The Penultimate Peril - Cultural References and Literary Allusions

Cultural References and Literary Allusions

• Both the hotel's name and, Frank, Ernest, and Dewey's surname are a reference to the literary term, dénouement.
• Dewey's name is a reference to the Dewey Decimal System, which is how the entire hotel is organized.
• It is mentioned that author Richard Wright asks the question Who knows when some slight shock, disturbing the delicate balance between social order and thirsty aspiration, shall send the skyscrapers in our cities toppling?" This refers to the novel, Native Son by the aforementioned author.
• There are several quotes to the Italian opera La forza del destino (the force of destiny), and it's mentioned that Baudelaires' parents attended the show. Interestingly, there is the mention of Giuseppe Verdi who wrote La Forza del Destino, who is referred to as a legendary character by Count Olaf
• The names of the two brothers, Frank and Ernest, are synonyms for truthful or honest, and refer to the phrase "You be frank, and I'll be earnest".
• Frank has an evil brother named Ernest, which may be a reference to The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde.
• "Henribergson", which Sunny Baudelaire emits as a reply to Mr. Poe, refers to Henri Bergson, an influential French philosopher of the 1900s.
• Kit tells the children tea should be "bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged sword." This is a reference to the Biblical verse Proverbs 5:4.
• Odious Lusting After Finance, the book written by Jerome Squalor against injustice, is a backronym of "OLAF".
• "Scalia", which Sunny says as a reply to either Frank or Ernest, is a reference to United States Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia
• Sunny says the word "efcharisto" which she says to Dewey meaning thank-you in Greek
• Dewey said that his favourite section in the Dewey Decimal System was "020" which is About The Dewey Decimal system and Science.