avoid conflict. The Baudelaires find an enormous history of the island, entitled A Series of Unfortunate Events, written by the many different people who had served as island leaders, including their parents and Ishmael. Ishmael also makes references to many other people, including a girl with only one eyebrow and ear (the mother of Isaac Anwhistle) and Gregor Anwhistle. The girl with one eyebrow and ear is also mentioned in the Wide Window when Aunt Josephine says something like " A lot of people have that one distinguishing feature ( the one eyebrow ). My grandmother had not only one eyebrow, but also one ear. ".

The Baudelaires and Ishmael go back to the other side of the island, where the mutiny is already underway. Count Olaf returns, still in disguise. After a brief exchange, Ishmael harpoons Olaf in the stomach, which shatters the helmet containing the Medusoid Mycelium, infecting the island's entire population at once. With Count Olaf slowly bleeding to death, the Baudelaires run back to the arboretum to try to find some horseradish to cure everyone. They learn that their parents had hybridized an apple tree with horseradish, allowing the fruit to cure the effects of the Medusoid Mycelium. The Incredibly Deadly Viper offers them an apple. After sharing the apple and curing themselves, they then gather more apples for the island's inhabitants, only to discover that the island people have abandoned the mutiny and boarded their outrigger canoe, ready to set sail. Ishmael refuses to allow the apples on-board, though it is clear that he himself has already eaten one to cure himself, and the boat sails away to a horseradish factory to save everyone (It is hinted though, that one apple might have been sneaked on board by the Incredibly Deadly Viper to tide them over until they reach the factory).

Kit tells the Baudelaires the fate of the Quagmires, Hector, Captain Widdershins and his two stepchildren Fernald and Fiona. After reuniting on Hector's float, they are attacked by trained eagles, who pop the balloons supporting the float and send them hurtling back to the ruins of the Queequeg. There, they are taken by the mysterious object shaped like a question mark (called "The Great Unknown" by Kit Snicket). In turn, the Baudelaires confess their own crimes committed at the Hotel Denouement. At this point, Kit is about to go into labour. She seems to be dying of the fungus, but cannot eat the bitter apple due to the hybrid's unhealthy effects on unborn babies. She is still trapped on top of the cube of books (her Vaporetto (boat) of Favorite Detritus) but when the critically-injured and fungus-choked Olaf hears that she is still alive, he takes a bite of an apple and manages to get her safely down onto the beach, giving her a single soft kiss as he lays her on the sand and collapses, still conscious, beside her. Kit recites the poem "The Night Has a Thousand Eyes" by Francis William Bourdillon, answered by Olaf reciting the final stanza of Philip Larkin's "This Be The Verse" . He then dies. The Baudelaires help Kit give birth to a baby girl. She then dies due to the Medusoid Mycelium, after asking the orphans to name the baby after their mother, Beatrice. Here The End ends with the Baudelaires becoming Kit's child's adopted parents, and became the only ones in the island. They bury Kit and Olaf, apparently next to each other, somewhere on the island.

Chapter Fourteen and Later

Violet and her siblings adopt Kit Snicket’s child, Beatrice, after Count Olaf died[12]. The fate of her and her siblings is ambiguous as they left the island with the baby girl. As mentioned in The Hostile Hospital and The End, despite all of Lemony’s research and hard work, even he still does not know the current location, position and status of the Baudelaire children[9][12], though a poster from The Beatrice Letters shows the remains of the ship showing Violet's ribbon amongst the debris. While it is stated in a special version of The Bad Beginning that Violet returned to Briny Beach a third time, implying her survival, but this is unconfirmed. Their boat, the Beatrice sank when they were close to the mainland as the boat is seen torn up on some sharp rocks. It is possible that she is dead, despite the statement by Beatrice in The Beatrice Letters that Violet survived. It is also possible that her entire estate, including the fortune, was ultimately destroyed.

Inventions

Violet has an interest in inventing. The theme of children each having a particular skill that they are good at is also shown with other characters in the series. For example, with the Quagmire triplets, Duncan is a journalist, Isadora is a poet, and Quigley is a cartographer. The Baudelaires' volatile friend Fiona is a mycologist. Violet is depicted as being extremely skilled at inventing devices. She often invents devices to help herself and her siblings in dangerous situations, using only simple objects such as rubber bands and tin cans. Whenever Violet invents something, she ties her hair up with her ribbon to keep it out of her eyes.

Violet's inventions

Disguises

A recurring theme in the series is the Baudelaire children's disguises. At the end of The Vile Village, they are falsely accused of murder. From this point on, they have no more guardians, and are on the run from the police. While running from the police, Violet assumes the following disguises:

Appearances

Physical Appearance

In the movie Violet's hair color is different: it is colored light brown, whereas in the book her hair is dark brown or black. Her clothes are different, as she wears a black dress, with the blue coat which is worn later. The dress notably has a lower sleeve with a V-shaped end, a feature which is common in science fiction, especially in space operas. Violet is described by Snicket in the Bad Beginning as having pleasant facial features, and later on as being very pretty. In the books, she wears a purple coat with her hair in a ribbon (when she is thinking of new inventions).

See also

Notes

  1. In February 2007, Lemony Snicket stated that the Baudelaires are Jewish.[1]

External links

References

  1. Nadine, Epstein (February 2007). "The Jewish Secrets of Lemony Snicket". Moment. http://www.momentmag.com/Exclusive/2007/2007-02/200702-Handler.html. ""The Baudelaires are Jewish! I guess we would not know for sure but we would strongly suspect it."" 
  2. 2.0 2.1 Snicket, Lemony (1999). The Reptile Room. A Series of Unfortunate Events. HarperCollins. ISBN 0064407675. 
  3. Snicket, Lemony (1999). The Bad Beginning. A Series of Unfortunate Events. HarperCollins. ISBN 0064407667. 
  4. Snicket, Lemony (2000). The Wide Window. A Series of Unfortunate Events. HarperCollins. ISBN 0-06-440768-3. 
  5. 5.0 5.1 Snicket, Lemony (2000). The Miserable Mill. A Series of Unfortunate Events. HarperCollins. ISBN 0-06-440769-1. 
  6. Snicket, Lemony (2000). The Austere Academy. A Series of Unfortunate Events. HarperCollins. ISBN 0-06-440863-9. 
  7. Snicket, Lemony (2001). The Ersatz Elevator. A Series of Unfortunate Events. HarperCollins. ISBN 0-06-440864-7. 
  8. 8.0 8.1 8.2 Snicket, Lemony (2001). The Vile Village. A Series of Unfortunate Events. HarperCollins. ISBN 978-0064408653. 
  9. 9.0 9.1 9.2 Snicket, Lemony (2001). The Hostile Hospital. A Series of Unfortunate Events. HarperCollins. 
  10. Snicket, Lemony (2002). The Carnivorous Carnival. A Series of Unfortunate Events. HarperCollins. ISBN 0-06-441012-9. 
  11. 11.0 11.1 Snicket, Lemony (2003). The Slippery Slope. A Series of Unfortunate Events. HarperCollins. ISBN 0-06-441013-7. 
  12. 12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3 Snicket, Lemony (2006). The End. A Series of Unfortunate Events. HarperCollins. ISBN 0-06-441016-1. 
  13. Snicket, Lemony (2004). The Grim Grotto. A Series of Unfortunate Events. HarperCollins. ISBN 0-06-441014-5. 
  14. Snicket, Lemony (2005). The Penultimate Peril. A Series of Unfortunate Events. HarperCollins.