Single Storyline With Voiceover

When it comes to narrative technique, The Big Lebowski is pretty straightforward: one Dude, one story, all kinds of far-out consequences.

Although The Dude is trying to tie a lot of different storylines together himself, the only storyline we're familiar with is The Dude's as it's narrated by a strange cowboy whom The Dude meets twice: once in the middle of the film and once at the end. If you want to know how the cowboy's narration serves as a stand-in for the audience, check out our "Production Design" section.

The narrative technique is a departure from many of the noir gumshoe stories, which typically feature first-person narrators saying things like, "It was a cold and rainy night when the broad first came into my office. She was missing her husband; or maybe he was missing her." But The Dude doesn't narrate his own story, either because he's too lazy or because the Coen Brothers wanted the audience to feel even more confused than The Dude, if such a thing is even possible.