KMUAN #008 – A Series of 39 Unfortunate Clues – The Bad Beginning by Lemony Snicket

Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events – #1 The Bad Beginning 

Okay let’s summarize The Bad Beginning of the Baudelaire children’s story. 

One day Violet, Klaus, & Sunny Baudelaire took a trolley to Briny Beach to hang out, when Mr. Poe, their parents’ finance guy, shows up at the beach too. He tells them that their parents perished in a tragic fire that consumed the whole mansion. 

Mr. Poe takes the newly orphaned Baudelaires to stay overnight at his home. And the next morning he takes them to new guardian and closest living relative, Count Olaf. He’s an actor, an alcoholic, and a complete slob. 

Count Olaf makes the orphans do difficult chores around his messy house while he cavorts with his theater troupe. One day he tasks the orphans with making dinner for him and his theater troupe. But when he expects roast beef and gets pasta puttanesca instead, he antagonizes Sunny, and slaps Klaus in the face.

That was the last straw for the children. The Baudelaires take a trolley to the finance district and they alert Mr. Poe of Count Olaf’s parenting methods. 

Mr. Poe tells them a legal phrase ‘in loco parentis’ – since he’s their guardian, Olaf’s parenting is his prerogative. So the many chores and smacking Klaus in the face over dinner was just how he gets to parent the Baudelaires. 

The next morning Count Olaf greets the orphans with breakfast – oatmeal and raspberries. He announces that  they should become more like a family. He promises to become more fatherly. His 1st action is casting them in his next play, The Marvelous Marriage by Al Funcoot ( 👁️). The Baudelaires cautiously agree. 

They spent the afternoon visiting Justice Strauss and her library. 

While visiting Justice Strauss, Violet, Klaus, & Sunny were searching through Strauss’ legal books on how to get out of being Olaf’s legal adoptees. Olaf’s henchman comes to retrieve the orphans right as Klaus begins to put together Olaf’s scheme. He smuggles a law book from Strauss’ library, reads it & confronts Count Olaf on his plan.

In the play, The Marvelous Marriage, Justice Strauss will play the judge who marries Olaf’s character and Violet’s character. However, the marriage document is real. And Justice Strauss is an actual judge. This can’t happen because Violet is 14 years old, too young to marry. 

But Olaf hits him with a loophole, she can marry with the permission of her guardian – which is Olaf – acting in loco parentis. He tells Klaus to go tell his sisters about the plan. Violet is in the room, but they can’t find Sunny. She’s been caged in the tower until the play is over. 

Violet stays up all night fashioning a grappling hook with ripped curtains and clothes. She climbs the tower to retrieve Sunny only to get caught by the Hook-Handed Man. Klaus is brought up to the tower. The children are held there all night. They’re trying to brainstorm how to get out of this. And running out of time. 

The night of the play, henchman brings Violet & Klaus backstage for hair and makeup. One last time Klaus & Violet try to tell Mr. Poe about Count Olaf’s scheme but Olaf appears right & sends them onstage for the marriage scene. 

Sidenote, Lemony makes it a point to say the play is so boring the audience (with Mr. Poe present) is visibly uninterested. Justice Strauss does the “ceremony,” “I do’s” were exchanged. Violet signs the real marriage document in her left hand. 

Count Olaf then breaks character to announce that what took place was a real wedding. The audience is outraged. An actor in the play actually points out she’s not old enough to marry. 

Olaf explains she can marry with the permission of her legal guardian who is also Olaf. Mr. Poe climbs onstage demanding to see the marriage document & confirms its legit. Justice Strauss looks at it, realizes she was fooled into marrying a 14-year-old and starts crying. 

Count Olaf tries to leave with Violet for their “wedding night” (*vomits*). Klaus demands the release of Sunny, who’s dangling from the tower. Mr. Poe’s in disbelief at all of this 

But Violet chimes in and suggests that everyone’s wrong; the marriage document isn’t valid. The ceremony requires the bride to sign in her hand. In chapter 1, Violet is explicitly described to be skipping rocks with her right hand on Briny Beach. She signed the document with her left hand. 

Justice Strauss confirms if that’s not her writing hand, the marriage isn’t valid. Lemony goes on a tangent on how laws are weird like that. Olaf threatens Violet sign a document again properly or Sunny won’t be released – too late the henchmen brought her to the theater. Then he asserts the Baudelaires are still his children. 

Then Justice Strauss acknowledges that Count Olaf, their legal guardian dangled his adopted infant child from a cage on a tower. It’s illegal to dangle kids. The audience starts swarming the stage to get him. Mr. Poe declares citizen’s arrest on him. Then the lights go out. 

Everyone’s panicking. Violet slowly makes her way to the wall where she remembers the lights were. Then she feels someone behind her. And they vow to get their fortune, before the lights are brought back on. 

Count Olaf and his theater troupe/henchpeople have left the building. The Baudelaires, Mr. Poe, and Justice Strauss go outside to see that they’ve escaped in a long black car. The play’s over obviously. 

Justice Strauss offers to adopt the Baudelaires. That’s what they for ⅓ of this book. But Mr. Poe, re-iterates that the Baudelaire’s will states they must be raised by their nearest living relative until Violet comes of age. So the Baudelaires tearfully say goodbye to Justice Strauss. And Mr. Poe loads them in his car & drives off. 

The book – it’s actually a manuscript – ends with Lemony Snicket’s Letter to the Editor. The letter was written from the London Herpetological Society. Lemony’s there to investigate the fate of Dr. Montgomery Montgomery after he encounters the Baudelaires. Then he gives specific instructions on how to retrieve this manuscript from a phone booth near The Elektra Hotel. 

And that’s in basic terms how A Series of Unfortunate Events begins. A mansion fire. A scheming actor/guardian. A play. A marriage. And having to drive off for their next legal guardian. 

So let’s add these points to our ASOUE corkboard: 

• Violet, Klaus, & Sunny Baudelaire were at the beach on an overcast day when their parents perish in a mansion fire, consuming the entire house
• There is no known cause of the fire; fired department arrived too late 
• Mr. & Mrs. Baudelaire’s will stated their guardian will be the nearest living relative (geographically, not close in relation) → Count Olaf
• The Baudelaire children have never heard of Count Olaf; he’s never even been invited to dinner & he lives in the same city 
• Mr. Poe is the executor of the Baudelaire Estate (an enormous fortune) until Violet (14) comes of age
• Count Olaf wants the fortune – the obstacle is Violet (14) isn’t of age
• He then creates a plot to marry Violet & inherit the Baudelaire fortune as her legal husband (gross) 
• The Baudelaires used Justice Strauss’ legal library and knowledge from their interests to foil the marriage scheme
• Count Olaf and his theater troupe escape vowing to get the Baudelaire fortune 

Based on the 1st book alone I have some questions:

• How did the Baudelaire mansion burn down?
• Why would Mr. & Mrs. Baudelaire put the closest living relative as geographic versus using the next of kin (grandparents, aunts, uncles, etc.)?
• Do the Baudelaires have other relatives minus their evil 3rd/4th cousin removed?
• Why is Count Olaf the nearest relative?
• Why couldn’t Justice Strauss find a loophole to adopt the Baudelaires?
• What made Lemony want to chronicle these orphans’ story?

Thanks for reading! I’ll have my post about The Maze of Bones by Rick Riordan live soon.

Good Night!