3. The Immortality Theory.

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by 666vape

by 666vape

(Submitted By Faceless Creature on http://asoue.proboards.com/thread/33400/immortality-theory-submitted-facelesscreature)

"My theory is that (almost) every adult in ASOUE is immortal.

Here's some points that support this:

On page 37 of THH (The Hostile Hospital), Lemony implies that William Congreve was an associate of his. Since Congreve died in the year 1729, Lemony may be implying that he is hundreds of years old.
On page 233 of TCC (The Carnivorous Carnival), Lemony implies that William Shakespeare is alive and that he knows him. Since Shakespeare died in the year 1616, it is another supporting point to Lemony being immortal.
Also, on page 192 of TSS (The Slippery Slope), there is a paragraph relating to C.M. Kornbluth. It implies that Kornbluth was a VFD member and that Lemony, Beatrice, and other members of VFD knew him. Since Kornbluth died in 1958, this is another point to consider.

On page 48 of TWW (The Wide Window), Josephine mentions her mother-in-law had only one eyebrow and one ear. There is no other reference to someone with those traits until TE.
On page 215 of TE, Ishmael states that he knew a little girl with one eyebrow and one ear. He must be referring to Josephine's mother-in-law.
If you assume he is talking about Josephine's mother-in-law, then that makes Ishmael very old considering he has lived long enough for Josephine's mother-in-law to grow up, including Josephine herself to become a woman and die.

With this in mind, Ishmael could be at least a hundred years old because he mentions that he was a teacher when he knew Josephine's mother-in-law. If Ishmael was a teacher, you can assume that he was already over 20 years old at the time.

According to these points about Ishmael and Lemony being very old, you can assume that every other adult is very old too. Monty's name is referenced in the first ATWQ book. This means that Monty must be around the same age as Lemony. Also, on page 31 of TRR, Monty mentions that he has been studying snakes for over 40 years. Page 93 of TRR even confirms that Monty is old. This implies that Monty and Lemony are both extremely old.

Characters mention the schism happened a long time ago, when the world was quiet. So, assume that everyone is immortal and has lived hundreds of years. Then, think about the schism happening hundreds of years ago according to the setting of ASoUE. The ancestors of the Snickets, the Baudelaires, etc..., started the schism and passed down every VFD secret since.
Since TE establishes that the characters named their children after someone who has died, think about the Snicket great great great great, etc... grandparents. Lemony could have gotten his name from his great great great, etc... grandfather. Same goes for the other families.

Another point I found is on page 19-20 of TBB. It suggests that Justice Strauss is old too.
Page 311 of TGG implies that Gregor Anwhistle is also old and he was involved with schism (p160-161 of TGG).
Page 89 of TAA suggests that Mr. Remora and Mrs. Bass "look" like their in their late 60's. Which means that they are old too.
Page 49-50 of TVV suggests that the village of VFD was founded 306 years ago! That certainly fits with my theory.
Page 34 of TVV states that the Council of Elders are very old.
Page 212-214 of TEE implies that Lemony's grandparents and great-grandparents were VFD members.

Other interesting facts that may or may not support this:

Page 123 of TBB shows an illustration of paintings in Olaf's tower. One of the paintings in the illustration is a VFD version of "The Persistence of Memory," which was painted in 1931.
Page 10 of TVV suggest that the Baudelaires have a 19th cousin? named Mr. Fagin? They certainly have a big family.
Page 72 of THH implies that the schism was started by adults. It is unclear how old though.
Page 177 of TVV suggests that none of Olaf's henchmen have the VFD tattoo. With my theory, they are not immortal then. This explains why Fernald was a young man when Fiona was an infant (p267 of TGG).
Page 146 of TGG could imply that Thomas Hobson was a VFD member from the 17th century.
Page 126-127 of TGG directly states that famous writers, scientists, artists, musicians, philosophers, and chefs inspired VFD! This also fits with my theory.
Page 48 of TMM does not clarify how old Charles is.
Page 22 of TMM says that Phil has gray hair. Probably because he is old.
Page 133 of TEE mentions Finnish pirates of the 15th century. Also, they are referenced again in TE (I believe)?
Page 95-96 of TEE mentions the King of Arizona. Maybe Esme Squalor and the King of Arizona are both immortal and have know each other before Arizona became a state? Hence, she would call him the King of Arizona because she knew him as a king in that region of the world before it was called Arizona.

Another fan theory within this theory:

Page 126 of TSS. The man with a beard, but no hair and the woman with hair, but no beard could be Olaf's grandparents (or great grandparents?). It couldn't be Olaf's parents because they died. However, they could be related to Olaf in some way. I think that (possibly) they are Olaf's grandparents. This would make sense considering Olaf seems a little afraid of them. Also, the man and woman mention that they have been around before the schism. They also mention that they had a baby servant? which could be referring to Olaf's mother or father? With my theory, they would be immortal too.

As you can see, there are tons of evidence with my theory about many of the characters being old. Since they make a lot of connections with people and things that happened many years ago, I started to theorize that everyone is immortal.

Another thing to think about with the immortal theory:

We know that it's almost impossible to determine where the setting of ASOUE takes place. If you assume that VFD members are immortal, then maybe that's why there are so many different cultures and technological aspects referenced in the story? Maybe that's why there are cars, but also carriages where the Baudelaires lived? As society evolved, certain members of VFD used old technology while others decided to advance. (Which may explain why Olaf drives a car, and why in TBB (The Bad Beginning), the Baudelaires took a trolley car to the beach instead of their parents driving them. After all, it never mentions that the Baudelaires owned a car.)"