What makes a narrator unreliable

Oregon State Guide to Literary Terms. The boy has been born and raised a strict Catholic in 19 th century Ireland, and when Joyce has him relate the first time he views the young women in isolation, the narrator tells us: She was waiting for us, her figure defined by the light from the half opened door.

Her brother always teased her a bit before he obeyed and I stood by the railings looking at her. Her dress swung as she moved her body and the soft rope of her hair tossed from side to side. The second time he sees her he tells us: She held one on of the spikes [of the railing], bowing her head towards me.

The light from the lamp opposite our door caught the white curve of her neck, lit up the hair that rested there, and, falling, lit up the hand upon the railing.

It fell over one side of her dress and caught the white border of a petticoat, just visible as she stood at ease. For the poetic equivalent of the unreliable narrator, see our "What is a Dramatic Monologue? Another good example of an unreliable narrator is Sherwood Anderson's "Death in the Woods," because the narrator directly wonders why he knows certain elements of the plot that he should not know. Writing Prompt: What moments in Anderson's story indicate that the young man who tells it is an unreliable narrator?

Why do you think he telling us this story? Interested in more video lessons? Nelly has an intimate knowledge of much of the events of the tale, but she loves to embellish things a bit. Her own opinions cause her to exaggerate qualities of the characters and create a biased telling of events.

Sallinger, is another great example of an unreliable narrator. He is telling the story from a mental institution, so his grasp on reality is suspect. In addition, he has the sometimes naive viewpoint of a teenager, and this can lead him to misinterpret events. The Life of Pi by Yann Martel also features an unreliable narrator.

Stranded at sea, Pi Patel must divorce himself from reality in order to survive. As he tells the story of his voyage, he alters events in a way that allows him to process what has happened. In the end, the reader learns the true story and must reconcile the differences. Because he is not a part of the story and is an outsider to the events, everything he tells is suspect.

Because of his guilt, the narrator imagines things, yet he reports them as if they are happening. The reader must decide what is real and what is not. The reader knows Alex is a sociopath, and he is telling the story while drunk.

In addition, he has delusions of grandeur that are obviously not part of the reality shared by most people. PRO-TIP: If you'd like to see the different points of view in action, check out this post that has plenty of point of view examples.

Just like trying to classify every type of character would be an endless pursuit, so is trying to list every type of unreliable narrator. That said, we've divided these questionable raconteurs into three general types to better understand how they work as a literary device. This type of narrator is intentionally lying to the reader because, well, they can. A quick note about this kind of narrator: people want to read about characters they can connect with or relate to.

For instance, even Alex from A Clockwork Orange has an underlying humanity: his desire for individual freedom above all. His flagrant lies are therefore an exercise of his freedom.

Their unreliability often stems from the need to tell the story in a way that justifies something, and their stories are often embellished or watered down. This can be especially true of stories told by unreliable narrators. If you employ this literary device gradually throughout the novel, ensure you leave clues for your readers along the way. Drop hints that make us question the validity of our source and have us eagerly reading to find the next clue that will act as another part of the story-puzzle.

A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess The protagonist and narrator, Alex, is a notoriously brutal character who does not feel a sense of responsibility to anything or anyone other than himself. His lack of credibility feels deliberate and coy straight off the bat. He speaks ' Nadsat ,' a dialect that confounds other characters and keeps the reader on their back foot. He is also a skilled manipulator who excels in getting others to let their guards down.

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie While some fallible storytellers may lack credibility because they deliver false or skewed information, others are untrustworthy because of the information that they omit. They leave out key pieces of information without which the reader is left in the dark. Sheppard — is one of the most classic unreliable examples.

He is genial and rather neutral throughout the story, seeming to explain the events as they happened without bias. Only at the end is it revealed that this voice we have allowed to carry us through the novel is actually the voice of the murderer. Therefore the entire manuscript was based on a detailed lie by omission. Life of Pi by Yann Martel At the end of the novel, when Pi wraps up his fantastical story of being stranded at sea with a group of animals, we hear another version of his story — where the animals are replaced by humans, and the events are much more tragic and disturbing.

Pi never concretely confirms which story is true: is the first version simply a coping mechanism or is the second version simply to placate the unbelieving cops? Readers are faced with the choice to pick which story they believe, as the narrator does not make it clear — and even if he did specify which version is the true one, would we believe him?

The only thing objective about Eva is that her accounts are subjective, and we are left to come to our own conclusions based on her descriptions.