The Narratee
or, to whom was this pizza supposed to be delivered?
Every story is told by a narrator (sometimes by more than one narrator). Stories also are told to narratees. Just as the narrator is different than the author, the narratee is different than the reader. The narratee is the person "inside" the text to whom the narrator is speaking.
Sometimes the narratee's identity is very clear to us because of something the narrator says. "Well, you're my older brother, so you'll understand" would be a very specific designation of the narratee. More subtle designations may take the form of the assumptions the narrator makes about what the narratee knows. For example, if the narrator is bilingual and uses foreign terms without translating them, s/he is assuming the narratee understands those terms. If the narrator explains details, s/he is assuming the narratee is someone who is different enough from the narrator that the narratee cannot understand the narrator's cultural references without explanation.
Taking the time to understand who the narratee is can help you understand the narrator and the act of narration. For example, in Margaret Atwood's story "Rape Fantasies," the narrator is a woman who is talking about how she imagines that a man tries to rape her but she is able to talk him out of it. At the end of the story, it becomes clear that the narratee is a man the narrator has just met in a bar, and that in telling him the story, she hopes to use her act of narration as a way to defuse the possibility of date rape.
It is usually harder to pin down the narratee than the narrator, but pay attention to any details you can find, and you'll find it a very useful analytic exercise.