8.2 /10 1 Votes
Illustrator Seth Country United States Originally published 29 September 2015 Page count 305 (first edition) ISBN 9780316123044 | 4.1/5 Goodreads Cover artist Seth Language English Genre Mystery | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Series All the Wrong Questions Publisher Little, Brown and Company Preceded by Shouldn't You Be in School? Similar Daniel Handler books, Other books | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Why Is This Night Different From All Other Nights? is the fourth and final book in Lemony Snicket's children's series All the Wrong Questions. The series features young apprentice Snicket, who is attempting to uncover the mystery behind a villain named Hangfire in Stain'd-by-the-Sea. The book was published on September 29, 2015 by Little, Brown and Company and features illustrations by Seth.
Contents
Plot
S. Theodora Markson sneaks away from the Lost Arms at night, but Lemony Snicket decides to follow her. She goes to Dicey's Department Store and steals a costume, and then travels to Stain'd Station. When Snicket tries to get on the train leaving with prisoners Dashiell Qwerty and Ellington Feint, he is told he needs a ticket but without any money he cannot find a way to get on the train. He gets a lift from Pip and Squeak to a place along the railway line where he can jump aboard, and Moxie opens the window to let him in.
Dashiell Qwerty is found dead inside his jail cell, and Theodora is assumed to be the murderer by the Officers Mitchum. However, Lemony doesn't believe she did it, so he goes about the train looking for witnesses. He finds three suspicious librarians named Pocket, Walleye and Eratosthenes, along with several of his associates who were also on board. He then finds Ellington Feint; shortly into their conversation, Hangfire arrives and shoots a dart at Ellington, who falls on the floor. Snicket sees that the dart misses Ellington but pretends she is dead in an attempt to trick Hangfire.
After negotiation with Hangfire and with the Mitchums, Snicket is able to gather everybody aboard the train together in the jail cell where Qwerty was killed. He uses the statue of the Bombinating Beast to summon the real creature and when it arrives, he pushes Hangfire towards the monster to his death. The passengers on board are shocked and refuse to make eye contact with Snicket, even his friends and Ellington Feint. Everyone gets off the train and it is revealed that Kit Snicket, Lemony's sister, was aboard the whole time. A member of V.F.D. talks to Snicket privately and chastises him for ruining their plan. The series ends with Lemony walking away, alone, into the Clusterous Forest.
Title Allegory
This book continues with the recurring Jewish themes throughout Snicket's work. Why Is This Night Different From All Other Nights? is an allegory from the Jewish Passover Seder, in which a guest at the Seder, most normally the youngest, will ask the Ma Nishtana (also known as the Four Questions, which Snicket mirrors through the series' format, a collection of four different books each titled with a question), which asks the question "Why is this night different from all other nights?".