Perspective plays a role in literature. When writers tell a story, they do so through a narrator (叙述者). That's the character who describes what's happening in a book, play or other types of story. Readers tend to trust the narrator. But is that always the case?
No, it's not! Often, the narrator is influenced by their own perspective. They may not tell the whole story. They may even be dishonest. Because of this, they become an unreliable narrator.
Unreliable narrators are most common in stories told from the first person point of view. In first person point of view, the narrator will use words like "I", "me" and "we".
In some cases, the character telling the story is simply dishonest. The narrator may be hiding something, such as their own mistakes. In other stories, the narrator may be unreliable without being dishonest. This can happen when the character doesn't have all the information they need. It could mean that the narrator is quite young.
A narrator can also be unreliable if the story they tell is heavily influenced by their own perspective. For example, a character with a strong bias may leave some facts of a story out.
Why would a writer use an unreliable narrator？They may do so to push the reader to dig deeper into the story. Imagine finding out at the end of a book that the narrator has been dishonest. It can make for quite the plot twist!
A. Each character has a unique perspective.
B. That means the narrator is part of the story.
C. It can also give a story the element of surprise.
D. Unreliable narrators also show up outside of literature.
E. They believe this character must be telling them the truth.
F. They may also lack experience of the topic they're talking about.
G. They may do so to make the story better fit their own worldview.
