The Wide Window

One of the techniques that Handler uses in The Wide Window to comment on and satirize the gothic tradition is narrative intrusion. For much of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, third-person narrators effaced themselves as much as possible—they might sometimes offer an opinion or a brief commentary, but they did not intrude into the narrative as characters in their own right or attempt to interact with the reader openly. They generally adopted a “god-like” stance, in which they assumed a pose of bland anonymity and simply told the story as if they were impartial observers with no stake in the narrative itself. In the mid-20th century, the postmodern movement in literature began to ask critical questions about the role of the narrator in fiction. They wondered how objective any narrator could truly be and whether any narrator could claim access to the “truth” of a story. They began to experiment with new kinds of narrators and narrative techniques.

One such technique is the “intrusive” narrator, a contemporary revival of a much older narrative tradition. These narrators are still third-person narrators not directly involved in the stories they tell—but as they tell their stories, they reveal themselves more fully and are open about their own perspectives. They are distinctive personalities who are aware of themselves as shapers of stories, and they interact directly with the reader instead of telling the story as if the reader is not there. They frequently break into the story to offer their own opinions and share details about themselves. While intrusive third-person narrators act as stand-ins for their stories’ authors, they are imagined, fictional personalities adopted by authors to tell particular stories. In the postmodern revival of this technique, some narrators are even well-developed enough to function like characters themselves.

In The Wide Window—and the rest of the Series of Unfortunate Events books—Handler positions Lemony Snicket as the in-universe author and narrator of the story—but in reality, he is a fictional creation with his own personality and worldview separate from Handler’s. Snicket’s personality is comically pessimistic and exaggeratedly mournful, making him an appropriate narrator for a mock-gothic novel. Snicket frequently breaks into the story to advise the reader to stop reading, comment on how sad the story is, and offer judgmental opinions regarding the characters and their actions, contributing to the story’s darkly humorous tone. Over the course of the series, Handler explores the mystery of Snicket’s backstory and his reasons for telling the Baudelaires’ story. The gradual revelation of Snicket’s exaggeratedly bleak background and motivations creates another layer of mystery and suspense within the series, adding to its mock-gothic atmosphere.