Introduction
An untrustworthy narrator is a storyteller whose reliability is compromised, leading readers to question his narration. The method of deception has been utilized by writers across numerous literary genres, causing readers to critically review what is being said as they engage with the text. “The Tell-Tale Heart” by Edgar Allan Poe, “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, and “Axolotl” by Julio Cortázar are among the stories featuring unreliable narrators, each offering a distinct interpretation of unreliability. This collection of stories raises issues concerning the nature of truth, perception, and the human condition. This essay examines the unreliability of narrators and the effects that result from it, offering a more thorough explanation of what makes a trustworthy narrator and the effects of false tales.
“The Tell-Tale Heart” by Edgar Allen Poe
The narrator describes in detail the fate of the old man with the “eye of a vulture,” which arouses irrational fear and obsession in the narrator. The story starts when the narrator declares his sanity, though he also admits his nervousness, which makes him a less reliable storyteller. As the story progresses, the narrator reveals his meticulous plans to murder the older adult who scares him.
The decline into insanity is highlighted by the narrator’s contradictory description of his health condition:
“It’s True! YES, I HAVE BEEN ILL, very ill. But why do you say that I have lost control of my mind? Why do you say that I am mad? Can you not see that I have control of my mind? I sit, not clear that I am not mad. (1).”
The opening quotation indicates the narrator’s unreliability because they simultaneously contradict themselves by claiming to be both sane and nervous. The reader must determine the account’s credibility, which depends on the narrator’s troubled mind.
Their untrustworthiness is further highlighted by the narrator’s obsession with the eye, which makes him murder the older man:
The older man was dead; I took away the bedcovers and held my ear over his heart. There was no sound.Yes.He was dead! Dead as a stone. His eye would trouble me no more! (4).
The narrator’s unremitting focus on the man’s eye, which he calls “disturbs,” hints at his irrational mind. He is so obsessed that, as a result, he commits murder, which is very extreme and unreasonable. Moreover, he does not even realize it is unreal and has a distorted view of reality. He thinks the older man’s eye is evil, but there’s no evidence to support it. This means that he reflects on his fears and obsessions rather than events of reality through his recollections.
The narrator’s dishonesty ultimately comes to a climax when they admit to the murder, propelled by the sound of the older man’s heartbeat in their imagination:
“Yes! Yes. I killed him. Pill up the boards, and you will see! I killed him. But why does his heart not stop beating? Why does it not stop” (7).
This quote identifies the narrator’s fall into insanity as he gets lost in his hallucinations and admits to carrying out the crime. It is hard to check the exactitude of the narrator’s storyline because their perceptions are heavily influenced by their mental disorder.
The reader is left guessing whether all the events narrated are merely products of the narrator’s unstable mental state. In addition, the narrator’s unsteady assertions about sanity and nervousness, and their distorted belief that they are rational, create confusion about what constitutes a clear mental picture of events. Readers encounter difficulties analyzing the narrator’s thoughts and actions, trying to detect the signs of reality or the narrator’s subjective perception of the situation.
“The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
The story is about a woman imprisoned by her husband’s medical practice and driven insane by her obsession with the room’s yellow wall covering. The narrator starts by describing the stifling atmosphere in the room, complete with barred windows and decaying yellow wallpaper, to which her spouse writes it off as a “temporary nervous depression.” As the novel progresses, the narrator’s infatuation with the wallpaper intensifies, and she begins to detect strange patterns and shapes within its intricate design. The storyteller’s fixation on the wallpaper escalates to worrying levels as she starts to believe that a lady is imprisoned by its designs and is fighting to escape. This delusion seizes her thoughts, making her mentally scratch the wallpaper with her fingernails.
The narrator’s unreliability is particularly evident through her contradictory utterances regarding her psychological health.
You see, he does not believe I am sick! And what can one do? If a physician of high standing and one’s husband assure friends and relatives that there is nothing the matter with one but temporary nervous depression—a slight hysterical tendency—what is one to do? (1)
The narrator seeks advice from her husband, a doctor, suggesting that she is not mentally acute enough to diagnose her condition. This undermines her reliability as a narrator, as she does not care about her husband’s professional opinion, which should have been a reliable source. The fact that the narrator questions the diagnosis suggests that she does not admit or recognize how serious her mental state is. This lack of self-awareness leads one to doubt her ability to recall her experiences and perceptions accurately.
