By: Lemony Snicket
“Just about everything in this world is easier said than done, with the exception of “systematically assisting Sisyphus’s stealthy, cyst-susceptible sister,” which is easier done than said.”
Lemony Snicket, A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Hostile Hospital
*This post contains spoilers for The Hostile Hospital and A Series of Unfortunate Events
For a discussion on the first seven books in the series, see the linked posts bellow:
Overview:
Now on the run after being framed for murder, the Baudelaire orphans find themselves on the Volunteers Fighting Diseases’ bus to Heimlich Hospital.
At the hospital, the siblings are pleasantly surprised to discover a records room that might have information regarding the mysterious fire their parents perished in.
But of course, they aren’t the only ones looking for this information.
Count Olaf and his band of wicked fiends are hiding among the staff and things have changed. Count Olaf is no longer interested in becoming the Baudelaires’ guardian. He now realizes he only needs one of them to inherit their fortune and the other two are disposable.
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
The Head of Human Resources, Babs is based on Nurse Ratched who controls all of the patients in One Flew Over the Cukoo’s Nest. Ratched is a notorious literary character whose voice is an important tool she uses until it is taken away from her. Babs is not seen but only ever heard over the speaker system. Still, everyone in the Hospital stops what they are doing and listens to her.
We only encounter the overhead voice of Babs once before it is quickly replaced with Count Olaf replacing the Head of Human Resources and calling himself Mattathias. I do however believe that both Babs and Count Olaf are referencing Nurse Ratched. Count Olaf more so for his nefarious deeds.
A more simple comparison is that the patients of Heimlich hospital don’t seem to be getting appropriate care. The Volunteers FIghting Diseases only sing and hand out balloons. I’m sure some level of care is occurring but Snicket is focusing on patients not being believed and their illnesses going ignored. Similar to One Flew Over the Cukoo’s Nest where the patients are not taken seriously and just seen as a burden.
Hal
When the Baudelaires hear that they need three volunteers to work in the most important room in the hospital, the records room, they jump at the chance to do some investigation. The person overseeing the hospital paperwork is Hal. Hal is a reference to the supercomputer from 2001: A Space Odyssey with the same name. Giving the archivist the name Hal is fitting because he has access to a large quantity of information. That is where the similarities end as Hal the archivists is not willing to disregard the safety of those who seek is knowledge. He is just an old man with bad eyesight that works in the records room. He does however try to capture the Baudelaires when he believes they have set fire to his records as those are the facts put in front of him.
We Start to Get Bits of the Bigger Picture
Slowly, it is becoming clear that the story we think we are reading is actually another one entirely. Sure, the Baudelaire orphans’ tales of misery are at the forefront but we learn more and more about our author. Lemony Snicket is just as much a character as the siblings. Before this book, we learn small bits about Beatrice and how he lost the love of his life. In The Vile Village we were introduced to Jacques Snicket who has ties to Lemony and Count Olaf.
Now in The Hostile Hospital, Snicket makes more references to having a past with other characters.
“When I will suddenly remember this thing I did, and think to myself, Was it really necessary? Was it absolutely necessary to steal that sugar bowl from Esme Squalor?”
Lemony Snicket, The Hostile Hospital
Somehow Snicket is involved in this entire plot that the Baudelaires are attempting to understand. Slowly the mystery is beginning to unravel and becoming clearer.
Overall,
I really liked this entry into the series. At this point, the books are getting longer and the story is becoming clearer.
The references to other literary works or pop culture are always fun to sort through. I may have been able to make a few more connections to One Flew Over the Cukoo’s Nest but I honestly have never read it. I only know small bits of it based off the fact that it is a staple in pop culture and has been referenced numerous times in various medias.
Rating: 4/5 stars
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