The Reptile Room

Because The Reptile Room is the second book in a series, the narrator, Lemony Snicket, notes some details from the first book, The Bad Beginning, especially in the first chapter. Serial writers often use this strategy to remind loyal readers what happened in the previous installment while catching new readers up on details they might not know. In this case, only key details are shared, and they are woven into the narrative, rather than being what the novel opens with.

Like many gothic novels, the novel opens with a description of a setting that is dreary, gloomy, and menacing, which is meant to set the mood or tone for the events of the story. Snicket shows the children traveling out of town and down a miserable road that, the narrator suggests, foreshadows how miserable the events of the book will be. Victorian gothic fiction often incorporates in its early chapters introductions of grand yet eerie houses or castles that are somewhat isolated from the rest of society. Moreover, gothic novels like Bram Stoker’s Dracula also often begin with or eventually involve someone traveling away from their safe and familiar home into uncharted territory. In American gothic fiction, often nature and the forest are used in place of houses or castles, or in addition to them, since the United States has fewer castles and fewer old buildings. Similarly, the snake-shaped hedges surrounding Uncle Monty’s house generate a sense of foreboding among the children.

Lemony Snicket announces himself as a participatory narrator in this first section of the novel, so that readers know what to expect going forward. He comments on the story, breaks the fourth wall, reminds readers that this is a book, explicates themes, and even delivers vocabulary lessons. Snicket serves as a guide who accompanies the reader through the book, helping them process the actual facts of the plot as well as their emotions about what happens. Snicket, along with Sunny, is also one of the “characters” who most often contributes comic relief to the novel.

This section introduces the novel’s core themes. First, The Difference Between Perception and Reality is illustrated through Mr. Poe’s obliviousness to the snake-shaped hedges. Much like Mr. Poe will later fail to recognize Count Olaf as Stephano, despite the children’s warnings, he is simply oblivious to anything more subtle than the most undeniable evidence. Second, the novel also introduces The Importance of Teamwork by re-hashing the events of the previous novel, which foreshadow how the theme will repeat in this second novel. In these early chapters, the children begin to recognize Uncle Monty as a good guardian when he outlines the three tasks he most urgently needs help with, as these tasks perfectly align with each of their unique talents. Last, these chapters introduce The Vulnerability of Children in part by rehashing the events of the last novel. Moreover, the first chapter opens with a dreadful and arguably risky setting, leading the nervous children—who do not even have their suitcases—from Lousy Lane to a house surrounded by intimidating snake-like hedges. All the while, the chapters highlight the incompetence and obliviousness of Mr. Poe, the man who has been entrusted with the children’s affairs.