Snicket family

The Snicket family is a prominent family in the novel series A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket.

Family members

Jacob Snicket

Jacob Snicket is the father of Jacques, Kit, and Lemony Snicket and a member of the fire-stopping side of V.F.D. At the time A Series of Unfortunate Events takes place, he is deceased.^[1] In The Carnivorous Carnival, Olivia Caliban mentions that Count Olaf sought to steal the Snicket fortune before seeking to steal the Baudelaire and Quagmire fortunes;^[2] and in The Hostile Hospital, reference is made to the "Snicket fires".^[3] Since both the Baudelaire and Quagmire parents were killed by arsonists in their respective mansions, Jacob and his wife may have died in a parallel fire to Snicket mansion.

In The Hostile Hospital, Snicket likens the "mournful melody" of a pipe organ sonata played in the Cathedral of the Alleged Virgin to a soothing tune Jacob used to sing while dishwashing.^[4] Jacob and his wife are described as wealthy, living in a mansion and having enough means to buy silver cribs and silk diapers (though Snicket expressly states they would "never have indulged" in such spending).^[5] Jacob is described as having worried when Jacques, Kit, and Lemony were abducted by V.F.D. to be initiated as neophytes.^[6]

In response to the erroneous claim that Jacob was called "Jake", Snicket writes in The Unauthorized Autobiography: "He was known as Jacob to everyone but his longtime bridge partner."^[7] Nonetheless, Jacob's first initial is listed as "E." on the Snicket family tree.^[8]

Little Snicket

Little Snicket is said of the mother of Jacques, Kit, and Lemony Snicket, though she is a member of the fire-stopping side of V.F.D. She gave birth to Lemony Snicket while buying garlic butter at Valorous Farms Dairy with her husband, Jacob Snicket.^[7] Snicket says his mother was away from home when he and his siblings were abducted by V.F.D., and when she returned she found a photograph of him asleep in his cradle and asked her husband, "Who took this?"^[6] (A pun, since the question could refer either to the photograph or to the subject of the photograph.) At the time A Series of Unfortunate Events takes place, she is deceased,^[9] possibly killed by arsonists in a fire that destroyed the Snicket mansion, in a parallel to the fire which killed Bertrand and Beatrice Baudelaire. (See under Jacob Snicket above.)

Jacques Snicket

Jacques Snicket as portrayed in The Unauthorized Autobiography

Jacques Snicket, along with his siblings, is a member of V.F.D.. He has a tattoo of an eye on his ankle and one eyebrow; because of this, he was mistaken for Count Olaf in The Vile Village. He has two younger siblings, Lemony Snicket and Kit Snicket.^[10][11] He was murdered in jail as he was about to be burned at the stake by Count Olaf (disguised as Detective Dupin), who intended to frame Violet, Klaus, and Sunny Baudelaire.

In Lemony Snicket: The Unauthorized Autobiography, it was revealed that Jacques is a good friend of and advisor to Jerome Squalor. It was because of Jacques that Jerome bought the penthouse apartment in 667 Dark Avenue, possibly as a venue for directing members of the group after the schism. Jacques did not want Jerome Squalor to marry Esmé, and sent a letter warning Jerome, but the letter was intercepted, possibly by the Hook-Handed Man disguised as a doorman. It was also revealed that Jacques disguises himself as a detective and is possibly the man who investigated the murder of Dr. Orwell, though this article was not published in the Daily Punctilio.

In The Vile Village, Jacques tried to tell them about their parents, but Esmé Squalor, disguised as police officer Luciana, stopped him from any further explanations.

In The Slippery Slope, the Baudelaires found a message that was thought to be for Jacques, but decided (with the later confirmation of Captain Widdershins) that no one would send a message to Jacques, since he was dead. Captain Widdershins also mentioned that Jacques was formerly part of his crew on the Queequeg.

In The Penultimate Peril the Baudelaires learned that J.S., the mysterious receiver of the message in The Slippery Slope, might be Justice Strauss or Jerome Squalor, following the footsteps of his deceased friend.

Kit Snicket

Kit Snicket as illustrated by Brett Helquist

Kit Snicket is the second Snicket child, between author Lemony Snicket and Jacques Snicket.^[10][11] She tells the Baudelaire children that she was only four years old when the schism occurred in V.F.D. She was a former suitor of Count Olaf.

She was first mentioned by name in The Grim Grotto; she sent a letter to Gregor Anwhistle about using the poisonous mushrooms, Medusoid Mycelium, against the enemies of V.F.D. and she is working on the way to dilute the poison at Opportune Odors Horseradish Factory on Lousy Lane. In The Carnivorous Carnival and The Slippery Slope, Lemony Snicket writes a letter to Kit Snicket.

