The unreliable narrator

One thing I absolutely LOVE when reading thrillers is an unreliable narrator. They’re not present in every book, but they make a narrative more interesting when they are. Here are some reasons why we might find them incredibly captivating and how authors portray them to be so.

Reason #1: They only tell their side of the story

Unreliable narrators provide a unique lens through which the narrative is told. Their personal biases, emotional states, or hidden agendas create a skewed interpretation of events, making it difficult to assume what we are being told is true. We are encouraged to analyse not just the plot but also the motivations behind the narrator’s perspective. We meet other characters who provide their interpretations and points of view too, inviting discussions and the search for the truth.

Reason #2: We get to engage with the narrative

When narrators are unreliable, we are forced to put our thinking caps on and actively participate in the narrative, discerning truth from fiction. We essentially become detectives who need to solve an interactive puzzle, piecing all the clues together to form a larger picture. This is probably my favourite part about thrillers — it can be challenging navigating unreliable texts, but it’s so much fun!

Reason #3: We are shown the psychological depth of the narrators

Unreliable narrators often embody psychological complexities. These usually stem from trauma, mental illness, or fears, which add layers to their characterisation. Sympathy from us as readers is created as a result, as well as reflecting broader themes of human experiences. We are drawn to the intricacies of the narrator’s mind, grappling with their motivations and the impact of their experiences on their perception of reality.

Reason #4: Their unreliability contributes to plot twists

My favourite Thrillers are when a narrator’s unreliability is the source of or contributes to the plot twists, especially the endings. They serve as climactic points, forcing me (and us as readers!) to reconsider everything I thought I understood about a given narrative. I love it when the narrators are misleading—it makes the impact and realisation hit even harder than it does compared to having everything already figured out. The suspense and anticipation are suddenly enhanced by tenfold!

Reason #5: They challenge notions of truth

Unreliable narrators prompt us to think about reality and perception by challenging notions of truth. They raise questions about how our personal biases shape our understanding of the world, and how subjective experiences influence the way stories are told. Our memory is unreliable too—it can change over time, and thus can change the outcome and validity of a certain moment in the past when recalled. This is all very interesting stuff!

But how do authors reveal a narrator’s unreliability?

As a thriller reader, there are several ways and techniques I have seen authors use to make a narrator’s perception unreliable:

1. Narrators contradict themselves

Narrators are unreliable because they contradict themselves often. It’s not always obvious, but they tend to make juxtaposing claims or recalling events differently at different times throughout a book. These contradictions are red flags, which make us wary of their credibility and question whether the narrative we are given is completely true and honest.

2. Narrators omit information

An unreliable narrator may and can intentionally omit important information that changes how the story and its events are perceived. As a result, the narrative we are given is skewed and biased towards the narrator’s. This creates suspense and tension between them and us, encouraging us to wonder what they are trying to hide and uncover the truth.

3. The narrative is often told through their point of view

Many of the thrillers we read are told through the first-person point of view. This means we have access to their internal thoughts and get an insight into their biases, beliefs, fears, and their motivations for saying something in particular or doing a particular action. Being inside the heads of the narrators can highlight differences and inconsistencies between reality and their versions of it.

4. Unreliable context

The environment where the narrators are can heavily influence how the plot of a thriller is approached, and it tends to be the most realistic ones that can be unreliable. Since the surroundings often reflect an unreliable narrator’s headspace and perception, they are distorted or surreal to fit their narrative. Our uncertainty about what the narrator goes through supports their unreliability.

5. How other characters react to them

Aside from being potential suspects, the other characters in a thriller play an important role in helping us to figure out who our narrator truly is and to what extent they are unreliable. If they tend to respond to the narrator’s claims and actions with any hint of disbelief, confusion, or dishonesty, then their perspective of the narrative is immediately questioned. This can build unease and tension when this happens; it will be difficult for us to know how the rest of the narrator’s version of the events unfolds if we believe the other characters more.

6. The layout and form of the narrative

This is my favourite technique that authors use, and I even wrote a whole essay on this with Black Dogs by Ian McEwan and When We Were Orphans by Kazuo Ishiguro for one of the modules I took when I was studying for my undergraduate degree in English.

Occasionally, authors play with the structure or format of the narrative to highlight a narrator’s unreliability. The most memorable thriller I’ve read using this technique is None of This is True by Lisa Jewell. Jewell presents the majority of the narrative through the transcript of podcast episodes, as one of the main characters is a podcaster. Providing a direct transcript means we only have the dialogue spoken between the characters to analyse. By looking closely and cross-referencing what the characters on the podcast have said and revealed, we are able to understand each character’s potential motives and discern their truths from the lies.

Conclusion

In summary, there are many ways a narrator can be unreliable, and that unreliability plays a significant role in a narrative's overall storytelling. Authors can integrate various writing techniques and stylistic choices to enhance them too, challenging us as readers to engage with their text and think critically about what we are presented with.

Do you love the concept of the unreliable narrator too? Let me know your thoughts!