Who is the narrator, can she or he read minds, and, more importantly, can we trust her or him?
First Person (Peripheral)
The narrator of our story is the author—Lemony Snicket. He tells us that it is his "sad duty to write down these unpleasant tales" and we have to feel pretty sorry for him. Though it's unclear at this point what connection he has to Violet, Klaus, and Sunny—he hangs out at the periphery of the story, instead of being involved directly in the action—Mr. Snicket appears to have devoted his life to researching all the disastrous things that happened to the Baudelaire orphans. There's a sorry job to have.