We often come across literary works with an unreliable narrator. How exactly does it affect a reader’s perception of the story and ability to differentiate the reality from narration?
Aditi MishraBegginer
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Through works that have used the literary approach of unreliable narration, the reader is thrown in for a loop with the intention of the work using manipulation, deception and lack of clarity in the narrator’s actions and its connect to reality. What the narrator says or does is all experienced through their words and as such, creates a sense of intrigue and delusion that questions the legitimacy of everything that happens. Further, using non-linear style of narration and constant contradictory statements and situations from the narrator and characters surrounding them present doubt for the readers on their reliability. For example in ‘Lolita’ by Vladimir Nabokov, Humbert Humbert presents the unreliable narrative style as his recollection of incidents is often in contradiction to how the characters behave and how they react. As such, his perception of the world he lives in comes off as askewed and confused. His efforts to percieve his situation as pitiable and demanding empathy is often contradicted by his awareness that what he does is perhaps not normal and thus, his narration becomes more so of an effort to convince the reader of his validity and righteousness.
The use of an unreliable narrator significantly impacts the reader’s perception of truth and reality in a story, adding layers of complexity and depth to the narrative. This technique often serves to engage readers more actively, compelling them to question and analyze the information presented to discern the underlying truth.
1. Ambiguity and Suspense: Unreliable narration introduces ambiguity, making the plot and characters’ motivations less straightforward. This uncertainty can create suspense and intrigue, as readers must navigate the narrator’s biases and omissions to understand the true events of the story.
2. Multiple Perspectives: By presenting a skewed or partial view of events, unreliable narrators can highlight the subjectivity of experience and the multiplicity of perspectives. Readers become aware that the story they are being told is just one version of events, prompting them to consider alternative viewpoints and interpretations.
3. Reader Engagement: An unreliable narrator demands greater engagement from readers, who must actively piece together the narrative puzzle. This can lead to a more immersive reading experience, as readers sift through clues and contradictions to uncover the story’s reality.
4. Character Development: The use of unreliable narration can offer deeper insight into the narrator’s character, revealing their flaws, biases, and psychological state. This can enrich the narrative by providing a complex, multifaceted portrayal of the protagonist, making them more relatable and human.
5. Themes and Messages: Unreliable narration can underscore themes of deception, self-delusion, and the elusiveness of truth. It can reflect the complexity of human perception and memory, challenging readers to consider the nature of reality and the reliability of their own interpretations.
6. Emotional Impact: The realization that the narrator is unreliable can lead to a powerful emotional response, such as shock, betrayal, or empathy. This revelation can profoundly affect how readers perceive the story and its characters, often leaving a lasting impression.
7. Critical Thinking: Encountering an unreliable narrator encourages readers to develop critical thinking skills. They must analyze the text more deeply, questioning the reliability of the information provided and seeking evidence to support or refute the narrator’s version of events.
In essence, the use of unreliable narration disrupts the reader’s passive consumption of the story, transforming the reading experience into an active quest for truth. It enhances the narrative’s complexity and richness, making the story more engaging and thought-provoking.
Let’s first examine the nature and behavior of an unreliable narrator! M.H. Abrahams gives us an idea of an unreliable narrator as someone whose perception, interpretation, and evaluation of the matters he or she narrates never coincide with the opinions implied by the author, which the author expects the alert reader to share. A story learned through this narrator creates a space within the fiction where the events are distorted and presented to appease the reader’s curiosity while hiding the other ongoing events. The unreliable narrator holds the power to reveal the different facets of this fictitious world as per his or her wish. The role of the reader then becomes that of a silent spectator who at the end of the story sees the entirety of the fiction by taking a step back from the narratology of the fallible narrator. The readers never need to differentiate between reality and otherwise, as the nature of the unreliable narrator becomes a narration style. They experience a shared thrill when the missed spaces of the fiction are revealed and the whole picture of the events is thrust at once, usually towards the end as seen in Agatha Christie’s The Murder of Roger Ackroyd.
Unreliable narration can have a significant effect on the reader’s perception of truth and reality within a story. When a narrator is deemed unreliable, it challenges the reader’s ability to trust the information being presented and can lead to a more complex and nuanced understanding of the narrative.
Here are some of the key ways in which unreliable narration can impact the reader’s perception of truth and reality: