Narrative DeliveryIntermediate
Unreliable Narrator
A narrator whose account cannot be fully trusted.
Principle
Unreliability rewards the reader for double-listening.
Takeaways
- Unreliability can be moral, perceptual, factual, or temporal.
- The reader must be able to detect the gap to enjoy the device.
- Pure unreliability without anchor reads as failure rather than design.
Overview
An unreliable narrator presents an account that the text invites the reader to question. The unreliability may stem from delusion, deception, immaturity, partiality, or limited knowledge.
Examples
- A narrator who cannot bear to remember what they did.
- A child whose account of the household is more truthful than the adults'.
- A killer who hides the killing from themselves through grammar.