| “ | These secrets will destroy us! Life here is supposed to be simple! | ” |
— Ariel, The End
|
Ariel was a colonist on The Island.
Biography[]
Early Life[]
| “ | Some of us have had enough adventure for a lifetime! | ” |
— Ariel, The End
|
Ariel is described as about sixteen or seventeen during the events of The End.[1]
She says that in her life before The Island, she was in prison, where she had disguised herself as a young man for years. She eventually washed up on the island and decided to stay for her own safety.
Ariel's job on the island was to harvest seaweed with Alonso from the ocean. She seems to be very loyal to Ishmael and very keen on living a simple life free of danger.[2]
The End[]
| “ | You can have this dangerous place. We're going to sail to safety. | ” |
— Ariel, The End
|
While storm scavenging, Ariel finds a dagger in a shallow part of the coastal shelf, which she brings to Ishmael. Klaus Baudelaire, a recent castaway, along with his sisters Violet and Sunny, identifies it as an ancient tool used for cutting pages of books. Ariel finds this interesting, but Ishmael believes it useless without books. Ignoring Klaus's protests that a tool like that may be useful, Ariel agrees with Ishmael and throws the page cutter onto the sleigh.
She is among the crowd of islanders who go storm-scavenging the day that Count Olaf and Kit Snicket was up ashore, with Kit on a raft of books. Ariel and the other colonists quickly leave to go fetch Ishmael to decide what to do, leaving Olaf under the watch of Friday Caliban and the Baudelaires. She is presumably still with the crowd when they return, and Ishmael convinces them to abandon Olaf, Kit and the Baudelaires on the coastal shelf.
When the Island has a schism, Ariel is spotted being shouted at by Professor Fletcher. She is on Ishmael's side and argues that the idea of a revolution is dangerous and that she wants to remain safe. She is angry at everyone's secrets, as island life was supposed to be simple.
Count Olaf then arrives and threatens to take over the island. Ishmael, in retaliation, shoots him with a harpoon gun, causing the Medusoid Mycelium under his robe to be released, poisoning the islanders. Ariel cries that the mutineers are to blame for this, as they released Olaf from his cage.
Ishmael suggests the islanders drink cordial to try and dilute the poison, and the fermented cordial drugs them into compliance. He convinces them that the Baudelaires are the root of the trouble, and then gathers them on the outrigger and has them sail off towards Lousy Lane for a cure, though they will not make it in time to save their lives. When the Baudelaires attempt to stop them, as they have the cure with them, Ariel coughs violently and tells the Baudelaires that they can keep the dangerous island, and that they're sailing to safety.
Probable Death[]
It is unknown if she met her fate by being poisoned by the Medusoid Mycelium. It is noted that the Incredibly Deadly Viper followed the boat with an apple, and as the Baudelaires did not know this, it is possible some islanders survived to report this to Lemony Snicket. Friday knew the snake to be friendly, and thus may have taken the apple from it; however, it is unknown if she would have been able to convince Ariel or the drugged islanders to eat it.
Quotes[]
The End[]
- Ariel: I'm Ariel, and I found this in a particularly shallow part of the shelf. I think it's a dagger.
- Ishmael: A dagger? You know we don't welcome weapons on the island.
| “ | Ishmael is right! Some of us have had enough adventure for a lifetime! I washed up on these shores after finally escaping from prison, where I had disguised myself as a young man for years! I've stayed here for my own safety, not to participate in more dangerous schemes! | ” |
— Chapter Eleven
|
| “ | It's the mutineers who are the root of the trouble! If they hadn't let Count Olaf out of his cage, this never would have happened! | ” |
— Chapter Twelve
|
Trivia[]
- Her name comes from the William Shakespeare play, The Tempest.
- The play concerns a group of people stranded on a deserted island, much like Ariel and the other colonists of The Island.
- The character of of Ariel is a male spirit bound to serve the magician Prospero after Prospero had freed him from the evil witch Sycorax. This could mirror Ariel's backstory of feeling loyal to Ishmael after washing on the island after escaping terrible danger. The character originally being male could also reference Ariel disguising herself as a young man.
- Her backstory of disguising herself as a man fits several other Shakespeare plays- Two Gentlemen of Verona, As You Like It, The Merchant of Venice, Cymbeline and Twelfth Night, the latter of which also provides the first name for Olivia Caliban.
- Alonso, Ferdinand and Miranda Caliban also derive their names from the play. (In Miranda's case, also her surname.) Alonso also mentions a man named Gonzalo in his past, and Count Olaf also uses Stephano as a name for a disguise.
- Due to popular culture, Ariel's name is often confused as a reference to the Disney Princess of the same name, who is a mermaid and thus shares the nautical association of the Island's culture. The mermaid Ariel also collects things in a similar way to the islanders' storm-scavenging, though she dislikes the rules and would rather explore and rebel, something contradictory to Ariel the islander's personality.
- She seems to have an interest in learning and knowledge, as she finds Klaus's information about the cutting tool interesting.[2]
- While she makes no physical appearance in the Netflix Adaptation of The End, she could still potentially be one of the unnamed islanders.
Appearances[]
Gallery[]
