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The grappling hook symbolizes Violet’s inventiveness and her loyalty to her siblings. When Count Olaf locks Sunny away in a birdcage at the top of his tower, Violet builds a grappling hook to save her sister. With her limited time frame and supplies, she builds it out of materials found around the house, like old clothes and a curtain rod. This showcases not only Violet’s inventiveness, but her commitment to family, and the responsibility she feels for her siblings as the eldest Baudelaire child. Even though the climb up the tower is dangerous, Violet persists, putting her life on the line for Sunny and Klaus.
Grappling Hook Quotes in The Bad Beginning
The The Bad Beginning quotes below all refer to the symbol of Grappling Hook. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Chapter 10
Quotes
As she worked, she remembered something her parents had said to her when Klaus was born, and again when they brought Sunny home from the hospital. “You are the eldest Baudelaire child,” they had said, kindly but firmly. “And as the eldest, it will always be your responsibility to look after your younger siblings. Promise us that you will always watch out for them and make sure they don’t get into trouble.” Violet remembered her promise, and thought of Klaus whose bruised face still looked sore, and Sunny, dangling from the top of the flower like a flag, and began working even faster. Even though Count Olaf was of course the cause of all this misery, Violet as though she had broken her promise to her parents, and vowed to make it right.
Related Characters:
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Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire The Bad Beginning LitChart as a printable PDF.
Grappling Hook Symbol Timeline in The Bad Beginning
The timeline below shows where the symbol Grappling Hook appears in The Bad Beginning. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 10
Violet finishes her creation, which turns out to be a grappling hook . Her plan is to climb to the tower from the outside and rescue Sunny....
(full context)
...say something, but her mouth is taped shut. Then Violet sees with horror that her grappling hook is stuck to another hook – the hook-hand of one of Count Olaf’s troupe members, the...
(full context)
Chapter 11
...Violet what is happening, and Violet describes her failed attempt to rescue Sunny with the grappling hook . They lament their situation and decide to see if anything in the room can...
(full context)
