The Reptile Room
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| Author | Lemony Snicket (pen name of Daniel Handler |
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| Illustrator | Brett Helquist |
| Cover Artist | Brett Helquist |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Series | A Series of Unfortunate Events |
| Genre(s) | Novel |
| Publisher | HarperCollins |
| Released | September 30, 1999 |
| Media Type | Print (Hardback & Paperback) |
| Pages | 190 pp |
| ISBN | ISBN |
| Preceded by | The Bad Beginning |
| Followed by | The Wide Window |
The Reptile Room is the second novel in the book series A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket.
Contents |
[edit] Plot summary
The second tale of the Baudelaire orphans begins with the children riding down Lousy Lane in Mr. Poe's cramped car, headed to the home of their new guardian, Dr. Montgomery Montgomery, a herpetologist. According to Mr. Poe, Dr. Montgomery is the Baudelaire's "late father's cousin's wife's brother".
Dr. Montgomery, or Uncle Monty as he prefers to be called, is a short, chubby man with a round red face. He is much friendlier than their previous guardian, Count Olaf. Monty tells the children that they will be going on an expedition to Peru, once his new assistant, Stephano, arrives. He says that his old assistant, Gustav, had suddenly resigned (Gustav could possibly be Gustav Sebald).
Monty treats the children well, and they are fascinated by the many snakes in the Reptile Room, a giant hall in which Monty's reptile collection is stored. They meet The Incredibly Deadly Viper, which Monty has only recently discovered. The snake's name is a misnomer since it is actually completely harmless; Monty intends to use it to play a practical joke on the Herpetologist Society in revenge for their ridiculing his name, Montgomery Montgomery.
When Stephano arrives, the children quickly realize that he is actually Count Olaf in disguise. They wish to tell Monty, but Olaf threatens them with a knife. On the day they are to leave for Peru, they discover Monty's corpse in the Reptile Room. He has two tiny puncture holes under his eye, and Olaf claims that he has been bitten by a snake. Olaf still intends to take the children to Peru, where he will easily kidnap the children. However, as they are leaving the estate, Olaf's car crashes into that of Mr. Poe. They return to the house, and Poe and Olaf discuss what to do with the children. The Baudelaires try to prove that it was Olaf who killed Monty. Dr. O. Lucafont (which is an anagram of Count Olaf), arrives and claims that it was the Mamba du Mal that killed Monty.
Meanwhile, Violet finds Olaf's suitcase and picks the lock. She then presents Mr. Poe with the evidence. Mr. Poe asks Olaf to display his ankle, where the tattoo of an eye should be. However, the eye is not there. The Baudelaires insist that he has covered it with makeup. Then, to finally prove that Olaf killed Uncle Monty, Sunny goes to the Incredibly Deadly Viper, and screams at the top of her lungs, but shows that it is harmless. So, Mr. Poe wipes the ankle with a handkerchief, revealing the eye. Olaf flees the house, and it is discovered that Dr. Lucafont is actually Olaf's henchman, the Hook-Handed Man.
The novel concludes with Monty's reptile collection being taken away by a man named Bruce, and the Baudelaires requiring a new home.
[edit] Literary Allusions
- One of the snakes in the Reptile Room is a Virginian Wolfsnake, a probable reference to the novelist Virginia Woolf. Uncle Monty warns the Baudelaire children never to allow the snake near a typewriter.
- When Mr. Poe panics during Sunny's staged victimization by The Incredibly Deadly Viper, he calls out a number of names in desperation. The exact quote reads as follows: "Good God! Blessed Allah! Zeus and Hera! Mary and Joseph! Nathaniel Hawthorne!" While the first six names refer to varying religious figures, the last individual, Nathaniel Hawthorne, is a 19th century novelist.
[edit] Plot notes
- This book sees the start of a series of murders committed by Count Olaf.
- It is mentioned that Lousy Lane smells like horseradish. According to Book 11, the horseradish factory located nearby is the V.F.D. factory, which was used to develop the antidote to Medusoid Mycelium.
- This is where the children first meet Bruce, although they will not meet him again until book 10.
- The Baudelaires are reunited with the Incredibly Deadly Viper in The End.
- The "Now we all know, of course, that you should never, ever, ever, ever, ... ever, ever, ever, fiddle around in any way with electrical devices." sentence contains 226 words, 217 of them being "evers".
- On the last picture, there is a man wearing a lachrymose leeches jersey foreshadowing the wide window
- Brett Helquist's self portrait: Brett wearing a turban and charming a snake.
[edit] Cover images
 US Cover |
 UK Cover |
(a.k.a. Daniel Handler)
Illustrated by Brett Helquist
