/lit/ - Literature

[Anonymous No.22296212]

Newbie here. What's the point of the unreliable narrator trope, and when is it best used?

[Anonymous No.22296270]

There’s not really a point to it if it’s just one unreliable narrator; that just leads to “le it was all in his head” interpretations. The best unreliable narrator stories are ones wherein an objective understanding of the story’s events are enhanced by a better understanding of characters’ perspectives and motivations via unreliable narration.
See As I Lay Dying.

[Anonymous No.22297774]

>>22296270
Absalom, Absalom is also an interesting example. In the later parts it's clear that the narrator just makes things up, but in the first parts everything is also based on claims made by other characters and so you end up completely unsure about what was ever "true" to begin with

[Anonymous No.22297779]

>>22297774
It’s a great book for exploring the creation of myths, and the book almost resembles a game of telephone, with different characters’ stories juxtaposing to let the reader work out for themselves what they believe is the true story, if a true story even exists. I found it to be a tedious book though and one of the most difficult I’ve read. I thought TSATF was a piece of cake compared to this

[Anonymous No.22297782]

>>22296212
the point is that the narrator is unreliable
it's best used when you need a narrator who is unreliable

[Anonymous No.22297784]

>>22296212
the woke mob won't like me saying this but I don't think you should be a narrator if you're unreliable

[Anonymous No.22297806]

>>22297779
True. The difficulty of his stream of consciousness books is vastly overstated, they're much more brisk compared to his dense prose books.

[Anonymous No.22298705]

>>22296270
This is actually very informative. Appreciate it anon. :)

[Anonymous No.22299375]

>>22296212
>When a solid twist is coming based on with held information
The Murder of Roger Akroyd