Snicket's Politics and Social Satire - by Antenora
Jun 30, 2008 15:54:58 GMT -5
Jacques Snicket, Miss Librarian, and 1 more like this
Post by Dante on Jun 30, 2008 15:54:58 GMT -5
Mr. Snicket's Politics and Unfortunate Social Satire
We know that Daniel Handler is a liberal, and it appears that his character Snicket shares these views, based on the available evidence-- in his letters to Beatrice, he denounces "pre-emptive war"(the solution to Olaf's anagram "a wet viper perm") as an obscene concept, and expresses sadness over the fact that two women are not allowed to marry. While we know relatively little about the politics of the Snicket world, by our standards Snicket would also be a liberal. He would also strongly disapprove of the "anti-elitist" and anti-intellectual leanings commonly shown by some conservatives(but by no means limited to the Right-- consider how Hillary Clinton has dismissed the worth of economic experts). For Snicket, this kind of thinking(or non-thinking) goes hand in hand not only with evil, but with sheer absurdity.
Several of the post-V.F.D. books contain notable social satire, presenting a world not entirely unlike our own:
Snicket the character/narrator seems to be sympathetic to Handler's mocking view of these characters, frequently describing them and their obsessions as unpleasant or just plain ridiculous. Making the proud and haughty look silly is a time-honored technique of social satire, seen in Alexander Pope's "The Rape of the Lock", and in modern political satire such as The Onion and Comedy Central's political shows. Even though we know little about the overall government in Snicket's world-- and the presence of Arizona royalty and Winnipeg aristocracy suggests an alternate history, or perhaps a dystopic future in which the United States has collapsed and other nations' governments have completely rearranged themselves-- its culture is not that unlike our own. All effective satire, however absurd, has some aspect of reality.
We know that Daniel Handler is a liberal, and it appears that his character Snicket shares these views, based on the available evidence-- in his letters to Beatrice, he denounces "pre-emptive war"(the solution to Olaf's anagram "a wet viper perm") as an obscene concept, and expresses sadness over the fact that two women are not allowed to marry. While we know relatively little about the politics of the Snicket world, by our standards Snicket would also be a liberal. He would also strongly disapprove of the "anti-elitist" and anti-intellectual leanings commonly shown by some conservatives(but by no means limited to the Right-- consider how Hillary Clinton has dismissed the worth of economic experts). For Snicket, this kind of thinking(or non-thinking) goes hand in hand not only with evil, but with sheer absurdity.
Several of the post-V.F.D. books contain notable social satire, presenting a world not entirely unlike our own:
- The obsession with wealth, fashion and conspicuous consumption-- exemplified by the items sold in the aptly named Veblen Hall-- in TEE. Many of these items and fashions, such as keeping whole streets in darkness, climbing dozens of flights of stairs, and parsley soda, would seem unappealing if they were not, for some reason, declared fashionable.
- The tyrannical government of the Village of Fowl Devotees, which resembles a theocracy or a cult with its devotion to crows, censorship of any suggestion of dissent, and medieval-esque method of punishment. Consider also their puritanical ban on "using one's mouth for recreation", which implies the sort of restriction of sensual pleasure seen in communities ruled by religion. Even these frightening figures have comical aspects, though, with their silly hats, forbiddance of their own rule books, and nitpicking about ice-cream sundaes.
- The public's love of humiliation, freakishness, "violence and sloppy eating", shown by the visitors to Caligari Carnival. While people like the pimpled man are exaggerated strawman characters, their means of entertainment are not entirely unrealistic-- witness reality shows, torture-themed movies, media coverage of Michael Jackson and Paris Hilton, certain web pages, and rubberneckers at car accidents.
- The corrupt-yet-absurd High Court in TPP. This is the most powerful political institution we see in ASoUE, and it reflects all the worst aspects of this world's authority and society. Members are either unfathomably evil or too "laissez-faire" to hold back evil-- one may draw a parallel to the executive and legislative branches of the current United States government. However, their Scalia-esque interpretation of "Justice is blind", like the crow hats, allows us to laugh as well as tremble.
- Ishmael's government of "Olaf-Land", which forms an interesting counterpoint to the Village of Fowl Devotees. Instead of ruling with an iron fist, Ishmael appears gentle(and more sympathetic than the Council of Elders), and his government, while cultish, is more like communism than fascist theocracy. By restricting his subjects' access to knowledge, technology, and most material items, Ishmael attempts to stamp out greed and create a Marxist utopia, which as in our world ultimately turns out to be dystopic. This reflects the "horseshoe" theory of the political spectrum, in which the extreme right and the extreme left are more similar than they'd like to admit; it also supports the themes of moral ambiguity which become prominent in these later books, in which there is no clear path to goodness.
Snicket the character/narrator seems to be sympathetic to Handler's mocking view of these characters, frequently describing them and their obsessions as unpleasant or just plain ridiculous. Making the proud and haughty look silly is a time-honored technique of social satire, seen in Alexander Pope's "The Rape of the Lock", and in modern political satire such as The Onion and Comedy Central's political shows. Even though we know little about the overall government in Snicket's world-- and the presence of Arizona royalty and Winnipeg aristocracy suggests an alternate history, or perhaps a dystopic future in which the United States has collapsed and other nations' governments have completely rearranged themselves-- its culture is not that unlike our own. All effective satire, however absurd, has some aspect of reality.