“Apparently I am what is known as an Unreliable Narrator, though of course if you believe everything you're told you deserve whatever you get.”
- Iain M. Banks, Transition
As the name would suggest, an unreliable narrator is, quite simply, an untrustworthy storyteller. They often present the story to the reader in first-person, and may be either deliberately deceptively, or unintentionally misguided in the retelling of events. As simply as one can go about describing what an unreliable narrator is, actually discriminating between whether a narrator is or isn’t unreliable is not as simple a task.
Identifying an unreliable narrator in a text can majorly benefit your analysis of the text at hand, for an unreliable narrator forces a reader to question what it is that they are reading and, as such, question the credibility of the storyteller and the validity of the narrative presented within the novel. Furthermore, an author may utilise an unreliable narrator to further push the underlying message of their novel, and so by identifying an unreliable narrator, you are better able to identify and understand a novel’s message or underlying themes. More on this later, though.
So, firstly: what are the signs of an unreliable narrator?
As Wayne C. Booth wrote in The Rhetoric of Fiction (1961): “I have called a narrator unreliable when he speaks for or acts in accordance with the norms of the work… unreliable when he does not.” And so, the signs of an unreliable narrator lay within aspects of the text itself.
There are both intra- and extratextual signs that may point towards an unreliable narrator, these being signs that are solely within the novel (intratextual) and signs that come from outside of the text itself (extratextual). Some extratextual signs that are indicative of an unreliable narrator consist of aspects of the book that contradict the reader’s world knowledge -- as in, the reader knows, based on their knowledge of the world around them, that what the narrator is claiming is either false or unsound. On the other hand, some intratextual signs that suggest the unreliability of a narrator may be things such as the narrator contradicting himself, or having significant gaps in their memory and, consequently, holes in the narrative; or it may even be something as bold as the narrator lying outright to other characters in the novel. Nick Carraway, the narrator of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, can be seen to establish himself as unreliable within the very first chapter of the novella through the fact that he contradicts himself:
“I’m inclined to reserve all judgments...” Nick states in the opening lines of the novella, before, merely a paragraph later, declaring that, “Gatsby… represented everything for which I have an unaffected scorn.” This latter statement immediately undermines Nick’s declaration of his supposedly non-judgemental nature, and suggests that whilst Nick may like to believe that he “reserves all judgement” he is, in actuality, as judgemental as his peers, no matter how accidental or unconscious his bias may be. And so, not only does this suggest Nick’s unreliability as a narrator due to the fact that the way in which he views other characters in the novel may be influenced by his personal preferences, beliefs or qualms, but also through the fact that he has, so early on in the novella, directly contradicted himself-- which is somewhat of a narrator “red flag”.
There are five main types of unreliable narrator that have been identified, and correctly identifying your unreliable narrator within one of these categories could further your analysis of the text:
Picaro; a narrator with a propensity for exaggeration.
Madman; a narrator that is unreliable due to their detachment from reality (for example, Patrick Bateman from American Psycho)
The Naif; a narrator whose perception of events is limited or immature. This may be best seen in young narrators, such as Christopher in The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime.
The Liar; a narrator who is deliberately deceptive, and who fabricates stories, sometimes even in an attempt to better themselves. An example is Alex DeLarge in A Clockwork Orange.
The Clown; a narrator who toys around with the expectations of the reader, or the facts of the story, due to their not viewing the facts as important.
Each different type of unreliable narrator may serve a different type of narrative purpose; for example, Patrick Bateman’s detachment from reality leads to a questioning of events throughout the entirety of the novel, for the reader can never truly be certain whether what Bateman claims happened has actually happened. It may not always be easy or possible to identify your unreliable narrator within one category, as some unreliable narrators may fit more than one category.
The most important question of all, perhaps, is what purpose does an unreliable narrator serve? Or: what is the impact of an unreliable narrator on the text as a whole?
As readers, we often start a book with the belief that the narrator is telling us the truth-- in fact, we tend to view the narrator as being obliged to give us a truthful and accurate retelling of events. To be deprived of a wholly truthful retelling of events leads to a questioning of the narrative characterised by postmodernism. Due to unreliable narration being a significant aspect of postmodern literature, it can then be noted that the use of unreliable narration may be to establish a sense of distrust or lack of faith in authority, politics, or the norms or rules of society -- in short, an author may use an unreliable narrator to further convey their own political or philosophical ideas, or to present a criticism of aspects of society. For example, Meursault, the narrator of Albert Camus’ L'Étranger, can be seen to be an unreliable narrator due to his limited perception of events. Camus’ utilisation of Meursault as an unreliable narrator allows him to convey the philosophical concept of absurdism as a viable approach to life. This postmodernist questioning of rules and norms, or just of life in general, followed the Second World War, and so your analysis of your unreliable narrator could include an analysis of the context in which it was written, or the typicality of the text and its narrator could be brought into your analysis too.
Though a key aspect of postmodern literature, unreliable narration can also be seen in many works of modernist literature, such as Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, or Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, and early modernist text in which the unreliability of its narrator (Marlow) adds an aspect of depth to its message.
A narrator’s unreliability forms a major part of their character, or may even be used to emphasise to the reader aspects of their character. In The Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caulfield’s unreliability emphasises his youth; in The Great Gatsby Nick’s unreliability emphasises his double standards, or hypocritical nature. In The Memoirs of Barry Lyndon, Esq. by William Makepeace Thackery, the main character, Barry, is an unreliable narrator, and an example of the ‘picaro’. Thackery uses the hypocritical phrase, “I hate bragging, but I cannot help saying…” (pg. 200), in order to present Barry’s egotistic and deluded nature.
In conclusion, identifying an unreliable narrator will, in essence, be nothing but beneficial to an analysis of a text. It can allow you to bring in context and typicality into your analysis, and many times allows you to assess how a writer is conveying a certain message or belief. So, the next time you read a novel, don’t assume a narrator is telling you the truth -- look out for the warning signs of an unreliable narrator.
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