Question about the 'unreliable narrator' label we keep throwing around

My book club just finished Gone Girl and everyone called Nick an unreliable narrator, but I think that misses the point. He's actually a pretty honest guy describing his own confusion, not someone trying to trick us on purpose. Does labeling a narrator 'unreliable' shut down more interesting conversations about how memory and perspective work in a story?

2 comments

2 Comments

angela8903d ago

That part about Nick being "a pretty honest guy describing his own confusion" really stuck with me. I just heard a podcast that said labels like this can make us miss the messy way real people remember things.

the_sean3d ago

Honestly that podcast point is so real. I had this whole argument with my brother about a family trip we took like 10 years ago. He swears we went to the beach one day, I remember it being rainy and we stayed in. Looking back, neither of us is lying, we just remember it differently because stuff gets mixed up over time. That's why I try not to judge someone's story too harshly when they're being open about it. Our brains just work like that sometimes.