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Chapter 10
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Bad Beginning, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Family and Parenthood
Surveillance, Supervision, and Guardianship
Children vs. Adults
Intelligence and Ethics
Summary
Analysis
The hook-handed man pulls Violet into the tower room, trapping her. The man makes her sit down, and Violet takes in the room. Lemony Snicket describes how rooms reflect people’s personalities. Lemony Snicket’s, for instance, contains an accordion on which to play sad songs, notes on the Baudelaire children, and a photograph of someone named Beatrice. Similarly, Count Olaf’s room is filled with his prized possessions, like evil notes, flickering candles, empty wine bottles, and lots of paintings of eyes.
For the first time, Lemony Snicket reveals information about his own life. He claims that the possessions in someone’s room can say a lot about a person’s personality, and his do. Between the accordion for sad songs and the mysterious old photo of Beatrice––a past love?––Lemony Snicket reveals himself to not only be eccentric, but also potentially lonely. Meanwhile, his mention of notes on the Baudelaire children adds a level of realism to Snicket’s storytelling. Apparently, Lemony Snicket is not just a narrator—he’s also a researcher and investigator.
Themes
The hook-handed man calls Count Olaf on a walkie-talkie, telling him that he has captured Violet. Count Olaf is reportedly unhappy, and the man goes off to grab Klaus and lock them in the tower together. Violet goes to reassure Sunny that everything is all right, even though she knows things are not. She reflects on all the bad things have happened to them, like their parents’ deaths, moving in with Count Olaf, and Count Olaf’s horrible plot to marry Violet and steal their family fortune.
This is the lowest moment in the story thus far for Violet. Locked in the tower with no hope of escape, Violet reflects on all the unfortunate events that have transpired since her parents’ death. Her last-ditch attempt to rescue Sunny has failed, and all she can do is wait for Klaus to join her. Once again, it seems as though Count Olaf has outsmarted the siblings.
Themes
The man brings Klaus up to the tower and leaves to help Count Olaf prepare for the performance. Klaus asks Violet what is happening, and Violet describes her failed attempt to rescue Sunny with the grappling hook. They lament their situation and decide to see if anything in the room can help them escape. They discuss making Molotov cocktails but realize they don’t have the right supplies. They discuss other loopholes, like being polygamists or saying, “I don’t” in place of “I do,” but they realize none of them will work if Count Olaf can still harm Sunny.
With Klaus’s arrival, Violet snaps out of her reverie. Together, they discuss options for escaping the tower, but no viable solutions present themselves. Ultimately, they realize that there is nothing they can do so long as Count Olaf has Sunny. This highlights the evil genius of his plan: he is taking advantage of the love that the Baudelaire children have for one another.
Themes
Count Olaf arrives well-groomed and wearing a special suit. The children, distracted by their conversation, are surprised by his entrance, and Count Olaf tells them that the play is starting. He promises that his hook-handed associated will drop Sunny if anything goes awry during the performance. Feeling hopeless, Violet and Klaus leave with Count Olaf. Violet reaches out with her right hand to grab the banister and, looking at her hand, suddenly feels less hopeless. She begins to think harder than she has ever thought before.
Count Olaf arrives, and the children feel more hopeless than ever before. They have not managed to escape, and the play is starting soon. Presumably, there is nothing they can do to stop it from happening, nor any way of rescuing Sunny from the tower. On her way out, however, Violet looks significantly at her right hand, seeming to draw some inspiration from it. Though there is no way of knowing what she’s thinking, her confidence suggests she may have a new idea for thwarting Count Olaf’s schemes.
Themes
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