The Silver Linings Playbook by Matthew Quick tells the story about Pat Peoples, the young man with psychological issues. He plays the role of the narrator but an unreliable one. According to Sarah Pinborough, the unreliable narrator only has his truth to rely on. These people usually have mental issues, drug and alcohol abusers, liars, or younger than others. Pat Peoples is an unreliable narrator because the reality of the story built around him is not entirely true.
For example, the readers can observe Pat’s feelings for his ex-wife Nikki. He says, “Tiffany and I are great friends, and I appreciate all that she is doing for me now. But she is not you. I still love you, Nikki. And you can’t control or alter true love” (Quick 447). Pat is trying to convince readers that his feelings are genuine and that there is still hope to reunite with Nikki. However, it is clear that he is mad, and these are his attempts to collect the broken pieces of his life. Moreover, the book does not adequately reveal the reasons behind Pat’s actions, making his character dark and messy.
Another example of Pat’s unreliability as a narrator is that he has a hypothesis about life, stating that there is a silver lining in every dark side. He does not want to deal with people who do not support this hypothesis. Pat says, “I don’t want to stay in the bad place, where no one believes in silver linings or love or happy endings” (Quick 12). Thus, Matthew Quick did a great job by skillfully drawing Pat Peoples as an unreliable narrator because it allows readers to make their own opinion about the story.
Works Cited
Pinborough, Sarah. “Top 10 Unreliable Narrators.” The Guardian, 2017, Web.
Quick, Matthew. Silver Linings Playbook. Sarah Crichton, 2008.