What does the unreliable narrator even mean.

[AliceHiess]

I occasionally see this tag but I’ve never been able to figure out what exactly makes a narrator unreliable since their job is to just tell you what is going on and I’ve never seen a narrator fail to do that.

 

[CadmarLegend]

I occasionally see this tag but I’ve never been able to figure out what exactly makes a narrator unreliable since their job is to just tell you what is going on and I’ve never seen a narrator fail to do that.

I think it means being silly in narrating and stuff....

 

[BubbleC]

It means that the narrator’s perspective is not reflective of what is actually happening. For example, an unreliable narrator could be psychopathic and omits details about the terrible things they’ve done. Instead of talking about how they’ve hurt/abused a person, they will focus on detailing how the person they’re interacting with is being cold or wary of them despite “them not doing anything.”

They could be lying to the reader or have a warped view of events, basically.

 

[PrincessFelicie]

An unreliable narrator is someone where you can't take for granted that the story and the details they're telling are actually accurate to the facts of the story. Imagine if like star wars was from the perspective of Darth Vader and the narration was all about how good and kind the empire is for blowing up a planet. It works best when the actual reality of the situation slips through at times, to make it clear to the reader that what the narrator is saying does not empirically match with the facts or their morality; but as always it's a game of subtlety vs clarity.

 

[atgongumerki]

Basically, a narrator who does not tell you what happened.

Often they tell you how they perceive the situation.

They could say that they saved the princess from the evil beast, but the princess was already mentally damaged beyond repair. When in fact the narrator killed her pet-dragon and she is fearing you will kill her next.

 

[tarreb]

If you want a video example there's the Team Fortress 2: Meet the Pyro video. Fight Club is probably another good example.

 

[Joyeuse]

Unreliable narrator aka: Not everything you read might be true or the narrator missed something, their common sense might be skewed etc

 

[Kitsura]

I occasionally see this tag but I’ve never been able to figure out what exactly makes a narrator unreliable since their job is to just tell you what is going on and I’ve never seen a narrator fail to do that.

Often it is done through the first person for example, Ophelia in “the crying of lot 49” is often considered an unreliable narrator due to her drug induced hazes.

it’s meant to make the reader question the broader structure of the plot and hopefully add a bit of mystery too it.

 

[Muddy]

An unreliable narrator means you can't take all of the written words at face value. In other words, the narrator "lies" to the reader. The lies will often be about relatively small, but important details in the narrative. The deviations from the truth aren't always malicious.

Generally, the reader is made aware that the narrative is unreliable in some way (though sometimes this is done incredibly subtly). Some novels with unreliable narrators will eventually tell you what really happened. Many do not, at least not entirely, forcing you to make up your own mind about the truth.

Due to its nature, an unreliable narrator most often happens in first-person writing.

Here are a couple of examples:

• young, childish, naive, or simple narrator - Due to lack of maturity the narrator has an overly simple worldview. The narrator will tell things as they believe the world works. But that isn't always how things really happened.
  example: Forest Gump. It is highly unlikely that Forest was as intimately involved with all those historical events as he makes you believe. But Forest truly believes he is telling nothing but the honest truth.

• evasive narrator - The narrator knows the truth but deliberately avoids talking about it, or subtly alters it. There is no maliciousness involved. The narrator is deluding you with the best intentions.
  example: Life of Pi. Pi tells a fantastical fairy tale with cute fluffy animals. Only at the very end does Pi reveal that the cute animals might be a substitute for a far more harrowing truth.

• self-delusive narrator - A variant of the evasive narrator. The narrator is at least subconsciously aware of the truth but does not want to admit that truth to himself, let alone the reader.

• deliberate liar - The narrator lies to you. Deliberately. Maliciously. Some classic tropes here are the villain pretending to be the hero, or a psychopath narrator.
  example: Gone Girl. The viewpoint switches in the second half of the novel. Certain events are retold, but entirely different. Which of the two narrators is lying? Or are they both lying?

