Count Olaf looked at each of the Baudelaire orphans, his eyes shining brightly as if he were telling a joke. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said, “but if I did, and I were this Count Olaf you speak of, I would think that you were being very rude. And if I thought you were rude, I might get angry. And if I got angry, who knows what I would do?”
snicket does a wonderful job of portraying abusive adults in the way that children see them. most abuse comes in the form of threats, looming violence and reprecussions.
as adults we want to scream to the children to speak up and tell the truth regardless of the threats but as children we understood just how terrifying threats from adults could be. most children woud do the same thing the baudelaries did, keep quiet out of fear and then wind up in an even worse situation.
