|
Post by Dante on Sept 17, 2019 2:56:05 GMT -5
The original explanation seems entirely sufficient to the purpose. The reason Lemony Snicket hides his face is almost certainly because he is a fugitive from justice, a wanted criminal on the run; if nobody can recognise him, nobody can call the police to capture him. The mystery is for the benefit of neither the readers nor the Baudelaire children, it's simple world-building. When you consider his pressing motives for publishing his books, the fact that they endanger himself is clearly a secondary consideration. Out-of-universe, it's also a device to disguise the fact that he is the same person as Daniel Handler.
Bertrand has no motive to conceal his identity in the fashion you suggest. Lemony is pursued just as ferociously by the villains as a surviving Bertrand Baudelaire would be, so the disguise would be of no use; and in fact it seems clear in this respect that Bertrand would be safer publicly revealing that he had survived and using that position to publicly accuse his enemies. Additionally, it is plainly obvious from Lemony's elaborate backstory that his history is entirely irreconcilable with Bertrand's. So in fact the imposture would serve no purpose whatsoever and would be actively self-defeating.
|
|
|
Post by Optimism is my Phil-osophy on Sept 17, 2019 9:34:57 GMT -5
Dante, but I understand why she thinks so. Like I said, Isandthebooks (I advise you to make a fun avatar with this nick, and don't post your personal photo because that's a bad idea and I'd go back if I hadn't gone that far) is following the same path I followed alone a few years ago while reading and rereading ASOUE alone. She connected some information about Lemony: "Lemony Snicket is not who you think you are." (13 secrets); Lemony's promise to someone unknown; Lemony's knowledge of children's childhood; Lemony has a seemingly inexplicable emotional attachment to those children. Lemony remembers what the Baudelaire Mansion table looked like. These isolated statements made me wonder if Lemony wasn't Bertrand at times. This along with his hiding his face can make someone believe that. But the reasons you cited made me forget that. And they made me come up with alternative hypotheses that would explain each of these statements.
|
|
|
Post by Foxy on Sept 17, 2019 13:21:35 GMT -5
I just don't think there's any evidence to support this theory. Bertrand would have no reason to pose as Lemony, because if he did that, he would be posing as a wanted man. If Bertrand did survive the fire and were attempting to lay low, he would probably pose as someone who is not a wanted criminal.
|
|