Unreliable narrator

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It has been suggested that this article be deleted from Lostpedia. Reason: UN is a story device; LOST is the story. Individual examples within the LOST story are analysed using different plotting devices, not a story device. - Discuss

An unreliable narrator is a literary device in which the narrator of a story cannot be trusted. For example, in the short story An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge, the narrator, someone removed from involvement in the plot, is relaying the story to the reader. In Act II, the narrator tells the reader Farquhar escaped his punishment and returned to his family. Act III, however, reveals the unreliable narrator when a plot twist ending shows the escape was a hallucination experienced in the last moments of Farquhar's life.

An unreliable narrator or narrators would typically make use of an ellipsis to omit key information in the narrative only to shock or amuse the audience later on with its unexpected revelation.

See also: Unreliable narrator at Wikipedia.

On Lost

The Lost story itself is sometimes viewed as the unreliable narrator, utilizing various literary techniques in the plot to manipulate the audience. In addition, some fans believe that smaller stories within the full Lost story can be attributed with unreliable narrators. One such example :

• In "Hearts and Minds", Boone finds Shannon dead. Later, Locke tells Boone that Shannon was still alive, and that the Island forced Boone to perceive Shannon's death because it was vital to his "survival on this island". Analysis: This story within the Lost story as a whole was narrated from Boone's perspective (i.e, the audience did not know that Shannon was still alive until Boone knew that Shannon was still alive). Boone was unreliable as a narrator, because he was under the influence of the Island. This type of third-person narration, which only shows the incorrect perceptions of a single character, is also used in the film and story versions of An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge.

Literary references to unreliable narrators

The following books have been seen or referenced on Lost, or have been referenced by the writers. Each book has an unreliable narrator:

• An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge
• The Third Policeman
• The Turn of the Screw

External links

Related to Lost

• EW.com - EW senior writer Jeff Jensen asks readers to reconsider portions of the Lost story, by applying the term 'Unreliable Narrator'.
• Living Lost: Why We're All Stuck On the Island - The book (p 77-78) uses the term "unreliable narrator" when describing An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge.
• Washington Post - Staff of the newspaper discuss how the Lost story "may be told by one or more unreliable narrators."
• Gregg Nations at the Fuselage - Gregg Nations answers a question from a viewer in a self-described "cryptic way", by writing: "there is a 3,000 year-old creation myth in a Hindu Veda which tells of the moment of creation. But at the very end, it is all called into question by asking what if the myth is wrong? (Interesting that the unreliable narrator was in use over 3,000 years ago, huh?)"

General information about the term

• The Seven Best Civil War Movies: An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge ("[the short story is] The quintessential example of an unreliable narrator"). 2 February 2007. CS Weekly Archive. accessed 21 April 2008.
• Edgar Allan Poe, Ambrose Bierce, and the Unreliable Narrator. undated. NEH EDsitement. accessed 21 April 2008.