We’ve jumped on the whole Lemony Snicket “Series of Unfortunate Events” bandwagon… And I’ve developed a theory about what’s REALLY going on. All just idle speculation at this point, obviously, given that I’ve just finished book six out of the eleven that have been released so far. I’m going to try to avoid giving too many spoilers, or to cite anything beyond where my Wife has gotten to (she’s finished book four). In addition to my desire to avoid bibliodomestic strife, this is where I began to formulate my theory.
So, if you’re enjoying the series and don’t want to have your reading ruined by my theoretical ruminations, stop here. Otherwise, read on…
I think, perhaps, that we are being led astray as to who is the real villain of the piece. Count Olaf has been out there, prancing about in costumes, making the lives of the children truly miserable, but I think he is simply a catspaw for a more sinister figure.
Mister Poe.
Think about it: Who first delivered the children into Count Olaf’s clutches? Whose ‘bumbling’ has always delayed the police in their pursuit of the Count? Who has failed to take the children seriously and has refused to see through the Count’s most transparent disguises?
Mister Poe.
There’s more. In “The Reptile Room”, Count Olaf takes the place of Uncle Monty’s assistant, who vanished mysteriously several days before the children arrived at the house. In “The Wide Window”, Count Olaf had enough time to set up a rather shabby ship rental business before the children arrived, and he knew enough of the details about Ike’s death to insinuate himself with Aunt Josephine. In “The Miserable Mill”, the foreman was replaced with one of Count Olaf’s assistants at least a week before the arrival of the children. Who knew where the children were going to be sent, even before the children themselves knew?
Mister Poe.
And now we head into the realm of pure speculation. First off, what possible motivation could he have to do such terrible things? Why, the Baudelaire fortune, of course.
Although I doubt there’s anything left of it.
Remember, Mr. Poe was a business associate of the Baudelaire’s parents. What if he had been embezzling from them? They would eventually discover this, and they’d need to be eliminated.
There have been plenty of hints dropped that Count Olaf was responsible for burning down the Baudelaire mansion. Remember, for example, how outraged Mr. Poe was when Count Olaf added arson to the crimes he was listing at the end of “The Wide Window”? I think that was a not-too-subtle hint from Olaf to Poe, a reminder that if Olaf were captured then Poe wouldn’t be a free man for long.
All of this is, as I said, speculation. But I know that I’m going to be paying very close attention to Mr. Poe’s activities in the rest of the series.