Post by lsandthebooks on Aug 27, 2019 15:33:13 GMT -5
If you look in the Unauthorized Autobiography, you'll see multiple articles from the Daily Punctilio. Lemony always says that the newspaper is extremely unreliable, but when you read the newspaper articles, that doesn't seem to be true. For example, the article on page 3 uses this kind of phrasing:
I bolded the parts that I'm talking about. Does 'purportedly true', 'anonymous and possibly unreliable sources', and 'due to a typographical error', honestly read like a newspaper that doesn't ever check its facts?
Now, I know that the pages 119 and 141 of UA, talk about how the newspaper lies. But, are they actually lying about the Baudelaire kids?
For example on page 119, Geraldine writes to Esme that she sometimes makes things up in her articles, to make the story more interesting. But Geraldine only writes 1 column of the paper, not the entire thing. And Geraldine wasn't the one who wrote the slanderous articles about the Baudelaire kids. She only writes articles for her Secret Organizations column, not necessarily for the front page. The Wiki page for Geraldine shows some of the headlines she's written, and not a single one is about the Baudelaire kids being murderers: snicket.fandom.com/wiki/Geraldine_Julienne
And Lemony's obituary was on the front page, so whoever writes the front page articles obviously cares about proving facts.
On page 141, Mr.Poe gets a telegram from Eleanora Poe, and Eleanora says that she thinks some of the stories she's posted in the Daily Punctilio may not be true after all. But, she never directly says that she's talking about the Baudelaire kids. Eleanora is the editor-in-chief, and she oversees the entire paper. The letters in the UA show that the Daily Punctilio has different sections, like the Music section, the Financial Times, and Lemony used to be a Dramatic Critic and wrote the Drama section of the paper.
You could say, that the Daily Punctilio got the Baudelaire kids' names all wrong. But the weird thing is, why would the newspaper get the first names wrong, but get the last name completely right? Also, the newspaper got Al Funcoot's and Esme's names right too. Even after Lemony was fired and Eleanora wrote the article the very next day in apology to Olaf/Al Funcoot, she didn't get a single detail wrong.
My theory is that Lemony Snicket is the one who changed the kids' first names. Their names really are Veronica, Klyde, and Susie Baudelaire. But because he's so incredibly obsessed with their mother Beatrice, Lemony decided that he wanted to clear the kids' names. So, he did everything he could to make it seem like the Daily Punctilio was inaccurate and full of lies. He went so far as to publish an entire book series, just to disprove every Daily Punctilio article about the kids.
The Baudelaire kids really are murderers and Lemony is just trying his best to protect them from the law. Everything you read in ASOUE is 100% told from Lemony's perspective. He's very biased, and he's willing to do anything to make sure that Beatrice's name and children are kept sacred.
Where's the proof that the kids are violent and murderous? Well, look at what happened in the Penultimate Peril. They killed (I know it was Olaf's fault too, but the kids knew exactly what they were doing) dozens of people and basically felt zero remorse. They never really regret setting the fire. Where is the scene in the Penultimate Peril or in The End that shows the kids truly feeling badly about burning down the hotel and hurting so many people...? And Lemony is giving the most idealized view of the kids that he possibly can, so the lack of emotion from the kids really says a lot.
Plus, the Daily Punctilio reported that Lemony himself is a criminal. Writing ASOUE also helps him clear his own name, since he references over and over again that he's innocent and that he was framed by Olaf, throughout the series. It is true that in All the Wrong Questions, Lemony does commit murder. But he did it in front of 2 police officers and they decided to not arrest him. So technically, that wouldn't count as a crime.
Finally in UA, Lemony does say multiple times that he wants the Baudelaires' story to be as accurate as possible. And I think that helps prove my theory. The details do have to be accurate, otherwise, how can Lemony have any leverage for dismissing the newspaper's accusations? Lemony doesn't have to lie about any of the actual events. All he has to do is show the Baudelaire kids in a more innocent light than the newspaper did.
For example, Lemony writing that the Penultimate Peril fire happened and that it was caused by both Olaf and the kids, isn't a lie at all. The glossing over would come from Lemony talking about the kids' private thoughts and feelings, their private conversations with each other, and all the emotional sides of the story. Lemony reported on the correct facts, but just spun the story in a way that makes the kids seem like constant victims. He may be leaving out extra details, which wouldn't harm the accuracy of his research at all, since he's still telling exactly what happened. He's just leaving out the kids' real thoughts and intentions.
Plus, Lemony has a personal grudge against Olaf. He's disliked him since they were kids in school together, like how he tells Beatrice in the Beatrice Letters. He even lost his career at the newspaper all over his rage against Olaf.
And Lemony changing the kids' names wouldn't necessarily be a lie. It's more like using a creative license, not lying about what happened in the actual events. And he still kept their last name Baudelaire. Like I said, Lemony has to use every method he can find to disprove the Daily Punctilio articles. What better way to do that, than say the newspaper can't even spell the kids' names right?
Also, when it says in The End that the Baudelaire parents had 2 name choices for Violet (Violet or Lemony)...
When the Baudelaire parents left the island, Beatrice hadn't actually given birth yet. The parents might've decided on a totally different name (like Veronica) after Violet was born. It's not set in stone that she had to be named Violet. Especially when you consider that the Baudelaire parents probably found out that Lemony was still alive, after they left the island (the telegram from the Beatrice Letters). Lemony not being dead could have radically changed their plan for baby names, since it's a tradition in the family to name their children after dead friends/family.
So...what do you think?
