Second, the narrator sometimes refuses to tell us what the viewpoint character knows or sees at a critical junction. First, a well-written story would have the Innocent Inaccurate version, simply because the narrator shouldn't provide any information that the viewpoint character doesn't have, and in a more-difficult version, may not be able to provide information he has because the character hasn't the vocabulary or the necessary background knowledge. Sometimes, the story might be illustrated so that the narrator lies but the illustrations tell the truth.įirst-person stories and third-person-limited stories are candidates for two levels of the Unreliable Narrator. This can also be used as a trick in commercials, to evade claims of false advertising by having an unreliable character do the talking. If it's a visual medium and the picture contradicts the narration, it's an Unreliable Voiceover. Multiple unreliable narrators results in "Rashomon"-Style. Another, even trickier method, is the Direct Line to the Author, where the narrator is supposedly relating things that happened in Real Life, or Literary Agent Hypothesis, for when fans speculate that such a thing is occurring.
One common technique is to use a Framing Device, so that the narrator is presented as a character in the frame story, to emphasize that s/he is not actually the author. And there's always a risk of attracting Misaimed Fandom. It is a lot easier to tell a straight story than it is to deliberately mislead the audience, never mind that it violates the traditional assumption that Viewers Are Morons. A variation commonly seen in kids' books is that the narrator is a small child and is actually playing make-believe, but claims their "adventures" are real.Īs an author, this is a difficult trick to pull off. If the narrator has honestly misunderstood what's going on due to naivete, inexperience, or just lack of information, it's Innocent Inaccurate. A consistent and sincere testimony may prove Unreliable if coming from a perspective of personal bias, or conclusions drawn from incomplete observation. If the narrator is insane, it's Through the Eyes of Madness. Sometimes the narrator is a guilty party and is trying to mislead the audience as well as the other characters. It can be like dealing with a used-car salesman - there's a real story in there somewhere, but you're left to piece it together through all the lies, half-truths, and mistruths. If you ask them to go back a bit and retell it, the events come out a little differently. The narrator's facts contradict each other. This trope occurs when that convention is discarded. In most narratives, there's an element of trust that the person telling you the story is telling the truth, at least as far as they know it. Dinosaur Comics, "Literary techniques comics: Unreliable Narrator" Alt Text
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