Writer & Reader SlangIntermediate
Intrusive Narrator
A narrator who overtly comments on, interprets, or manages the story for the reader.
Principle
An intrusive narrator must become part of the experience, not an interruption of it.
Takeaways
- The intrusion can create intimacy, irony, comedy, or moral argument.
- It can also flatten inference by doing the reader's work.
- The narrator's authority and personality determine the effect.
Overview
An intrusive narrator is a narrating presence that does not pretend to vanish. The voice may address the reader, judge characters, foreshadow outcomes, or explain the tale's design.
Examples
- A Victorian-style narrator tells the reader exactly what to think of a social custom.
- A comic narrator apologizes for skipping the boring part.