Posted on September 28th, 2009 at 5:36 pm by troim1 and
Troi A. Miller September 27, 2009
Block: 1 A-day B-day
A Series Of Unfortunate Events The Bad Beginning
Written By: Lemony Snicket
Genre: Fiction
This book is the 1st of a 13 book series which tell of the horrible misfortune of the 3 Baudelaire children who became orphaned after their parents died in a fire. In this book the 3 children are taken in by a money hungry count named Count Olaf who was scheming to steal the children’s fortune their parents left behind. The count was very inconsiderate, he made the children do all of the chores for him while he conspired a way to steal their fortune. That clever Count almost succeeded in his plan to get the children’s fortune when he put on a play that would end up in a legally binding marriage between the Count and Violet. Fortunately for Violet and her siblings they found a way to foil his plan.
The characters are all unique here are what make the major characters so major.
Count Olaf is a sneaky, devilish, money hungry, and vile man who cares of nothing and no one but himself .Violet is the adventurous, cunning, witty, and intelligent mastermind behind all of the plans to keep the Count away from the fortune. She is also the inventor all of the inventions that get the children one step closer to getting away from the grips of that sneaky money hungry snake. Klaus is Violet’s perfectionist, pleasantly quick thinking, brainy, and clever little brother and partner in crime. After Violet cooks the plans up he puts them into motion making sure every little detail is absolutely on point. These characteristics make you wonder what will the character do next.
After being introduced to the characters and their behaviors what is your opinion on each characters? Given the information already known what do you think will happen to the characters next? After reading this part what are some of your thoughts or feelings you have and some connections you can make between this your life and/or other books?
In this piece the neighbor named Justice Strauss (who is also a supreme court justice), Count Olaf, one Olaf’s henchmen and Violet are talking. “Finally, Justice Strauss began speaking, and Klaus saw that she was reading directly from the legal book .Her eyes were sparkling and her face flushed as she performed onstage for the first time, too stagestruck to realize she was a part of Olaf’s plan. She spoke on and on about Olaf and Violet caring for each other in sickness in health, in good times and bad, and all of those things that are said to many people who decide, for one reason or another, to get married.
When she finished her speech, Justice Strauss turned to count Olaf and asked “do you take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife?”
“I do,” Count Olaf said smiling. Klaus saw Violet shudder.
“Do you,” Justice Strauss said, turning to Violet, “take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband?”
“I do,” Violet said. Klaus clenched his fists. His sister had said “I do” in the presence of a judge. Once she signed the official document, the wedding was legally valid. And now, Klaus could see that Justice Strauss was taking the document from the other actors and holding it out to Violet to sign.
“Don’t move an inch,” the bald man muttered to Klaus, and Klaus thought of poor Sunny, dangling at the top of the tower, and stood still as he watched Violet take the long quill pen from Count Olaf. Violet’s eyes were wide as she looked down at the document, and her face was pale, and her left hand was trembling as she signed her name”
This passage is important because to the understanding of this book because you finally figure out exactly how Count Olaf plans to get the fortune from the Baudelaire children. It builds suspense and keeps you interested in what is going come next. After Count Olaf and Violet both say “I do” you wonder why is Klaus getting upset. It also makes you wonder what will happen to Sunny if Klaus moves and why is it so. You begin to think count Olaf succeeded and wonder why Violet and Klaus gave up so easily.
What I liked this book the most was the characters and the theme because they always have a way of keeping you on the edge of your seat. You are never sure what will happen next with the characters but the always keep you roped in and waiting for more. The characters keep you interested and left wondering of the next step they will take. You can make many different connections between the characters and your own life if you have had somebody who has treated you poorly and a lot of people have. They also keep your emotions going. When they are sad you are sad when they are in suspense you are too.
The theme is on the edge of comedy and sadness, but that is what makes it such a great read. I would recommend this book to anyone young or old because anybody and everybody can relate to it. You would never be bored because of the spontaneous characters, on the edge plot and it is plainly hilarious.
