The Ersatz Elevator

The latter half of the book shows the Baudelaire children continuing to use their skills to expose Olaf in ways that bend reality. The fire poker plan in Chapter 8 shows Violet’s ingenuity but also only works because of the nature of the novel. The novel employs satire and over-the-top descriptions to deliver its messages, and this extends to how the children solve their problems. The rope the children fashion to climb down the elevator shaft requires a suspension of belief—a theater and literary term meaning that one must choose to believe things that are difficult to accept. It is unlikely either that there could be enough material to fashion such a long rope or that the children could successfully climb down it in the pitch dark, but the events are accepted because of the story’s satirical nature. The narrative style, in being unbelievable, allows for a tone of humor that dissipates any true feelings of danger, though the Baudelaires consistently escape many perils. This storytelling is seen with the children’s other solutions as well, including baby Sunny’s ability to climb back up the shaft with only her teeth to rescue her older siblings.

The V.F.D. box at the auction serves as a red herring—a literary device typically employed in mystery novels—and a representation of The True Significance of Life. A red herring is a term that derives from hunting, in which red herrings, a kind of fish, would be dragged across a trail to trick dogs into following a scent. In literature, the term defines a clue that is plausible enough to work in the story’s framework but that ultimately points the reader in the wrong direction. The children are convinced the V.F.D. box Is the one they need, and they don’t realize the letters are a diversion until it is too late. At the auction, Olaf actually hides the triplets in a giant statue of a red fish, making the red herring literal. In this way, it is clear to readers who understand the concept of a red herring that the children have been fooled.

Believing the box to hold their friends, the Baudelaires are anxious to bid and secure the container for themselves. This concern illustrates how the siblings, while still children, understand the true meaning of their friendship and the danger that the Quagmires are in. In contrast, Jerome continues to be a static character lacking growth as he doesn’t want to spend past a certain amount of money. Regardless that everything in the auction is considered “In” Jerome is preoccupied with his money instead of what truly matters.

Chapter 10 outlines the novel’s theme of Bravery Inspired by Trustworthiness as the Baudelaires reach a turning point in the novel. Up until this point, the children have believed that the adults in their life care, if sometimes superficially. Esmé’s betrayal was foreshadowed by her meeting with Olaf, and the ease with which she traps the children shows she never really cared about them. Her cowardice is revealed in her targeting the children, and she illustrates how she is unworthy of trust as she listens to the children tell her about the elevator shaft’s connection to Olaf. Esmé’s calm acceptance of the elevator shaft story departs from her usual personality and hints to the reader that not all is well. Like with the red herring, the children don’t realize Esmé’s deceit until it’s too late, demonstrating how their trust in Esmé is unfounded. In their preoccupation with being trustworthy friends who are brave enough to thwart the adults who have taken their friends, they miss critical clues about how everything around them is not as it seems. Like Esmé, Jerome’s cowardice also harms the children, if in a less direct way. His timid nature means his solution to Olaf is to run away, showing how his cowardly response makes him also unworthy of trust. At the end of the book, Jerome walks away from the children, leaving them alone and showing how he is not trustworthy or brave.

The narrator plays a large role throughout the novel, and the purpose for the narrator’s participation can be seen in this section of the story. In Chapter 13, the narrator tells the reader to stop reading if they don’t want to hear the sorrowful ending to the story. This is a tactic the narrator uses at the beginning of the story, warning that things will get worse, and building the tone of suspense for the plot. The narrator’s warnings also serve as a way for the reader to feel more connected to the story, since the reader is directly addressed. The narrator brings the book’s title full circle as well, providing explanations where necessary to keep the text accessible for readers. Earlier, he defined “ersatz” in terms of the false elevator shaft and its role in the book as a decoy to hide Olaf’s plans. In the final chapter, “ersatz” becomes a metaphor for the novel’s ending, as well as for the entire series with the narrator’s revelations. As the series title suggests, the Baudelaire children face one unfortunate circumstance after another, and each book’s ending is as painful as the last. The narrator says he can’t hide the true ending behind an ersatz happy one, much like he cannot sugarcoat the misfortunes of the Baudelaire children. Their situations are what they are, and as is noted in earlier chapters when the children enter the dark building on Dark Street, things will get worse before they get better.