 

[CL]

When the person telling the story doesn't even know what the hell is going on, then that is telling you how unreliable their testimony is of the events. I enjoy those stories because it feels like the author is also learning about the goings-on with us readers; we're equals.

 

[Deleted member 45782]

Middy's description is perfect.

 

[xluferx]

Caiphas Cain, is an unreliable narrator for example, tho you might not know him if you don't know Warhammer 40k

 

[Valmond]

I occasionally see this tag but I’ve never been able to figure out what exactly makes a narrator unreliable since their job is to just tell you what is going on and I’ve never seen a narrator fail to do that.

The unreliable narrator is a form where what is stated may not be true. In short, it is presenting misinformation or truth depending. This can be used in quite a lot of ways. Hiding truth within lies, and lies within truth. I use this form all the time.

 

[Kilolo]

the easiest way to understand term of unreliable narrator is to understand the definition of hypocrisy.

it's not about what the narrator saw, what the narrator knows, or what the narrator thinks about his side of things.

it's about what the narrator wants to be the truth.

 

[Jamminrabbit]

EX 1:

Narrator in prose: That Jake was an uppity asshole, always had his nose turned up when speaking to people like he was better than everyone else.

Jake's actions in the story: Actually a modest modest kid who helps those in need.

Conclusion: Narrator is unreliable.

EX 2:

Narrator in prose: I'm the most popular kid in school. The girls love me, teachers always depend on me, and even the jocks respect me.

Also Narrator: Always sits in a secluded part of campus during lunch. Stammers a lot when speaking to the opposite sex. Keeps their head low when passing by jocks to avoid notice.

Conclusion: Narrator is unreliable.

 

[Echimera]

Caiphas Cain, is an unreliable narrator for example, tho you might not know him if you don't know Warhammer 40k

There is a HERO OF THE EMPIRE missing behind his name.


On the topic:
As already has been mentioned, an unreliable narrator does not present the story accurately.
The reasons for that can be very different, from a very naive, childish mindset that doesn't really understand what is going on and therefore can't correctly describe what's going on, the simple fact that the narrator in question simply lacks background information critical to correctly understand a situation (very often the motivations of other characters, for example) to outright deception on the part of the narrator.

Very often an unreliable narrator is a character present in the story, with the story written in first person, other times it might be an in-universe character that is relaying second hand information (with the reliability of their sources being questionable).

 

[AliceShiki]

I like to use https://www.novelupdates.com/series/there-is-a-narrative-trick-in-this-story/ as an example of a story with an unreliable narrator... Mostly because it's a one-shot and it announces that you'll be tricked kinda openly, yet you'll probably still be tricked anyways.

Basically, as a bunch of other people said, the way the story is told will trick the reader in some way. The narrator will tell things in a way that will make you reach a conclusion that isn't necessarily true. The narrator doesn't need to lie, they just need to hide the right facts and present things in the right way.

There are many ways to go about when creating a story with an unreliable narrator, but I think the most elegant one is to have a narrator that says only the truth, yet creates a great lie that the readers will only perceive much later into the story.

 

[PyrusMG]

If you’ve seen The Usual Suspects, Verbal Kint is an unreliable narrator and all the scenes he describes are false narratives.

 

[Yairy]

I occasionally see this tag but I’ve never been able to figure out what exactly makes a narrator unreliable since their job is to just tell you what is going on and I’ve never seen a narrator fail to do that.

When the narrator is lying to the viewer, it's unreliable. If they are in a state that makes reality skew, they are unreliable. If the reader can't trust the information given it us unreliable.

Stories like Umineko are full of unreliable narrators.

I can tell you a story but if the information I told you was all fake, how true is my story? I will be unreliable in that context. Usually writers use an unreliable narrator to hide secrets from the readers.

 

[Deleted member 45782]

A good example is Catcher in the Rye.