As readers, we have to rely on narrators to guide us through a story and recount the events so we can understand the characters and plot.

But what if the narrator isn’t exactly reliable? Can we really trust everything that one person says, and believe that things happened exactly as they say they did?

While it might sound like a bad thing, the unreliable narrator is sometimes used as a literary device by authors to enhance the reading experience and make us think about our own perspectives.

Unreliable Narrator Definition

An unreliable narrator is a storyteller whose perspective isn’t totally reliable if we want to get the full picture or the whole truth.

A narrator might be unreliable because they are deliberately deceptive, or because they are innocently misguided. When it comes to first-person narratives, one might say that they are all unreliable to some degree, because each of us can perceive the same event in a different way and remember things subjectively.

It might also just be that the narrator is naive, and doesn’t have the knowledge or information to present the full picture. This can also be a useful method for character development.

To identify a narrator as unreliable is not to say that they are bad, or somehow cheating or lying to readers. However, it’s important to consider how the narrator’s perspective and biases might influence the way the story is told. This can also help us to better understand their motivations.

Why Writers Use Unreliable Narrators

The word “unreliable” carries a strong negative connotation, so you might think that unreliable narrators are just accidents or signs of poor writing.

However, there are several reasons why writers might choose to intentionally make their narrator unreliable, and it can actually enhance the story.

For one, an unreliable narrator can blur the lines and cause readers to think harder, and even question their own perceptions. This allows them to draw their own conclusions, and creates a more rewarding experience.

Unreliable narrators can also make the story more exciting, because it creates suspense and leads the audience to wonder: Is there really more to the story? What isn’t the narrator telling us? Why are they withholding that information?

Examples of Unreliable Narrators

Below are several examples from literature of unreliable narrators, and the effects they had on their stories.

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

Much to the readers’ surprise, Amy Dunne takes over the role of narrator halfway through Gone Girl. After spending the first half of the book assuming Amy was killed by her husband, our first unreliable narrator, she takes the reins and challenges readers by dismantling the story’s moral compass.

A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess

In A Clockwork Orange, Alex is the brutal protagonist and unreliable narrator (despite referring to himself several times as “Your Humble Narrator”). His lack of credibility is almost certainly deliberate. He feels a sense of responsibility to no one but himself, and consistently manipulates others into letting their guards down.

Is Harry Potter an Unreliable Narrator?

J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series is told from a third-person limited point of view, closely following Harry and his thoughts.

While this is a more reliable perspective than one that’s exclusively limited to an 11-year-old’s mind, it’s still biased toward his thoughts and experiences. Therefore, it’s hard to say that the narrator of Harry Potter is perfectly reliable all the time.

Is Forrest Gump an Unreliable Narrator?

In Winston Groom’s Forrest Gump, the titular character is an example of a naively unreliable narrator. Forrest is extremely innocent and naive, so he doesn’t always understand the bigger picture of what’s going on around him. However, readers can understand what’s actually happening, and Forrest’s naiveté is what has endeared him to so many readers and moviegoers.

How Do You Know If a Narrator Is Unreliable?

Author and literature professor Ansgar Nünning has suggested that the signals of an unreliable narrator can be broken into 3 categories.

These include:

• Intratextual signs (the narrator contradicts themself, illustrates memory gaps, lies to other characters, etc.)
• Extratextual signs (the narrator contradicts the reader’s general knowledge or logical possibilities)
• Literary competence (the reader is familiar with tropes, stock characters, or genre conventions and can identify the unreliable narrator)

Can a Third Person Narrator Be Unreliable?

Although most common among first person narrators, third person narrators can also be unreliable.

From the third-person limited point of view, readers are limited to just one character’s perspective at a time, but the narrator knows what that character feels or thinks.

So while this offers a reliable perspective of that character, we don’t know what everyone else feels, thinks, or does, as we would with a third-person omniscient narrator.

Measuring Narrator Reliability

When it comes to most first-person narrators (and some third-person perspectives), we can’t always take what the character tells us as face value—but that’s not always a bad thing!

Writing an unreliable narrator is one way to keep readers on their toes and make the experience more interesting and exciting, while also creatively revealing more about your protagonist.

Did you find this post helpful? Let us know in the comments below!

 

If you enjoyed this post, then you might also like:

• First Person Point of View: Tips, Examples, and Benefits of This Perspective
• Third Person Limited Point of View: The Advantages and Challenges
• Point of View Explained: Writing POV Correctly Can Save Your Story
• How to Write Fiction from Multiple Viewpoints: Picking the Right Point of View