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Episode 163: What is an Unreliable Narrator?

Updated: Jan 23



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What is an unreliable narrator? Writers and readers alike use this moniker often without understanding what it really means. In this episode, we break down what an unreliable narrator is, the best genres that make use of them, pros and cons, and four examples of characters in popular literature who are unreliable narrators.




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You are listening to The Novel Writing Podcast, Episode 163.


I'm your host, Colleen Mitchell. Grab a cup, cozy up, and let's get to writing!

In today's episode, we're going to talk about unreliable narrators. Unreliable narrators are more about the credibility of the narrator rather than a consequence of a 3rd person limited POV character naturally not having all the information.

What is an Unreliable Narrator?Unreliable narrators have compromised credibility. This can happen either on purpose or on accident, and it can come from limited knowledge, personal bias, psychological instability, or intentional deception. This leads readers to question if what the narrator is saying is true, and that allows for a plethora of juicy twists and turns in the narrative.

I've often heard writers talk about characters like Harry Potter or Frodo Baggins as unreliable narrators, but neither's core credibility is at risk in their respective stories.

Again, just having a 3rd person limited POV does not by itself mean the main character is an unreliable narrator. Often, you're more likely to see an unreliable narrator in a 1st person POV than 3rd, but that's also not a hard and fast rule.

However, if your 3rd person POV character has actual traits that make him or her compromised in telling the truth, then you would indeed have an unreliable narrator.

Genres That Benefit from Unreliable NarratorsThat all being said, let's take a look at some genres that do benefit from having unreliable narrators, some pros and cons of including an unreliable narrator in your story, and a few examples of published books that make use of unreliable narrators.

First up, there are certain genres that lean more on unreliable narrators, and that includes:

  • Mysteries and Psychological Thrillers, which as you can probably guess, use the unreliable narrator to create suspense and keep readers guessing at what's coming next in the story.

  • Horror stories, which makes use of disorientation to make the reader question what's going on.

  • Dystopian fiction, where usually an authoritarian government is pitted against the rebels in the society, and in situations like this, both sides can be unreliable narrators. It forces the reader to question which side is in the right.

Of course, unreliable narrators are useful across pretty much all genres, but you're more likely to see them in the genres just mentioned.

Pros and Cons of Unreliable NarratorsThe pros of having an unreliable narrator include more depth and complexity in the story, making the reader engage more with the story as they piece together the truth of the narrative, and of course, having powerful twisty endings.

The main con is the fact that unreliable narrators can be hard to pull off. If you don't do it just right, you can alienate the reader, accidentally make the narrator either too obscure or too obvious, and even undermine the entire plot. Additionally, there may be some readers out there who can't connect to an untrustworthy narrator, and that puts the book at risk of being DNF'd.

Now if you’re experimenting with narrative techniques like this one, but you’re struggling to keep your story on track, check out The 60 Day Novel Writing Challenge in the description. It can help you structure your novel while leaving room for creative storytelling, like using an unreliable narrator.

Examples of Unreliable Narrators in LiteratureSo what are some well-known stories with unreliable narrators, and what makes them unreliable?

Remember, the core credibility of a character determines unreliability, not the POV.

Coming up are some very slight spoilers for Life of Pi, Fight Club, Sherlock Holmes, and To Kill a Mockingbird. If you want to skip the spoilers, you can end the episode right here.

  • In Life of Pi by Yann Martel, readers are left to wonder by the end of the story if Pi actually survived on a lifeboat with a tiger, a zebra, a hyena, and an orangutan, or if he hallucinated it all.

  • In Fight Club, the narrator's mental illness and dissociative identity disorder distort his perception of reality, which sets up the twist at the end about who he really is.

  • In Sherlock Holmes, John Watson will sometimes leave out or understate details that either highlight his own contribution to a case, or point out Sherlock's flaws.

  • In To Kill a Mockingbird, Scout is a child narrator. Her limited knowledge and inability to understand adult issues mean that she's inherently an unreliable narrator. As an aside, I first read this book in sixth grade and had no idea what it was about. Later, when I read it again in high school and then again as an adult, I was much more able to understand the story and the themes.

ConclusionI hope this was helpful in gaining a better understanding of what an unreliable narrator is, and how to approach using them in your story!

That's it for today's episode! Thanks for joining me, and remember, the first draft is supposed to be garbage.

 

Show Notes


Dive into the first episode of the Novel Writing Podcast with your host Colleen and her sometimes-guest Halie Fewkes Damewood! Here, we give you the gist of who we are, what we do, and what you can expect from this podcast.



What to do next…


Halie & Colleen are both authors! Find their books below:

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