Unfortunately,
this is one of my least favorite books in the series. Not because it is poorly
written, or has plot holes, but because the Vile Village is the novel
the changes the Baudelaire children's lives so drastically that I actually
starting crying in the waiting room of the CPR clinic I was attending.
The Vile
Village by lemony Snicket is the seventh novel in a Series of
Unfortunate Events, and begins with Violet, Klaus and Sunny sitting in Mr.
Poe's office while he tries to find them a new guardian. On his desk is a
pamphlet about a town who believes in the philosophy "it takes a village
to raise a child" and Mr. Poe decides to send the children there after
numerous calls to potential gaurdians fails. At first the Baudelaires think
that it might be perfect, the village had the initials VFD, and they hope that
this town might be what the Quagmires were trying to tell them about.
Of course, it's
never that simple for the Baudelaire orphans, as VFD actually stands for
"Village of Fowl Devotees" and the residents have adopted the
children solely to do all of their chores for them. Everything from
makings ice cream sundaes and cleaning the windows, to trimming hedges and
cleaning the ugly crow statue the town just had installed. The only bright spot
is that the town, not wanted to be bothered feeding, educating or clothing the
children, moved them into Hector’s house on the outskirts of town. Hector was a
quiet man, but he liked to tinker and read. In fact, he had a warehouse full of
books and mechanical devices that the town had outlawed with their thousands of
insane laws.
Hector listens to
the children and their concerns about Count Olaf and the Quagmires, and instead
of brushing it aside believes them. Hector has been building a self sustaining
flying mobile home and promises the Baudelaires that when it is finished they
can all fly away together and rescue the Quagmire triplets.
Of course, who
should show up in the Village of Fowl Devotees, but Count Olaf and his new
girlfriend Esme Squalor pretending to be a detective and chief of police. They
immediately arrest the children for a murder that they themselves have
committed, and the village decides to burn Violet, Klaus and Sunny at the stake
(one of the insane rules).
While in jail
Violet and Klaus manage to not only break out, they are smart children after
all, but realize that if Count Olaf is in town so are the Quagmires. After
escaping from jail the Baudelaires look around the town and come to the
conclusion that the crow statue installed just before their arrival must house
their friends. Indeed, when the three smash it to pieces Duncan and Isadora are
inside. The five friends embrace and run for Hector’s house, who has finally
finished the airborne mobile home. Unfortunately, the Baudelaire’s bad luck
prevents them from ever reaching it. Duncan and Isadora manage to climb aboard,
but Esme stops the Baudelaire orphans from reaching their destination.
Still accused of
murder, the Baudelaire children have no choice but to run, and keep running.
This is why this book makes me so sad. The Quagmires are safe, but in all
probability the friends will never get to see each other again. And while very
few of the guardians the Baudelaires had were good ones, at least they had a place
to rest their heads and food in their stomachs. Now, they are truly alone. No guardian,
no Mr. Poe, just them trying to outrun Count Olaf.
No comments:
Post a Comment