Querube Barber - A Series of Unfortunate Events

Is the love of money the root of all evil?

Can a human being be so greedy as to harm innocent children in order to become rich? Some people will go as far as they can for money. A Series of Unfortunate Events is a series of books for children written by Daniel Handler. The first three books were made into a movie with the same name.

In the movie, there is a narrator who relates the “series of unfortunate events”. In the Aesthetics of Film, the authors wrote that, “Narrating consists of relating an event, whether real or imaginary” (70). The events narrated were imaginary, and the narrator tells the story to achieve the effect he desires.

There are three children whose parents died due to a fire that destroyed their mansion. The parents were very wealthy and left a significant amount of money, but Violet, the oldest, had to be eighteen years old before she could receive it. The children go to live with different guardians. The first one is Count Olaf, supposedly a distant relative. This was, indeed, an unfortunate event because this man wanted to kill the children in order to get the money.

After being removed from Count Olaf’s house, the children go to live with a man they called “Uncle Monty”. This man does care for the children, but Count Olaf manages to find out that the children are now living with Uncle Monty. Count Olaf kills Uncle Monty. This is another unfortunate event for the children.

Next, the children go to live with a paranoid woman. Count Olaf discovers that the children are living with her, so he goes and woos her. Then, he kidnaps her. She also dies, and this turns out to be another unfortunate event for the children.

Count Olaf finds out that Violet can get the inheritance if she marries. So, he decides to marry her, but his attempt fails. Throughout the story, the children try to uncover Count Olaf, but no one will listen to them or believe them. Finally, the authorities believed the children. Count Olaf is arrested. The story does not have a “they lived happily ever after” ending, but at least the children get rid of Count Olaf.

This story shows to what extent an evil man, Count Olaf, is able to go in order to get an immense amount of money that does not belong to him.