The Miserable Mill

The Miserable Mill

Author	Lemony Snicket (pen name of Daniel Handler)
Illustrator	Brett Helquist
Cover artist	Brett Helquist
Language	English
Series	A Series of Unfortunate Events
Genre	Novel
Publisher	HarperCollins
Publication date	April 2000
Publication place	United States
Media type	Print (hardback & paperback)
Pages	194
ISBN	ISBN
Preceded by	The Wide Window
Followed by	The Austere Academy

The Miserable Mill is the fourth novel in the book series A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket. Mr. Poe sends the orphans to live with the owner of a lumbermill, who makes them work alongside the other lumberjacks. Things get worse as Count Olaf slips into the plot in another ghastly disguise.

Plot summary

The Miserable Mill begins with Sunny, Klaus and Violet Baudelaire traveling with Mr. Poe on a train set off for Paltryville. When they arrive at Paltryville, Mr. Poe departs, and leaves the children to head for their 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, and as part of the deal, Sir, their new guardian, will try to keep Count Olaf, their nemesis, away. They meet Charles, who is Sir's partner, 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 ophthalmologist, who lives in the eye shaped building.

Klaus is purposely tripped by the new and, in their opinion, annoying foreman, Flacutono (which is an anagram of Count Olaf), breaks 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 up 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. Phil says an unfamiliar word, and the other workers ask what it means. Klaus, who is suddenly back to normal, defines the word. Klaus explains that he doesn't remember what happened. Foreman Flacutono trips him again, once again causing his glasses to break. This time though, Violet and Sunny go with him to the doctor.

Together, they go to the eye shaped building. They knock on the door and Orwell opens it. She holds a cane in her hand. She is very 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. 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 Count 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 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 that Charles is strapped to a log which is going to go through a buzz saw, and that Foreman Flacutono is giving orders. They move to stop them but see Klaus' bare feet, a clue that he has been hypnotised out of bed yet again. They look cautiously and see that Klaus is pushing the log into the saw. Violet learns the command word (Lucky), and a big fight ensues where Violet and Sunny order Klaus to release Charles and Flacutono orders him to continue. Olaf and Orwell arrive, the latter using (lucky) tells Klaus to not listen to his sisters. However, Violet remembers the word which Phil said to unhypnotize Klaus (inordinate), and says the word. Sunny and Orwell have a fight, with swords and teeth, and Orwell falls into the path of the buzz saw, slicing and killing her. Violet is caught by Olaf 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.

Olaf is locked in the library and the story concludes with him throwing Orwell's book through the window, and climbing out along with Foreman Flacutono. Sir relinquishes the Baudelaires from his care, to be sent to a boarding school (Prufrock Preparatory School).

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 names "Medieval Times" and are chosen to fight with swords.
• 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.
• The oculist Dr. Orwell, whose building is designed to resemble a great eye, is a possible allusion to George Orwell and to the famous figure from his book "Nineteen Eighty-Four," Big Brother, who is proverbially "watching" at all times.

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. In The Penultimate Peril, Charles suggests to Sir that if they earn enough money, then they can actually pay the workers with money instead of coupons and gum (this suggestion is met with scorn).

• Brett Helquist's illustrative style 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.

Foreshadowing

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

Special Editions

Hypnotism!

A Series of Unfortunate Events No.4: The Miserable Mill or, Hypnotism! is a paperback rerelease of The Miserable Mill, designed to mimic Victorian penny dreadfuls. The release date is January 2008. 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, and a new serialized story.

Cover images

• 
  US cover
• UK cover
  UK cover