The Reptile Room

Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 1999

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Summary

Background

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapters 1-2

Chapters 3-5

Chapters 6-8

Chapters 9-11

Chapters 12-13

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

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Discussion Questions

Themes

The Importance of Teamwork

The importance of teamwork is a common theme throughout middle-grade literature, especially within the gothic, horror, and mystery genres. In A Series of Unfortunate Events, Violet Baudelaire, Klaus Baudelaire, and Sunny Baudelaire are left alone when their parents die. Although other kind and well-meaning adults come into their lives, these adults tend to be oblivious and incompetent when it comes to helping the Baudelaires. In each installment, the children face seemingly impossible circumstances, and they only triumph (or at least survive) because of their teamwork as siblings.

Violet, Klaus, and Sunny each possess unusually impressive abilities and wisdom for children their ages, but it is only by combining all of their traits and abilities that they are repeatedly able to survive and expose Count Olaf’s evil plans while ensuring that they hold onto their inheritance. For example, in The Reptile Room, the highly literate Klaus quickly researches the Mamba du Mal snake to discover that it couldn’t have killed Uncle Monty, suggesting a human culprit (Count Olaf) instead. Violet, a budding mechanical engineer, creates a makeshift lockpick to gain access to the contents of Count Olaf’s suitcase, then assembles the evidence by viewing it parts of a “machine” before presenting the case to the adults. Sunny uses her playfulness and love for biting to guard doors and create distractions while her siblings deal with the adults and to expose “Dr. Lucafont” as one of Count Olaf’s theater minions. Violet in particular seems to understand that, like “the various gears, wires, and ropes involved in most of her creations,” the Baudelaire children’s unique abilities can function together to save them (4).

At the end of the novel, the children are again left without a guardian, having lost Uncle Monty and once again been rather let down by Mr. Poe. Though this ending is grim, in the final moments, the children look to each other with appreciation and admiration.

‘You’re brilliant,’ Violet murmured to Klaus, ‘reading up on the Mamba du Mal.’ ‘You’re brilliant,’ Klaus murmured back, ‘getting the evidence out of Stephano’s suitcase.’ ‘Brilliant!’ Sunny said again, and Violet and Klaus gave their baby sister a hug. Even the youngest Baudelaire was brilliant, for distracting the adults with the Incredibly Deadly Viper (167).

The children recognize that each of them, including Sunny, contributed to their survival and to Count Olaf’s exposure. Without each other, no single one of them could have accomplished these goals on their own. However, together, they possess abilities that allow them to prevail even without the assistance of adults.

The Vulnerability of Children

A Series of Unfortunate Events demonstrates the vulnerability of children within a world designed by and for adults. The institutions, rules, and customs that the Baudelaires encounter often perpetuate harm done to the children, despite seemingly being meant to protect them. Oblivious adults highlight this theme throughout the series, most notably Mr. Poe, but also others such as Uncle Monty in The Reptile Room. The court-approved systems set in place to ensure the safety and prevent the abuse or neglect of children such as the Baudelaires fail them by first placing them directly into the hands of the evil and murderous Count Olaf, then subsequently by allowing him to continually come back into their lives in various disguises.

Being children, the Baudelaires have certain legal limitations and lack the same rights as adults. For example, they’re required to live with a guardian and can’t access the money their parents left them until they’re 18, nor are they allowed to make their own money at jobs yet. As a result, they have no choice but to depend on adults to provide them with basic necessities like food and shelter. Adults serve not only as actual guardians to the Baudelaires but also as the ones in charge of vetting potential guardians and making sure they’re safe to place the children with. Mr. Poe repeatedly fails at this task because of his inability to distinguish perception from reality and because he struggles to listen to and trust the Baudelaires’ input over that of his fellow adults. Violet articulates a truth that is a hard pill to swallow, but nonetheless important for the Baudelaires to recognize: “We have work to do […] what Mr. Poe should be doing, but as usual, he is well intentioned but of no real help […] [and] in order to convince the adults, we have to find evidence and proof of Stephano’s plan” (108). Klaus and Sunny follow their sister’s lead, recognizing that they sometimes have to rely on themselves, rather than adults, and also that they have to play by adult rules in order to convince the adults of truths.

As a baby, Sunny illustrates the vulnerability of children even more; without her siblings, she couldn’t communicate with adults at all. Even when Sunny speaks a real word and not babble, Mr. Poe still doesn't understand her despite the evidence unfolding before him. Klaus translates “By ‘Aha’ […] she means ‘One minute Stephano claims he knows nothing about snakes, the next he claims he is an expert! By ‘Aha’ she means ‘Stephano has been lying to us.’ By ‘Aha’ she means ‘We’ve finally exposed his dishonesty.’ By ‘Aha’ she means ‘Aha’!” (131). Sunny especially illustrates the extent to which the adults in the novels fail to listen to the children, resulting in tragedies unfolding that could have been prevented.

The Difference Between Perception and Reality

Despite the common phrase “seeing is believing,” The Reptile Room (and other novels from A Series of Unfortunate Events) illuminate the difference between what characters perceive through their five senses and what is actually real. The Baudelaires notice things others don’t, and they often have a stronger sense of reality because of how observant they are. For example, at their new home, the children notice the strange snake-shaped hedges and wonder what they mean, but “Mr. Poe, who led the way, didn’t seem to notice the hedges at all” (9). This represents how Mr. Poe is oblivious to warning signs and red flags, just as he was in the previous book.

Although the Baudelaires are highly perceptive, observant, and rational compared to others and usually able to piece together a more accurate impression of reality, there are still limits to their own perception and concept of reality as well. For example, while they easily recognize that Stephano is just Count Olaf in disguise, they don’t recognize that Dr. Lucafont is also wearing a disguise, is not a real doctor, and is secretly one of Count Olaf’s actor minions. Lemony Snicket knows more than the Baudelaires, whose story he is narrating in the past tense. He often clues the reader in with spoilers that deliver dramatic irony, but in Dr. Lucafont’s case, he conceals this information until near the end, although the reader can suspect on their own that the doctor is not trustworthy due to how quickly he arrives and concludes that Monty died of a snakebite from a snake that unlocked its own cage then went back into it. Only when Sunny bites the fake doctor and removes his false hand do the other children perceive the reality that this man is actually an actor friend of Count Olaf’s who has a hook for a hand.

To convince Mr. Poe of Stephano’s true identity, the children have to get him to perceive it himself; he cannot be convinced through rationalization. The children reference the tattoo, and “The pant leg went up, like a curtain rising to begin a play. But there was no tattoo of an eye to be seen. The Baudelaire orphans stared at a patch of smooth skin, as blank and pale as poor Uncle Monty’s face” (95). Having covered his tattoo with makeup, Count Olaf easily fools Mr. Poe, who says “All I can see […] is what’s in front of me. I see a man with no eyebrows, a beard, and no tattoo, and that’s not Count Olaf” (97). Only when Mr. Poe wipes the makeup off with his own handkerchief does he finally believe that Stephano is Count Olaf. Although the Baudelaires understand that there is a difference between perception and reality, Mr. Poe doesn’t, and they have to go to great lengths to convince him of reality.