if you have ever peeled an onion, then you know that the first thin, papery layer reveals another thin, papery layer, and that layer reveals another, and another, and before you know it you have hundreds of layers all over the kitchen table and thousands of tears in your eyes, sorry that you ever started peeling in the first place and wishing that you had left the onion alone to wither away on the shelf of the pantry while you went on with your life, even if that meant never again enjoying the complicated and overwhelming taste of this strange and bitter vegetable.
in this way, the story of the baudelaire orphans is like an onion, and if you insist on reading each and every thin, papery layer in a series of unfortunate events, your only reward will be 170 chapters of misery in your life and countless tears in your eyes.
The Baudelaires are very, very direct and explicit in asking for protection from Count Olaf once they realize how dangerous he is, but there are multiple occasions where they downplay abusive situations out of “manners”. I can think of two off the top of my head.
The Bad Beginning, chapter three:
“Goodness,” Justice Strauss said. “Cooking dinner for an entire theater troupe seems like a lot to ask of children.”
“Count Olaf gives us a lot of responsibility,” Violet said. What she wanted to say was, “Count Olaf is an evil man,” but she was well mannered.
The Miserable Mill, chapter four, after the children have started work at the mill:
“Oh no,” the man said. “Forgive me for not introducing myself. My name is Charles, and it’s very nice to have the three of you here at Lucky Smells Lumbermill.”
“It’s very nice to be here,” Violet lied politely.
In All The Wrong Questions, S. Theodora Markson is a complicated person who I believe has the potential to be much better than she is, but she’s abusive to Lemony. She micromanages his behavior, almost hits him, won’t let him have privacy, and starves him. Lemony knows he’s being treated badly, but as far as I can recall he never fully discloses this to his friends or tries to escape the situation - he only tries to work around her so he can do as he likes and get his “job” done. And of course he doesn’t seem fully conscious of how much VFD has fucked with his life and is keeping VFD a secret except when he vaguely describes it to outsiders as a noble secret society of volunteers.
Ellington Feint describes her father lovingly, but his actions as Hangfire are unbelievably cruel and manipulative towards her and put her in danger. Was she telling the truth? Did she lie to Lemony on purpose? Was she mistreated, but didn’t realize it? Or did he really once provide her with a wonderful childhood?
Maybe all of the child characters in ATWQ have questionable home lives. Almost all of them are clearly neglected by at least one parent. But we mostly don’t know why. Neither Lemony nor the reader know the full details.
The Snicketverse could not be more direct nor more critical in telling people to believe children when they’re saying they’ve been abused and protect them when they’re asking for help. But it also portrays situations that are much more complex, where kids aren’t asking for help, or are trying to downplay or even outright hide the awful things that are happening to them, or where the full nature of the situation is unclear. I dunno, it’s just… really, really, really sad.
I guess the moral is to try your best to help anyway, with the information you do have. Up until Justice Strauss was tricked by Count Olaf, she was a tremendous help and comfort to the Baudelaires just by being kind to them and offering them a safe space to come visit. (And also think critically about the information you do have and, e.g., notice that a man even pretending to marry his fourteen-year-old adopted daughter is extremely fucked up.)
