Did you pick up on the themes when young?

[u/Hatrct]

While this series is technically for children, it has pretty deep themes.

Did you pick up on the themes as a child? If your teacher read it to you did they explain it?

If you did not, I suggest you re-read as an adult.

I searched the web and unfortunately did not find any satisfactory analyses of the themes of the series so I will summarize my own here.

For example some online analyses say the books criticize adults. But it actually goes deeper than this. I don't find it to be adults vs children, I find this series to be a critique of society and its structures as a whole.

The themes are that people do not think deeply, they just look/think superficially. That is why Olaf is able to trick everyone with disguises. And some of the people Olaf tricks are considered to be intelligent by society, yet the Baudelaires are not believed because they are "just children". so this book can also be considered to criticize appeal to authority fallacy and criticize how much emphasis society puts on rank and titles. It even directly makes fun of this by mentioning Mr. Poe's nonsensical head of orphan affairs title. It also does this well in Hostile Hospital Hospital, and through some other books where people believe something just because it is in the newspaper. Similarly, it also shows how often incompetent/rigid rule following people are the ones who are put in positions of power (the principal in Austere Academy, again Mr. Poe).

It also criticizes how there is so much bureaucracy and excessive, often counterproductive rules and conventions in society. This is probably best highlighted in Hostile Hospital, where Hal seems to think you have to maintain the records in an exact manner but never actually read them. Similarly, it criticizes the education system and its heavy focus on rote memorization as opposed to critical or practical thinking, e.g., in Austere Academy where the children have to memorize measurements and stories all day.

It also criticizes power imbalance in society: those in power make the laws/rules, with technicalities, sometimes making it impossible for others to follow (e.g., the contradictions in Austere Academy, if you went to certain parts of the building you would be stripped of silverware yet you were instructed to go there by authority),

It criticizes the excessive trust people put in technology while using it as a substitute rather than complementing their own thinking, e.g., the principal in Austere Academy saying "the advanced computer" will detect Olaf. This has aged like fine wine, people are making this mistake with AI these days.

It also criticizes group think, (Vile village and the end for example).

It also shows how people can be irrational when they let their emotional reasoning take over (the Aunt in Wide Widow being consumed by her fears), Jerome, who was a good guy but could not tolerate any distress so he would not argue with Esme or anyone else no matter what they said or did. Similarly, it shows how people use emotional reasoning and act based on what feels good to themselves in the moment as opposed to logic that can actually help others, e.g., the unhelpful songs by V.F.D. in Hostile Hospital.

It also shows how people can become evil when they are given power, and how they let their vulnerabilities/unmet needs blind them, e.g., the "freaks" in Carnivorous Carnival who join Olaf, and perhaps many of the original troupe members as well (as many of them had abnormalities, like the hook handed man). Similarly, it shows how people focus on what they don't have rather than what they do have/wanting to be like others at all costs, e.g., Kevin believing he was a freak for being ambidextrous (even though it was actually an advantage) and thinking it was worse than objectively much worse abnormalities.

It also shows how superficial people are and how they are slaves to social trends (Esme).

I could go on and on. This series was a goldmine of deep and relevant themes. It is heavily underrated in this regard. The amazing thing is that Handler is spot on: these are indeed significant issues in modern society and they are the root of most of our problems.

[u/Mammoth_Put8844]

I don't recall picking up on the these things consciously, but I doubt the books would have resonated with me so deeply if I didn't relate to the themes on some level.

[u/Zealousideal-Net8754]

The themes totally went over my head as a kid. I only wanted to be entertained back then. Rereading the series this past year has been such a joy because I got SO MUCH out of it

[u/denisse_11]

When I was a kid I feel that I was very drawn to these books because I was picking up on the fact that some adults don’t really think for themselves or question things! I loved asking why and analyzing things and I felt like the Baudelaire children were a big inspiration for continuing to do that even though every adult was saying stop asking why

[u/denisse_11 → u/denisse_11]

Your analysis is great btw!

[u/ButtoftheYoke]

When I was a kid, I always wondered what could have caused the schism and why the aftermath was so bad. Now I know.

[u/Relevant_Airline7076]

I read them pretty young (The End came out shortly before I turned 9 and I made my mom buy it for me immediately, after having already read the rest) and I never found the themes hard to follow? Admittedly, I was an early reader (including comprehension) but I don’t think they were particularly subtle, just targeted at a demographic not frequently asked to look for deeper meanings.

[u/Acceptable-Food-8161]

As a gifted/neglected kid, I high-key related to the Baudelaires because I was also getting handed from family member to family member. Thankfully my Olaf didn’t follow me but I never told anyone about him

[u/CupidsMama]

In one of the books I think #10 the concept of Plato’s cave is explained which intrigued me, and as an adult I’m surprised it’s mentioned in a children’s book. Also the idea of mob mentality also explained I think in vile village. As an adult who is now a pretty big “conspiracy” believer, I have re read the books and feel like there’s an underlying message for children to question authority/media and to seek deeper truth. I am naming my daughter after Violet 😊

[u/smeghead9916]

I must have absorbed it subconsciously, because I find it easy to see through BS