Josephine Anwhistle

Josephine Anwhistle
Josephine Anwhistle is Violet, Klaus and Sunny Baudelaire's second cousin's sister-in-law - namely the sister of the wife of the Baudelaires' second cousin - and becomes their guardian in The Wide Window. She was the wife of Isaac "Ike" Anwhistle and sister-in-law of Gregor Anwhistle.[1]

Grammar
Josephine is very fond of grammar, often correcting people when they make grammatical mistakes. Her personal library contains only a wide variety of grammar books. It is possible her great love of grammar spawned because it is the one thing she cannot possibly be afraid of. Unfortunately, she values how people say things more than what they say, such as when Klaus was telling him about his fear of Olaf's ankle tattoo or when Violet asked for an explanation on why Josephine abandoned them, and even when Violet's trying to save "each of their lives".

Fears
Josephine Anwhistle is afraid of nearly everything from the Lachrymose Leeches to having hair in her face. She is so scared of everything she makes it difficult to really enjoy anything at all. And the worst of it was, her deep fear caused her to be a bad guardian. She had run away at the first sign of danger and had to be dragged out of Curdled Cave when she is needed by the children. She even offered the orphans to Captain Sham in exchange for her own safety. She likes to close her eyes when she's afraid in order to "block out the fear". Under her bed are all sorts of objects she wants to "block out", such as pots and pans (reminders of the stove), horribly ugly socks no human eyes should ever see, a framed photograph of her husband (too much heartache), and a stack of books on Lake Lachrymose.

Josephine is afraid of:


 * Lake Lachrymose and the Lachrymose Leeches
 * Radiators (may explode)
 * Doormats (could cause someone to trip and break their neck)
 * Sofas (could fall over at any time and crush them flat)
 * Refrigerators (could also fall over at any time and crush you flat)
 * Telephones (risk of electrocution)
 * Doorknobs (may shatter into a million pieces and one may hit her eye)
 * Burglars (she places tin cans in the corner of every room so she'll hear when a burglar comes in and trips on them)
 * Stoves (they may burst into flames)
 * Having children
 * Realtors
 * Automobiles (the doors may get stuck)
 * Captain Sham/Count Olaf
 * Being thrown overboard
 * Drowning
 * Having hair in her face
 * Avocados (the pit (seed) could be come lodged in one's throat)
 * The Black Plague

among other fears.