Narrative Perspective and the Unreliable Narrator

Introduction

Every story needs a storyteller. In literature, that storyteller is the narrator, and the lens through which they tell the story is the narrative perspective, or point of view. The author's choice of narrator is one of the most fundamental decisions in crafting a story, as it controls how much information the reader receives and how they interpret the events and characters. While we often assume that our narrator is telling us the truth, some of the most fascinating and complex stories are told by an unreliable narrator—a storyteller whose credibility has been seriously compromised. This article explores the different types of narrative perspective and the intriguing literary device of the unreliable narrator.

Learning objectives

After reading this article, you should be able to:

• Define narrative perspective and explain its importance.
• Identify and differentiate between first-person, second-person, and third-person (limited and omniscient) points of view.
• Define an unreliable narrator.
• Analyse the reasons why a narrator might be unreliable.
• Explain how an unreliable narrator can affect the reader's experience and the story's themes.

The Main Types of Narrative Perspective

There are three primary points of view from which a story can be told: …