The Bad Beginning

In the story, the laws, customs, and people meant to protect orphaned children completely fail to save the Baudelaire children from their fate at the hands of their evil guardian, Count Olaf. Adults who are supposed to keep an eye on them—estate executor Mr. Poe and neighbor Justice Strauss—fail in their duties: They obey the letter of the law but not its intent, and the children must find their own way out of the abuse inflicted on them by the Count.

Though the Baudelaires are the most important witnesses to their own abuse, they’re ignored, largely because they’re children and Olaf is an adult. His position of authority is considered by law and custom to be superior to the words of children. Other adults will believe him, and not them, if there’s an issue between the two sides. Thus, when the children visit Mr. Poe and try to explain their extremely difficult home life, he treats them with impatience and says, “Whatever Count Olaf has done […] he has acted in loco parentis, and there’s nothing I can do about it” (58). Mr. Poe switches between registers in this speech from a casual tone to Latin legal jargon, highlighting the fact that he is parroting the letter of the law rather than personally analyzing its intentions and thinking critically about the information presented by the children.

Even the kindly Justice Strauss fails to understand how desperate the children are. When they’re ordered to cook for a dozen people, the best she can muster is, “[I]t continues to strike me as odd that Count Olaf has asked you to prepare such an enormous meal” (37). The children want to say more to her, but they realize that she’s “a judge, and she’d just start babbling about in loco parentis like Mr. Poe” (73). Olaf gets her to perform in his play as the official who marries him to Violet; she’s so “stagestruck” that she fails to notice that the wedding scene is an official ceremony that seals the children’s fate. Her vision is obscured by trivial matters such as dinners and theatrics in contrast to Violet’s characterization when she ties back her hair, which both infantilizes Justice Strauss and adultifies Violet, suggesting the prudence of taking children’s experiences seriously.

When Mr. Poe insists that the children can’t live with Justice Strauss because of the terms of the will, Justice Strauss glumly concurs, and neither adult makes any effort to find a solution beyond their strict adherence to the precise terms laid down by estate documents. Handler uses the children’s intelligence and independence throughout the novel to strengthen this final irony: They have essentially looked after Count Olaf and themselves, but their agency is undermined by legal technicalities. Instead of prioritizing the children’s welfare, the adults default to a blind, bureaucratic obedience to a piece of paper, as if doing so will guarantee the children's safety and insure everyone against any mistakes. The novel is a grim commentary on the failure of society to protect its children.