The Miserable Mill

The Miserable Mill
Author(s)	Lemony Snicket (pen name of Daniel Handler)
Illustrator	Brett Helquist
Cover artist	Brett Helquist
Country	United States
Language	English
Series	A Series of Unfortunate Events
Genre(s)	Novel
Publisher	HarperCollins
Publication date	April 15, 2000
Media type	Print (hardback & paperback)
Pages	195
ISBN	ISBN 0064407691
Preceded by	The Wide Window
Followed by	The Austere Academy

The Miserable Mill is the fourth of thirteen novels in American author Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events. It is to be released in paperback under the name The Miserable Mill; or, Hypnotism! The novel tells the story of the Baudelaire orphans continuing their adventure, but this time being sent to live with the owner of Lucky Smells Lumbermill; yet Count Olaf appears again with a new plot and disguise. The book was published on April 15, 2000, by HarperCollins and illustrated by Brett Helquist.

Plot summary

The Miserable Mill begins with Sunny, Klaus and Violet Baudelaire traveling with Mr. Poe on a train heading for Paltryville, the location of the children's new home, the Lucky Smells Lumbermill. Along the way, the children see a building in the shape of an eye.

Upon arrival, the children learn that they will have to work at the mill, but as part of the deal, their new guardian, Sir (they call him Sir because his name was so long that nobody pronounces it right), will try to keep Count Olaf, their nemesis, away. They meet Sir's partner, Charles, who shows them the library, which contains three books, one about the history of the lumbermill, one about the town constitution, and one donated by Dr. Orwell, the local optometrist, who lives in the eye shaped building.

Klaus is purposely tripped by the new foreman Flacutono, breaking his glasses, and is sent to see Dr. Orwell. When Klaus returns, hours later, he acts very strangely, as if in a trance. The next day in the lumbermill, the foreman wakes Klaus, telling him to get to work, which Klaus does immediately, and does not even bother to put his shoes or socks on. Flacutono instructs Klaus to operate a stamping machine. Klaus causes an accident by dropping the machine on Phil, an optimistic coworker. The Foremen says an unfamiliar word, the other workers ask what it means and Klaus, who is suddenly back to normal, defines the word. Klaus explains that he doesn't remember what happened between when he broke his glasses and waking up in the mill. Foreman Flacutono trips him again, once again causing his glasses to break. This time though, Violet and Sunny accompany Klaus to Dr. Orwell's office.

Together, they arrive at the eye-shaped building. They knock on the door and Dr. Orwell opens it. She is seemingly pleasant, and tells Violet and Sunny to sit in the waiting room. She mentions "attracting flies with honey". Violet and Sunny wonder about this before finding Count Olaf disguised as Shirley, a female receptionist, with tights having eyes all over them and a name-plate spelled out with gum. Violet realizes that Dr. Orwell is the "honey" and that they have been the "flies". She also learns that Klaus has been (and is being) hypnotized by Orwell, who is in cahoots with Olaf. They leave with Klaus, who is once again in a trance.

When they return to the lumbermill, they find a note instructing them to see Sir. He tells them that if there is another accident, he'll place them under Shirley's care.

Violet and Sunny put Klaus to bed (he remains barefoot), and then go to the mill's library. They read the book donated by Orwell, using the table of contents to find a chapter on hypnotism among the other chapters on eyes. Violet learns that Orwell's technique uses a command word to control the subject and an "unhypnotize" word. They then hear the lumbermill starting early, and rush to see what is happening.

They find Charles strapped to a log which Klaus is pushing through a buzz saw, and Foreman Flacutono giving orders. The girls move to stop them but see Klaus' bare feet, a clue that he has been hypnotised out of bed yet again. Violet learns the command word (Lucky), and orders Klaus to release Charles but Flacutono orders him to continue. Shirley and Orwell arrive and the latter orders Klaus to ignore his sisters. Violet remembers, and says, the word with which Phil unhypnotized Klaus (inordinate) just in time. Sunny and Orwell have a fight, with swords and teeth, and Orwell falls into the path of the buzz saw, and is gruesomely killed. Violet is caught by Shirley and Flacutono. Klaus manages to set Charles free. About that time, Mr. Poe and Sir arrive, and the Baudelaires explain to them what has happened.

Shirley/Count Olaf is locked in the library but escapes out the window. Sir relinquishes the Baudelaires from his care, to be sent to the boarding school Prufrock Preparatory School where they have more encounters with Count Olaf.

Foreshadows

• On the last picture, there is a school bus parked outside the lumbermill, foreshadowing The Austere Academy.