In The Grim Grotto, Kit appears at Briny Beach to pick up the Baudelaire children in a taxi. In The Penultimate Peril, she drives them to the Hotel Denouement and shares some information with them about V.F.D. She is pregnant and and probably in a relationship with Dewey Denouement, as it was strongly indicated he was the father. Kit has a house where she resides; on the bottom of page 33, Kit says, "I've scarcely looked at these maps, poems, and blueprints that Charles sent me, or chosen wallpaper for the baby's room." Kit Snicket is part of V.F.D and on the noble side of the schism. It was mentioned that she went water-skiing to meet Captain Widdershins, and she also hinted that she would end up on the self-sustaining hot air mobile home. She also told the Baudelaires that no one could be either noble or wicked, as that everyone is a little of each.

In The End, Kit tells the Baudelaires that after she left them at the Hotel Denouement, she met with Captain Widdershins and his stepchildren, Fiona and Fernald. Together they repaired his submarine and reached the Quagmires just as the self-sustaining hot air mobile home was wrecked by eagles. Kit was injured when a telegram device fell on both of her legs. She escaped by making a raft out of her favorite books, but all of the others were either captured or rescued by the mysterious question mark-shaped "Great Unknown". Kit's raft carries her to the same island where the Baudelaires and Count Olaf had been shipwrecked, thus giving Kit the opportunity to tell the children about the events described above. As Count Olaf is dying, he kisses her gently on the mouth, saying that he told her he'd do that one last time, a possible implication that the two were romantically involved. As Olaf dies, the two recite a bit of poetry together.

Kit dies as well while giving birth because of her exposure to the Medusoid Mycelium spores; the apple-horseradish hybrid would have cured her but harmed her unborn child in the process. The Baudelaires end up being the "parents" of the baby after Kit told the Baudelaires to name the baby after one of their parents. She mentioned that it was a tradition to be named after those who had died in their family. Sunny replied with "that's ours, too."

In "13 Shocking Secrets You'll Wish You Never Knew About Lemony Snicket," secret #3 said that Lemony's niece is an orphan. Presumably this is a reference to Kit's baby; however, it is unknown if Jacques had children as he is rarely mentioned.

A 2006 spin-off book, The Beatrice Letters, describes Kit's 10-year-old daughter Beatrice Baudelaire's search for her uncle, Lemony Snicket, and for the Baudelaire orphans who adopted her after her mother's death and named her after their own mother, Beatrice Baudelaire.

In her childhood years before A Series of Unfortunate Events, she was tasked with investigating a fountain that Lemony was unable to help her with.^[12]

In the rare edition of The Bad Beginning, one of Lemony's notes says "his sister", obviously Kit, has proposed that some of the eyes of Count Olaf's house hid secret peepholes, cameras, or microscopic lenses, as in the Baudelaire home.

Lemony Snicket wrote the books at the request of his niece, Beatrice, when she was ten years of age, nine years after The End. During some of the previous novels, Lemony had encoded notes to his sister, which implied that he did not learn of her death for nine years, when he started researching the events of The End.

Lemony Snicket

Lemony Snicket is the younger brother of Kit and Jacques Snicket.^[10][11] He was also in love with Beatrice hence the verses at the beginning of all the books in The Series of Unfortunate Events. Researcher of Baudelaire's case. There is a song about him (which is corrected by himself) in the unauthorized autobiography which tells of him being taken from his home to the V.F.D headquarters. Lemony Snicket is a pen name for Daniel Handler. He is the author/narrator of a Series Unfortunate Events and was abducted and taken to the V.F.D headquarters. He claims to have been engaged to Beatrice who left him for another man, she became the mother of the Baudelaires. Lemony Snicket was falsely accused of arson and murder. In his books he claims to be running from the police. He is said to have helped murder Count Olaf's parents.

Extended family

Relationships are listed in relationship to Lemony Snicket. Relationships formed by the Baudelaires adopting Beatrice are not listed here, but would include all members of the extended Baudelaire family.

• Dewey Denouement - Lemony's brother-in-law (or more specifically, sister's husband).
• Ernest Denouement - Lemony's brother-in-law (or more specifically, sister's husband's brother).
• Frank Denouement - Lemony's brother-in-law (or more specifically, sister's husband's brother).
• Charles Snicket - Lemony's paternal grandfather.^[13]
• Unnamed grandmother - Lemony Snicket's grandmother (whether she is paternal or maternal is not specified). She invented a recipe for almond cookies used by V.F.D.^[14]

Family tree

The following is a family tree provided by Lemony Snicket:^[13]

On the original genealogy, Jacob Snicket is listed as "E". There is no explanation given for this inconsistency, although Lemony Snicket does mention that his father's bridge partner knew him by another name.^[7] As demonstrated by this family tree, the Snickets are named in alphabetical order (with the exception of Jacob, as discussed): ABC, DEF, GHI, JKL, MNO (and even continues with a hypothetical [PQR], [STU], [VWX], [YZA], B[CD], [EFG], [HIJ], [KLM], [NOP]).

