The Ersatz Elevator

Klaus Baudelaire is the middle Baudelaire child. His talents lean toward research, and “he had read so many books that he frequently used words like ‘compatriots’” (7), meaning he has an advanced vocabulary for his young age. Like Violet, Klaus’s character arc relates to how Bravery Inspired by Trustworthiness. His siblings trust his knowledge base, and even when he is wrong, still trust his dependability, supporting his own sense of courage. Klaus’s intelligence allows him to quickly grasp how auctions work with objects sold in numbered lots, and his past information makes him believe the lot labeled “V.F.D.” is the one in which the triplets will be held. However, the V.F.D. box does not contain the triplets after all. Rather than symbolizing a failing on Klaus’s part, this shows that there are often factors outside of our control that keep our talents from leading to success every time we use them.

Sunny Baudelaire is the youngest Baudelaire child, and she speaks in nonsense words and phrases that her siblings translate throughout the novel. Sunny’s unique talent is chewing things, and in Chapter 1, the narrator says she has two teeth that are “larger and sharper than those of any other baby I have ever seen” (9). Sunny also exemplifies how Bravery Inspired by Trustworthiness can lead to characters’ incredible feats within the story through how she climbs the elevator shaft to save her siblings in Chapter 10. For Klaus and Violet, Sunny also represents the great responsibility that was thrust upon the two older siblings when their parents died. Since then, none of the adults in their lives have been able to care for them, which has left the responsibility of raising and caring for Sunny to Violet and Klaus. Though they are just children themselves, Violet and Klaus accept this responsibility because they love their sister and want to keep her safe. At times, this is difficult, such as when they have to carry Sunny up the long flights of stairs to the penthouse, but Klaus and Violet always come through, illustrating The True Significance of Life in ensuring their baby sister’s safety.

Count Olaf is the long-standing villain of A Series of Unfortunate Events. In the first book, Mr. Poe placed the Baudelaire children with Olaf as their caretaker, and the orphans were forced to escape so Olaf didn’t make off with their family fortune. Ever since, the children have worked to stay out of Olaf’s clutches and to turn him over to the authorities, things in which they have only been partially successful. None of the adults in the series are truly competent, but Olaf is the closest to competent as they come. Though he is dastardly and terrible, his plans do sometimes come to fruition, such as smuggling the Quagmire triplets away at the end of The Ersatz Elevator. In this way, Olaf represents how children are often not taken seriously. The Baudelaires try to warn Jerome, Poe, and Esmé about Olaf, but none of them listen, allowing Olaf and Esmé to escape at the end of the novel.

Esmé is the next in a long line of guardians for Violet, Klaus, and Sunny, and she is a financial advisor in the city whose greatest concerns are making more money and remaining in style. Esmé represents the examination of trends present in The True Significance of Life. The only reason Esmé cares about the Baudelaires is because orphans are currently In, meaning that her care only extends to what the orphans can do for her status. Esmé also represents the idea that not all adults can be believed or trusted. From the beginning of the book, Esmé is in league with Olaf, something the children don’t see until it’s too late because Esmé has successfully hid her alliance behind her vapid personality. When Esmé pushes the children into the ersatz elevator shaft, she reveals her true motives and shows that people are not always as they appear.