The Bad Beginning Sadness Quotes

How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)

Quote #4

The Baudelaire orphans went to the bedroom and glumly packed their few belongings. Klaus looked distastefully at each ugly shirt Mrs. Poe had bought for him as he folded them and put them into a small suitcase. Violet looked around the cramped, smelly room in which they had been living. And Sunny crawled around solemnly biting each of Edgar and Albert's shoes, leaving small teeth marks in each one so she would not be forgotten. (2.19)

So the Baudelaires don't like Mr. Poe's house, but they like the unknown even less. The dismal devil you know is better than the one you don't, right?

Quote #5

"Maybe somebody wants to visit us," Klaus said, without much hope. In the time since the Baudelaire parents' death, most of the Baudelaire orphans' friends had fallen by the wayside, an expression which here means "they stopped calling, writing, and stopping by to see any of the Baudelaires, making them very lonely." You and I, of course, would never do this to any of our grieving acquaintances, but it is a sad truth in life that when someone has lost a loved one, friends sometimes avoid the person, just when the presence of friends is most needed. (3.21)

This is a pretty true observation. The Baudelaires must have had many friends and relatives, but no one has come to help the children in their hour of need. What gives? Especially since they're now living with a foul-smelling villain.

Quote #6

"I can't tell you how much we appreciate this," Violet said, carefully. With their kind parents dead and Count Olaf treating them so abominably, the three children were not used to kindness from adults, and weren't sure if they were expected to do anything back. "Tomorrow, before we use your library again, Klaus and I would be more than happy to do household chores for you. Sunny isn't really old enough to work, but I'm sure we could find some way she could help you."

Justice Strauss smiled at the three children, but her eyes were sad. She reached out a hand and put it on Violet's hair, and Violet felt more comforted than she had in some time. "That won't be necessary," Justice Strauss said. "You are always welcome in my home." Then she turned and went into her home, and after a moment of staring after her, the Baudelaire orphans went into theirs. (4.6-7)

Just talking to the orphans makes Justice Strauss a little bit sad. She realizes what kind and sweet people they are and that they probably don't get much love from Count Olaf. She's a little melancholy that she can't help them more.