U is for...Unreliable Narrator
Mostly, when we read a story, we take the narrative at face value. We believe what the author is telling us, either directly in a first person narrative or through the hero or heroine in a third person one, because -- well, why wouldn't we?
Precisely. As readers, we are trusting and - necessarily - gullible. We want to believe. If something happens inadvertently to break the magic spell, we feel cheated and / or irritated and may well chuck the book to one side.
But what if the writer deliberately pulls the rug from under her reader's feet, by revealing that the narration or the narrator is in some way unreliable? What then? However you achieve it, gradually with a drip, drip, drip of hints and suggestions, or with a flourish of leger de main, it's an extraordinarily manipulative thing to do. It is bound to provoke an intense reaction in your reader and (as long as they don't cast the book to one side) this is a Very Good Thing. Firstly, it will make them re-evaluate everything they have read so far, to see how they could have misread the situation so completely; it will niggle away at them and keep them in the world of your story for longer. Secondly, they will want to know why: why has the writer subverted her own story? What is she trying to achieve? Where will it lead?
If you want to see how to do it (without giving too much away), read Fingersmith by Sarah Waters, or check out one of my previous posts...
Showing posts with label unreliable narrator. Show all posts
Showing posts with label unreliable narrator. Show all posts
Wednesday, 22 August 2012
Friday, 11 February 2011
Don't Count on Me
In the majority of novels, the writer chooses a character to act as the narrator of the story, delivers the plot through them, using what they observe and do as a vehicle, and what you see is what you get. In the majority of novels...
However, there is another way. You can decide to use an unreliable narrator as the teller of your tale, someone whose account, it gradually dawns on the reader as the book progresses, is not to be trusted. This is both subtle and complex and therefore quite difficult to do: you have to keep a large number of balls in the air -- the tale as told, the true story, who knows what, what the characters are not revealing and why etc - but if you are nimble and dexterous the hard work will pay off.
Not only do you get an exciting tale unfolding, you get an exciting tale with additional spin as well. It has the benefit of making the reader work a little bit harder and therefore engage more fully with what they are reading. They don't just have to keep abreast of events, they also have to test out what can be believed and what can't.
There is a character pay off as well, as the reader is made to ask why the narrator is unreliable, what are their motives, what previous experience has bought them to this pass, and so on...
If you want to read an excellent example of how this can be achieved, Zoe Heller uses this device to great effect in her novel Notes on a Scandal, which is seen from the point of view of an elderly teacher called Barbara, who turns out to have her own rather jealous and obsessive axe to grind in relating what happened to her younger colleague Sheba. Why not pop down to the library (see my previous post) and borrow a copy to see how it's done?
However, there is another way. You can decide to use an unreliable narrator as the teller of your tale, someone whose account, it gradually dawns on the reader as the book progresses, is not to be trusted. This is both subtle and complex and therefore quite difficult to do: you have to keep a large number of balls in the air -- the tale as told, the true story, who knows what, what the characters are not revealing and why etc - but if you are nimble and dexterous the hard work will pay off.
Not only do you get an exciting tale unfolding, you get an exciting tale with additional spin as well. It has the benefit of making the reader work a little bit harder and therefore engage more fully with what they are reading. They don't just have to keep abreast of events, they also have to test out what can be believed and what can't.
There is a character pay off as well, as the reader is made to ask why the narrator is unreliable, what are their motives, what previous experience has bought them to this pass, and so on...
If you want to read an excellent example of how this can be achieved, Zoe Heller uses this device to great effect in her novel Notes on a Scandal, which is seen from the point of view of an elderly teacher called Barbara, who turns out to have her own rather jealous and obsessive axe to grind in relating what happened to her younger colleague Sheba. Why not pop down to the library (see my previous post) and borrow a copy to see how it's done?
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