An unreliable narrator is a narrator whose credibility is compromised. They may lie, forget, misunderstand, or deliberately deceive. The reader cannot take their words at face value. The story they tell is not the story that happened.

The term was coined by Wayne Booth in 1961, but the device is older. Poe’s “The Tell-Tale Heart” has a narrator who insists he is sane while describing murder. Nabokov’s Lolita is narrated by a pedophile who tries to justify himself. Fight Club has a narrator who does not know his own identity. The unreliable narrator forces the reader to read actively. You have to look for clues, contradictions, and gaps. Sometimes the narrator is unreliable because they are a child who does not understand what they see. Sometimes they are mentally ill. Sometimes they are simply lying. The effect can be unsettling. It makes you question everything, including your own judgment.

Types

• Deliberate liar
• Child who misunderstands
• Mentally ill or confused
• Biased or self-deceiving