The "G" and "I" may refer to the brothers Gregor and Isaac Anwhistle, which would indicate the existence of a third sibling (a possible scenario, since facts concerning the Anwhistles are scattered). Within the series only two characters whose last names are unknown have first names beginning in H: Hal, who is both too old to be their sibling and not a member of V.F.D., and Hector, who is probably too young to be their sibling. In addition, Hector gives no indication that he has any siblings or that he is familiar with Josephine Anwhistle. However, he also gives no indication that he is familiar with V.F.D. when it is discussed extensively in his presence, even though the Autobiography states that he is a member. Regardless, if "G" and "I" refer to Gregor and Isaac, then "D. Snicket" must be female (for her children to be surnamed "Anwhistle"). This makes her Josephine's mother-in-law, whom Josephine describes as having only one eyebrow and one ear.^[15] Furthermore, if "G" and "I" refer to the Anwhistles, then the Snickets are distant in-laws to the Baudelaire family (to whom Josephine is related; her sister married the second cousin of the Baudelaires and she is their "second cousin's sister-in-law" - namely the sister of the wife of the Baudelaires' second cousin.). As well as this, there is another possibility explaining why there is no "H" Snicket mentioned in the series. It could be a sister to Gregor and Isaac and not a brother, which would explain why neither Hector nor Hal are the sibling of Gregor and Isaac.

The "O" may refer to Count Olaf (whom Snicket frequently calls "O" in The Unauthorized Autobiography and The Beatrice Letters). Although he is never said to have siblings, Olaf himself is very guarded about his family's past. However, as a "neophyte" in V.F.D., Lemony Snicket makes no indication in his complaints about Olaf that they are first cousins.^[16] The only other character mentioned to have a name beginning in "O" is Olivia Caliban. However, since Olivia's brother is Thursday Caliban, she cannot be this "O" (whose siblings are "M" and "N"; Miranda Caliban is her sister-in-law, not sister). If this "O" is, indeed, Olaf, then the Snickets are in-laws to the Baudelaire family. However, the "M" may refer to Montgomery Montgomery (whom Snicket frequently calls "M" in the The Unauthorized Autobiography and The Beatrice Letters). Montgomery is known to have at least one sibling (a sister),^[17] and is not closely related to Count Olaf. If this "M" is Montgomery, then the Snickets are again in-laws to the Baudelaire family, but not closely related to Olaf. If the "M" refers to Montgomery Montgomery, then F. Snicket, must be female for her children to have taken Montgomery as a surname. As well as this, if the "M" refers to Montgomery Montgomery, then either "N" or "O" is the person who married the cousin of Bertrand Baudelaire; this person is also the mother-in-law of Josephine Anwhistle's sister, who married the second cousin of the baudelaire's who was the son of his first cousin (and of either "N" or "O").

Involvement in V.F.D.

It is known that all three siblings (Jacques, Kit, and Lemony) were members of the vigilante organization VFD, as evidenced by the eye tattoos adorning all of their left ankles. The organization went through a separation which left two sides, a "good" side (including the Baudelaire parents) and a "bad" side (including Count Olaf). It is assumed that the Snicket siblings were on the "good" side. However, Snicket, in his writing, implies questionable actions on his part, and philosophically asks whether anything can truly be categorized as "good" or "bad", mentioned in the 12th book when Kit says, "People are neither noble nor wicked".

Jacques Snicket's involvement with VFD ultimately causes his death in the seventh book, where he is mistaken for Count Olaf and put to death. However, the real Olaf murders him before his trial, suggesting that the two were on opposite sides of the same organization. This is also the first time the VFD insignia came into the news.

Kit Snicket also had an eye tattoo on her ankle, which is, in fact, illustrated in the final book. Kit provides the most assistance to the Baudelaires within the books. It is suggested that, following Kit's death, VFD dissolved or restarted its endeavors, having lost too many members and having had its secret tattoo exposed.

Lemony Snicket, the supposed author of the books, is the only one to have no interaction with the Baudelaires, but the book 13 Shocking Secrets confirms that he is involved with VFD.

See also

• Baudelaire family
• Quagmire family

References