Unintentionally unreliable narrators often present events from a skewed and undependable point of view due to factors such as age, lack of experience or understanding, or outsider status. In general, unreliable narrators can be divided into two categories: unintentionally unreliable narrators and intentionally unreliable narrators (Greene 1).

An unreliable narrator lies, omits or misrepresents important information, or presents inaccurate interpretations of events as objective truth. In popular fiction, unreliable narrators are frequently employed as sources of misdirection, guiding and shaping the reader’s incomplete and inaccurate understanding of the plot for the purposes of creating effective twists that upend audience expectations (Greene 1).

Sometimes lack of credibility may be immediately apparent and others times it surfaces gradually as the reader gains additional information that contradicts earlier statements made by the narrator. Unreliable narrators are usually features of literary works written in the first person, and they are defined by their lack of credibility regarding plot events depicted in the narrative. Insanity is defined as a severely disordered state of the mind and unsoundness of mind or lack of the ability to understand that prevents one from having the mental capacity required by law to enter into a particular relationship, status, or transaction or that releases one from criminal or civil responsibility according to Merriam Webster dictionary.

In Gothic fiction, many narrators can be considered unreliable because of elements of insanity. The narrator can either be deliberately lying or they can just be delusional and actually believe what they are trying to convey to the readers. A narrator is considered unreliable when the narrator’s words do not hold much value to it. This unreliable trait is common within gothic tropes. In both of Edgar Allan Poe’s short stories, The Tell-Tale Heart and The Cask of Amontillado, Poe demonstrates elements of insanity which can cause one to believe that both narrators can be viewed as unreliable.

Short stories about madness