Lemony Snicket, author of A Series of Unfortunate Events, the purportedly true chronicles of the Baudelaire children, was reported dead today by anonymous and possibly unreliable sources.-
Several manhunts--and due to a typographical error, womanhunts,--proved fruitless.
Several manhunts--and due to a typographical error, womanhunts,--proved fruitless.
I bolded the parts that I'm talking about. Does 'purportedly true', 'anonymous and possibly unreliable sources', and 'due to a typographical error', honestly read like a newspaper that doesn't ever check its facts?
Now, I know that the pages 119 and 141 of UA, talk about how the newspaper lies. But, are they actually lying about the Baudelaire kids?
For example on page 119, Geraldine writes to Esme that she sometimes makes things up in her articles, to make the story more interesting. But Geraldine only writes 1 column of the paper, not the entire thing. And Geraldine wasn't the one who wrote the slanderous articles about the Baudelaire kids. She only writes articles for her Secret Organizations column, not necessarily for the front page. The Wiki page for Geraldine shows some of the headlines she's written, and not a single one is about the Baudelaire kids being murderers: snicket.fandom.com/wiki/Geraldine_Julienne
And Lemony's obituary was on the front page, so whoever writes the front page articles obviously cares about proving facts.
On page 141, Mr.Poe gets a telegram from Eleanora Poe, and Eleanora says that she thinks some of the stories she's posted in the Daily Punctilio may not be true after all. But, she never directly says that she's talking about the Baudelaire kids. Eleanora is the editor-in-chief, and she oversees the entire paper. The letters in the UA show that the Daily Punctilio has different sections, like the Music section, the Financial Times, and Lemony used to be a Dramatic Critic and wrote the Drama section of the paper.
You could say, that the Daily Punctilio got the Baudelaire kids' names all wrong. But the weird thing is, why would the newspaper get the first names wrong, but get the last name completely right? Also, the newspaper got Al Funcoot's and Esme's names right too. Even after Lemony was fired and Eleanora wrote the article the very next day in apology to Olaf/Al Funcoot, she didn't get a single detail wrong.
My theory is that Lemony Snicket is the one who changed the kids' first names. Their names really are Veronica, Klyde, and Susie Baudelaire. But because he's so incredibly obsessed with their mother Beatrice, Lemony decided that he wanted to clear the kids' names. So, he did everything he could to make it seem like the Daily Punctilio was inaccurate and full of lies. He went so far as to publish an entire book series, just to disprove every Daily Punctilio article about the kids.
The Baudelaire kids really are murderers and Lemony is just trying his best to protect them from the law. Everything you read in ASOUE is 100% told from Lemony's perspective. He's very biased, and he's willing to do anything to make sure that Beatrice's name and children are kept sacred.
Where's the proof that the kids are violent and murderous? Well, look at what happened in the Penultimate Peril. They killed (I know it was Olaf's fault too, but the kids knew exactly what they were doing) dozens of people and basically felt zero remorse. They never really regret setting the fire. Where is the scene in the Penultimate Peril or in The End that shows the kids truly feeling badly about burning down the hotel and hurting so many people...? And Lemony is giving the most idealized view of the kids that he possibly can, so the lack of emotion from the kids really says a lot.
Plus, the Daily Punctilio reported that Lemony himself is a criminal. Writing ASOUE also helps him clear his own name, since he references over and over again that he's innocent and that he was framed by Olaf, throughout the series. It is true that in All the Wrong Questions, Lemony does commit murder. But he did it in front of 2 police officers and they decided to not arrest him. So technically, that wouldn't count as a crime.
Finally in UA, Lemony does say multiple times that he wants the Baudelaires' story to be as accurate as possible. And I think that helps prove my theory. The details do have to be accurate, otherwise, how can Lemony have any leverage for dismissing the newspaper's accusations? Lemony doesn't have to lie about any of the actual events. All he has to do is show the Baudelaire kids in a more innocent light than the newspaper did.
For example, Lemony writing that the Penultimate Peril fire happened and that it was caused by both Olaf and the kids, isn't a lie at all. The glossing over would come from Lemony talking about the kids' private thoughts and feelings, their private conversations with each other, and all the emotional sides of the story. Lemony reported on the correct facts, but just spun the story in a way that makes the kids seem like constant victims. He may be leaving out extra details, which wouldn't harm the accuracy of his research at all, since he's still telling exactly what happened. He's just leaving out the kids' real thoughts and intentions.
Plus, Lemony has a personal grudge against Olaf. He's disliked him since they were kids in school together, like how he tells Beatrice in the Beatrice Letters. He even lost his career at the newspaper all over his rage against Olaf.
And Lemony changing the kids' names wouldn't necessarily be a lie. It's more like using a creative license, not lying about what happened in the actual events. And he still kept their last name Baudelaire. Like I said, Lemony has to use every method he can find to disprove the Daily Punctilio articles. What better way to do that, than say the newspaper can't even spell the kids' names right?
Also, when it says in The End that the Baudelaire parents had 2 name choices for Violet (Violet or Lemony)...
When the Baudelaire parents left the island, Beatrice hadn't actually given birth yet. The parents might've decided on a totally different name (like Veronica) after Violet was born. It's not set in stone that she had to be named Violet. Especially when you consider that the Baudelaire parents probably found out that Lemony was still alive, after they left the island (the telegram from the Beatrice Letters). Lemony not being dead could have radically changed their plan for baby names, since it's a tradition in the family to name their children after dead friends/family.
So...what do you think?