The Carnivorous Carnival by Lemony Snicket, Essay Example

The Carnivorous Carnival returns to tell the tale of the three Baudelaire orphans Violet, Klaus, and Sunny.The start the story with the kids hiding in the trunk of Count Olaf’s car. They were eavesdropping on the Count and the troupe while they were discussing their plans. Madame Lulu has told the Count of the Baudelaire their every move. Once the Count left. Violet Baudelaire picked the lock of the trunk and they escaped. The orphans proceed to spy on Madame Lulu’s Caligari Carnival and they learn that her carnival is in need of more customers. They also recognized that Lulu’s accent was used in disguise by the Count, leading it to be assumed that they had a previous relationship.

The orphans disguise themselves within the carnival’s House of Freaks. Sunny uses a beard to play the role of Chabo the Wolf Baby. Klaus and Violet share a large shirt as a two head person, they called themselves Elliot and Beverly. They sprinkle talcum powder in their hair and put scars on their face in efforts to disguise their appearance. Madame Lulu likes the children’s act and hires them to work in her carnival. The children live with the three other freaks. The orphans became friends with the other acts, Colette the contortionist, Kevin who was ambidextrous, and Huge who was a hunchback.

The orphans overhear Olaf consulting Madame Lulu about one of the Baudelaire parents being alive, she consults the crystal ball and determines one is alive in the Mortmain Mountains. After hearing the news of one of their parents being alive, they proceeded with the freak show in efforts to stay undercover in the carnival. Trying to make the most out of the freak show, they worked with others to be more than just a subpar sideshow. They got more than they wished for when Olaf shows up with lions as a gift to Madame Lulu. The two evils determined that they would feed one of the freaks to the lions, and this would bring a much larger audience. The kids go into Lulu’s tent to discover more about one of their parents being alive. They break Lulu’s crystal ball and when comes in and realizes it, she has an emotional breakdown. The children learn that she is really Olivia and she has no idea if one of their parents is really alive or not.

A questionable audience showed up to see a lion devour someone. In the audience that night was a reporter who leaked the story that the Baudelaires murdered the Count. Olaf unfolds a paper in front of the audience and reveals that Elliot and Beverly will be devoured by the lions. They stalled from being devoured and created a chaotic scene which allowed them to set up Olaf’s henchmen and Madame Lulu to fall into the pit and be eaten by the lion. The orphans find a map in Madame Lulu’s tent. The V.F.D.’s secret base are shown on the map and Olaf discloses that to the children who are still in disguise. The orphans join Olaf’s troupe along with the other freaks. The carnival is burned in efforts to destroy evidence. In Lemony Snicket’s investigation, he finds the chard bones of the lions which were burned in the pit because they could not escape. Olaf and the children leave for the mountains. Chabo riding in the car with Olaf while Elliot and Beverly ride in a travel trailer caravan behind the car. The book ended with Olaf revealing he knows that they are the Baudelaires kids and he cuts the caravan off while on a steep hill.