The End (A Series of Unfortunate Events)
Encyclopedia : T : TH : THE : The End (A Series of Unfortunate Events)
<< The Penultimate Peril | (last in series)
| The End | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
The End is the thirteenth and final novel in the A Series of Unfortunate Events series by Lemony Snicket.
Plot
Note: Since The End has not yet been published, this article's sources consist of the author's official comments, the previous books in the series, and the cover picture. Direct proof of anything will have to wait until the release date, Friday October 13, 2006. Clues pointing towards any events or revelations in The End are likely to be found in Book the Twelfth, The Penultimate Peril, which was published on October 18, 2005, and previous books in the series; The Beatrice Letters, which will be published on September 5, 2006 and purportedly contains information about The End; and a booklet entitled 13 Shocking Secrets That You'll Wish You Never Knew About Lemony Snicket, released through the publisher HarperCollins' AuthorTracker mailing list.The book may start with Count Olaf and the Baudelaires sailing away from the burning Hotel Denouement, as at the end of The Penultimate Peril the Baudelaires escape on a boat with Olaf. While he is trying to escape from the authorities, the Baudelaires are also searching for their friends. The book may therefore be set at sea.
The illustration at the end of The Penultimate Peril also contains clues, as in each book; there are birds on the right side of the drawing, leading readers to believe that these birds, especially the eagles and crows from the book, may play a part in the last book. Some people believe that the birds could be seagulls due to information in . There is a conspicuous water tower atop one of the buildings, which may be another clue. There is also an octopus which is part of the boat's figurehead. The latter two details appear in other illustrations and in the text of the book respectively, however, whereas similar clues in previous books are entirely new details.
Each book concludes with a letter from Lemony Snicket to his editor concerning the next book. In The Penultimate Peril, this is simply a paper napkin with a picture of a ship on the bottom right-hand corner, with the following written on it: "To My Kind Editor, The end is near. With all due respect, Lemony Snicket." The ship on the napkin may be an allusion to the Prospero, which is suspected to be in league with V.F.D.
The cover of The End depicts the three Baudelaires in shallow water, in their now tattered and damp concierge clothes, with what seems to be the remains of a boat or various flotsam and jetsam behind them. At the bottom of the picture are possibly the feet of Count Olaf. One of the person's shoes are missing, and the V.F.D. tattoo on their ankle is clearly visible. The person's clothing matches previous illustrations of Count Olaf. Also, the clouds in the background have been speculated to be smoke from a fire; however, they do not match previous illustrations of fire, but do match all previous illustrations of clouds, suggesting that they are perfectly ordinary.
According to Daniel Handler in an interview on TheBookseller.com [link], in The End, the ending is ambiguous, "Seaweed is used as a wig--that may be the first time in the history of literature, although my research is lackadaisical. There is an enormous storm at sea, a herd of wild sheep, and a sledge is used in an inappropriate manner." He adds that "Lemony Snicket is going to hang around after the series ends--he might get interested in other cases." In an audio interview on Salon.com [link], he also confirmed that, "The last word of the last volume is 'Beatrice.'"
Other Notes
- The End is the last in A Series Of Unfortunate Events, and is forecast to be the longest.
- This is the only book to not have an alliterative title.
- The American cover has the same illustration as the British cover. The only other book in the series to use the same cover picture for both editions is The Penultimate Peril (although the British cover for The Vile Village was a redrawn version of the American cover).
- It is implied in The Penultimate Peril that the Baudelaire siblings will not encounter Esmé Squalor or Carmelita Spats again. Mr. Poe is treated similarly.
- On October 10th (or, in the United Kingdom, the 9th) an audio CD called The Tragic Treasury will be released, featuring all the songs from the audio versions of the books. The song title for The End has been given as Shipwrecked.
- In The Grim Grotto, Lemony Snicket mentions that the Baudelaires would learn, while in the air, that a citation for bravery is not very useful; as they haven't yet done so, the Baudelaires may go airborne with Hector and the Quagmires in the thirteenth book.
- Notes in tell of Violet going back to Briny Beach for a third and final time in the series, and highlight mentions of a law forbidding the removal from an island (possibly the same island mentioned in The Ersatz Elevator and The Penultimate Peril) of a certain kind of fruit and some female Finnish pirates (referred to as the "F.F.P.", similar to V.F.D.). These pirates are also credited with inventing the Devil's Tongue Knot, which is debuted in the Bad Beginning and used throughout the series. The fruit mentioned may be that depicted on the cover picture's border.
Cover Images
Image:Lemonysnickettheend.jpg|US cover
Image:Uktheend.jpg|UK cover
From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.