Hired Help

[Onder]

Page 212 of *The End* recalls how Violet and Klaus had “assigned chores” to complete throughout the mansion. It isn’t mentioned in the text, to my knowledge, but I wonder if the Baudelaires had hired help of any kind (maids, butlers, ect.). It would be quite unusual, and necessitate a lot of work, for only four people to maintain an entire mansion by themselves imo. Possibly an oversight from Snicket, but perhaps the help could’ve made decent minor characters assuming some had survived the fire.

[Skelly Craig]

I agree that they might've served for an interesting subplot, or assist in making the surviving-parent subplot more exciting. Handler must've decided that whatever help they had in the house was just regular hired help without any VFD knowledge, or else Snicket (the character) would've contacted them. I think this was a decision by Handler in order to downplay the Baudelaires' wealthy lifestyle somewhat, and avoid readers viewing the Baudelaires as erstwhile spoiled kids (you know, thinking anything along the lines of "boo-hoo, poor Baudelaires used to have butlers in their mansion, and now they go to a tough school like most kids do" in TAA, f.ex.).

[Dante]

I'm inclined to agree that, especially as the series grew more sophisticated, Handler tended to downplay the wealth and privilege of the Baudelaire family; he generally presents them as a fairly ordinary family who don't undertake many activities exclusive to the very wealthy. I would agree that Handler wanted the Baudelaire orphans to be more relatable than the children of fairy-tale and romance they start out as; this is touched on by Mr. Poe when they complain to him about Count Olaf's behaviour, where he clearly takes them as spoiled children who don't want to perform chores and don't like their guardian's class of friends. People have occasionally been rather cynical about this.

[Hermes]

I agree that DH may have wanted to downplay the Baudelaires' wealthy background to make them more relatable; they have to be wealthy for the plot to work, but if they are excessively so they become too far from the audience. On the other hand, as far as I can remember the Squalors, who must be much richer than the Baudelaires, don't have hired help either, so perhaps he just does not think in those terms.

Might we suppose that wealthy VFD families tend not to have an extravagant lifestyle (except Duchesses, who have a public position to maintain) because their wealth may be needed to support the organisation?

I'm reminded of The Lord of the Rings, where Bilbo and Frodo, though wealthy and from an upper-class background, do not have indoor servants, only a gardener, though humans of their class would certainly have done so in Tolkien's time.

[Onder]

Aug 20, 2019 9:42:33 GMT -5 Hermes said:

I agree that DH may have wanted to downplay the Baudelaires' wealthy background to make them more relatable; they have to be wealthy for the plot to work, but if they are excessively so they become too far from the audience. On the other hand, as far as I can remember the Squalors, who must be much richer than the Baudelaires, don't have hired help either, so perhaps he just does not think in those terms.

Might we suppose that wealthy VFD families tend not to have an extravagant lifestyle (except Duchesses, who have a public position to maintain) because their wealth may be needed to support the organisation?

I'm reminded of The Lord of the Rings, where Bilbo and Frodo, though wealthy and from an upper-class background, do not have indoor servants, only a gardener, though humans of their class would certainly have done so in Tolkien's time.

I’m not too familiar with LOTR but it seems like Tolkien and Handler both had the same conflict where they want to illustrate that their characters are both “of good stock” but not out of touch with the common folk. Your theory has a nice logic to it, and in the Baudelaires’ case it could also be that mansion, depending on its age and location, might not be as expensive as one would imagine.

[Dante]

I don't think it's necessarily a question of "good stock", it's more the influence of gothic literature on the early books - see, for instance, Ann Radcliffe's The Mysteries of Udolpho (an admitted influence of Handler's), in which heiress Emily St. Aubert is imprisoned in the castle of Count Montoni as he attempts to extract her fortune from her; or, if you'd prefer, The Perils of Penelope Pitstop is more or less the same thing. Broadly speaking, Olaf needs a motive to pursue the Baudelaires, and seizing their fortune is a classic one for the quasi-historical period implied.

[Foxy]

It's kind of nice of Handler to point out that not all rich people are snobby or mean. I think it is likely the Baudelaires did not have hired help, because the children were required to do some chores, not that those two scenarios are mutually exclusive. But the Baudelaires seem to me like a family where everyone pitches in and helps around the house.

This topic gets me thinking about everyone's incomes. Count Olaf is low income, probably because he is a terrible actor and doesn't have a real job. The Squalors are unbelievably wealthy. Uncle Monty seems to be pretty well off. Aunt Josephine doesn't seem to have a ton of money (what is her vocation, anyway?), but she also doesn't seem to be living in poverty. Sir is doing okay at the lumber mill, Hector owns his own house, Widdershins lives on a sub. For the most part, everyone seems to make ends meet besides Count Olaf, who makes people meet their ends.

But I agree with everyone who said without the fortune you don't have a motive for Count Olaf. You can't have a series without the Baudelaires having a fortune.

[Skelly Craig]

Aug 21, 2019 11:50:03 GMT -5 Foxy said:

For the most part, everyone seems to make ends meet besides Count Olaf, who makes people meet their ends.

Haha, very Snickety line there, Foxy.