The Unreliable Narrator
Point of View (POV) – vantage point from which the events of the story are told.
1st person – reader sees the story from a character’s POV
3rd person – narrator is an outsider (he/she is not a character involved in the story)
3rd person objective – narrator can only report what can be observed (actions & dialogue) without describing what
any of the characters are thinking or feeling
3rd person limited – narrator is an outsider, but can the reader insight in to ONE character’s inner thoughts &
feelings
3rd person omniscient – narrator is an outsider who can see everything and knows what any of the characters
think and feel
What you know about the story depends on your narrator’s POV.
An Unreliable narrator is one who is not entirely credible.
Characteristics of unreliable narrators:







Lying
Insane
Young
Naïve
Innocent
Ignorant
biased
Think about The True Story of the Three Little Pigs and The Tell Tale Heart…are these narrators reliable? Why or why not?