As her obsession with the wallpaper deepens, the narrator begins to see as if everyone is attached to it:
I watched John when he did not know I was looking, and he came into the room suddenly on the most innocent excuses. I caught him several times LOOKING AT THE PAPER! And Jennie, too. I caught Jennie with her hand on it once (20).
The protagonist’s obsessiveness with the wallpaper is an essential component of her mental deterioration. She reveals her delusion and takes the audience to her warped point of view; as a result, she becomes an untrustworthy source of information. She conveys her recognition through her perceptions, which are under the increasing deterioration of her mental health.
The narrator’s illusion is effective when she allows herself to believe that she is the trapped lady.
Then I peeled off all the paper I could reach, standing on the floor. It sticks horribly, and the pattern is just enjoyable! Those strangled heads, bulbous eyes, and waddling fungus growths just shriek with derision! (53).
The narrator’s boast of having “ripped it so that most of the paper [is] gone” signifies her past obsession with the yellow wallpaper and the presumed woman hiding in its patterns. Now, she seems to be tearing down the wallpaper from the walls so far, freeing herself from the metaphorical prison. This disconnects her from the physical world by designing these surroundings to reflect her abnormal beliefs.
The interruption and alteration of her senses, along with the hallucinations and delirium, put the reader on edge and prepared to reexamine the reliability of the narrator’s narrative. The reader sinks into decoding and interpretation, which tries to distinguish reality from delusions. The text becomes a riddle, with the reader searching for the whole truth as they piece together fragments from the narrator’s unreliable account. Such distortions in the reader’s conception of truth are the most significant theme that Gilman studied about mental illness and the puzzles of perception.
“Axolotl” by Julio Cortázar
A fascination with the axolotls, an amphibious creature, consumes the narrator in the story at a Paris aquarium. The narrative starts with the narrator’s words about their favorite part: the “seemingly immobile eyes” and “their hideously awake presence.” As the narrator’s curiosity grows, they begin to feel a deeper empathy for the axolotls and sense their silent existence. This obsession leads to a metaphysical transformation of the narrator. Their body becomes full of tubes, sluices, and contractions that delay and increase sensitivity.
The narrator’s obsession—which verges on mystical fascination—with the axolotls is one of the first signs of his unreliability.
I didn’t care to look up any specialized works but returned to the Jardines plants the next day. I began to go every morning, morning, and afternoon some days (4).
The protagonist’s strong interest in the axolotls leads him to reflect on the animal, offering an objective perspective. Subjectivity produces an effect that alters the truth about the axolotls, making the speaker an untrustworthy source of information about them.
The narrator’s lack of credibility is highlighted further in the narrative when they describe their fundamental transformation into an axolotl:
Outside, my face came close to the glass again; I saw my mouth, the lips compressed with the effort of understanding the axolotls. I was an axolotl, and now I knew instantly that no understanding was possible (8).
This realistic description of a physical metamorphosis into a creature completely separates from reality. The reader cannot determine whether this narrative is a factual account of events or a mere symbolic reflection of the narrator’s obsession.
The storyteller’s untrustworthy is further demonstrated when the narrator ultimately believes he is genuinely an axolotl:
I am axolotl for good now, and if I think like a man, it’s only because every axolotl thinks like a man inside his rosy stone semblance (9).
The unreality is echoed by the phrase, “Every axolotl thinks like a man inside his red stone embodiment.” This is anthropomorphism, treating a human mind as a non-living being. The narrator only portrays his thoughts and feelings onto the axolotl, not accurately representing its consciousness.
The narrator’s untrustworthiness stems from their metaphysical transformation, which challenges the viewer to rethink the definition of a credible account. The narrator’s unreliability questions the viewers’ perception of identity and the demarcations between human and non-human existence. Through the existence of the axolotl, the narrator confuses the concepts of species and of whether being human exists, thereby prompting the reader to rethink what it means to be human and the flexibility of identity.
Conclusion
An unreliable narrator is a person whose reliability gets undermined through mental instability, distorted perceptions, obsession, and metaphysical transformations. The traditional view of a reliable narrator is being challenged, and the reader must journey through the narrator’s words to find clues that might distinguish reality from the distortions of the obsessed person’s mind. The essence that connects these three stories is that of an obsessive person who experiences and perceives the world in a certain way. An unreliable narrator prompts readers to explore truth, self-awareness, and human existence, challenging traditional notions of credibility and reliability and requiring them to grapple with the ramifications of a story.