Cultural references and literary allusions

• When Lemony Snicket refers having to fight with a TV repairman, it might be a reference to The Cable Guy which contains a scene in which the characters played by Jim Carrey and Matthew Broderick go to a restaurant named "Medieval Times" and are chosen to fight with swords. (Coincidentally, Jim Carrey plays Count Olaf in the film)
• The names Charles and Phil are also names of two members of the British Royal Family. This may be a reference to the fact that the Industrial Revolution began in England, or it could be just a coincidence.
• Dr. Georgina Orwell is named after author George Orwell. Her building is designed to resemble a great eye, which is a likely allusion to the famous figure from Orwell's book Nineteen Eighty-Four, Big Brother, who is proverbially "watching" at all times. Also, Orwell hypnotizes Klaus, a reference to the fact that the Thought Police tried to make you think like them.^{[original research?]}
• The full-page illustration on page 125 of the U.S. hardcover, first edition, shows a sign shaped like a pair of eyes looking through eyeglasses, suspended above the door to Dr. Orwell's office. This sign is reminiscent of the billboard of Dr. T. J. Eckleburg in F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel The Great Gatsby.
• There are many similarities between Charles and a character in The Last Town on Earth by Thomas Mullen named Charles who seems to be the link between Capitalism and Socialism. The plot for The Last Town on Earth takes place in a lumber mill completely opposite of Lucky Smells.
• "Sir" is reminiscent of "Mr. Sir" from the book Holes by Louis Sachar.
• The "Ahab Memorial Hospital" where Phil is taken to recover from his leg injury may be a reference to Captain Ahab from Moby Dick, who is known to have lost a leg.
• The UK cover of the book bears a strong resemblance to the US one, except Violet is replaced by Foreman Flacutono.

Plot notes

• The only food the workers are given all day is a casserole for dinner and gum for lunch. They are paid in coupons. Ironically, at the end of the book, Phil reads the town constitution and says that it's illegal to pay workers in coupons. In The Grim Grotto, the Baudelaires find boxfuls of gum in the kitchen, brought there by Phil.
• Brett Helquist's style of illustration changes following this book.
• In the beginning of the book, the Baudelaires enter the Lucky Smells Lumbermill, passing a stack of newspapers. It is later mentioned, in Lemony Snicket: The Unauthorized Autobiography, that the archives of The Daily Punctilio were stacked up in large towers along a street in a small town matching the description of Paltryville.
• "Flacutono" is an anagram of "Count Olaf."
• When Klaus is dazed after being hypnotized he calls Violet "Veronica" and Sunny "Susan". When the Baudelaires are on the run from the police, the Daily Punctilio calls Violet "Veronica" and Sunny "Susie". Count Olaf also calls Violet “Veronica” under the guise of Captain Sham in The Wide Window.

Special Editions

The Miserable Mill; or, Hypnotism!

The Miserable Mill; or, Hypnotism!^[1] will be a paperback rerelease of The Miserable Mill, designed to mimic Victorian penny dreadfuls. The book will include approximately seven new illustrations, and the fourth part of a serial supplement entitled The Cornucopian Cavalcade, which will include the fourth entry in a thirteen-part comic by Michael Kupperman entitled The Spoily Brats, an advice column written by Lemony Snicket,^[2] and a new serialized story.^[3]

Translations

• Brazilian Portuguese: "Serraria Baixo-Astral" (Bad Smell Lumbermill), Cia. das Letras, 2000, ISBN 85-559-0210-4
• Finnish: "Saiturin saha" (The Miser's Mill), WSOY, 2003, ISBN 951-0-28147-6
• Greek: "Το Εργοστάσιο της Συμφοράς", Ελληνικά Γράμματα, ISBN 960-406-338-3
• Indonesian: "Gelondongan Gila", 2004, ISBN 979-22-0998-0
• Korean: "수상한 제재소" (Suspicious Sawmill), Munhakdongnae Publishing Co, Ltd., 2003, ISBN 978-89-546-0837-4
• Norwegian "Den mystiske mølla" (The Mysterious Mill)
• Russian: "Зловещая лесопилка" (Sinister Sawmill), Azbuka, 2005, ISBN 5-352-00547-Х
• Spanish: "El Aserradero Lúgubre" (The Lugubrious Mill)
• Swedish: "Det Sällsamma Sågverket" (The Strange Sawmill)

See also

Lemony Snicket portal

• Phil (A Series of Unfortunate Events)

References

1. ^ Amazon.com: A Series of Unfortunate Events #4: The Miserable Mill: Or, Hypnotism! (A Series of Unfortunate Events): Books: Lemony Snicket,Brett Helquist
2. ^ Now for the Unfortunate Paperbacks... - 4/9/2007 - Publishers Weekly^{[dead link]}
3. ^ The Wide Window or, Disappearance!: "The next edition of the Cornucopian Cavalcade will contain a serialized story of either equal or superior cultural value"