Reader Series: 'The Reptile Room,' Lemony Snicket

This is the second post in a series leading up to the premiere of Netflix's 'A Series of Unfortunate Events' on January 13, 2017. The series will cover each of the 13 books and 'Lemony Snicket: The Unauthorized Autobiography.' Be warned: there are spoilers ahead.

The Reptile Room, the second installment of Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events, continues the darker themes that will remain throughout the series and solidly cements Count Olaf's villainy. With Count Olaf having escaped in the first book, Mr. Poe finds a new guardian for the Baudelaire siblings. This time, although we know Mr. Poe does hardly any research into guardians or legal jargon, Mr. Poe seems successful in his attempt to find a proper guardian. Dr. Montgomery Montgomery, a herpetologist (that's the study of reptiles), would indeed be the ideal guardian for the Baudelaires, valuing Klaus' love for books, Violet's talents as an inventor, and Sunny's interest in biting things. Unfortunately, but not unexpectedly, the title of this unfortunate series is not a misnomer. 

Although we were introduced to Snicket's unique writing style and voice in the previous book, which established how not sugarcoated the series would be, The Reptile Room takes a more violent turn than one would expect in a series marketed toward middle-grade readers. Count Olaf's manipulative and obsessive abilities are on full display in this book; even when Uncle Monty understands that 'Stephano' is not who he claims to be, he is still woefully misinterpreting the situation. Ultimately, this inability of adults to look past what is important in their own lives, a repeated theme, becomes Uncle Monty's downfall.

I vaguely remembered the cruelty featured in The Reptile Room, and my memory was faulty as I conflated what happened in the feature film with what actually occurred in the book. Reading it again, as more of an adult now, I found myself shocked: I had forgotten Olaf's knife-wielding, the extent of Mr. Poe's inability to believe or listen to the Baudelaires, and just how close Olaf came to winning. If anything, that first note should be something the mind remembers from such stories.

"This is my knife. It is very sharp and very eager to hurt you." 

Simply put, dramatic irony is when a person makes a harmless remark, and someone else who hears it knows something that makes the remark have a different, and usually unpleasant, meaning. For instance, if you were in a restaurant and said out loud, "I can't wait to eat the veal marsala I ordered," and there were people around who knew that the veal marsala was poisoned and that you would die as soon as you took a bite, your situation would be one of dramatic irony. 

It is a curious thing, the death of a loved one. We all know that our time in this world is limited, and that eventually all of us will end up underneath some sheet, never to wake up. And yet it is always a surprise when it happens to someone we know. 

This is an absurd moral, for you and I both know that sometimes not only is it good to lie, it is necessary to lie. 

"My sister is a nice girl,” Klaus said, “and she knows how to do all sorts of things." 

"Dixnik?" Sunny asked. It is always confusing why anyone would choose to wear a plaid shirt.

The Reptile Room sets up a lot of the base tone and themes that remain throughout the series. Although I was shocked by certain elements, the reality portrayed in the book is not built on shock value. The course of events at Dr. Montgomery Montgomery's, while horrible, make sense - and that in itself is a terrible thing. More importantly, this book teaches the reader that even good people contribute to the schemes of villainous people in the world.

What did you think of The Reptile Room?