Question 1

What is the difference between Unreliable narrator and Lying narrator?

Accepted Answer

A liar knows the truth and withholds it. An unreliable narrator often has no idea anything is wrong — a child, a self-deceiver, someone whose moral frame the book quietly declines to share. The best examples are sincere.

Question 2

How do I know if I mean Unreliable Narrator rather than Lying narrator?

Accepted Answer

Readers who land here meaning Unreliable Narrator rather than Lying narrator are usually searching for phrases like “what is an unreliable narrator”, “who coined unreliable narrator”, “unreliable narrator examples”.

Aspect	Unreliable narrator	Lying narrator
Knows they mislead	Often not	Yes
Measured against	Implied author	The facts
Can be sincere	Yes	No
Reader's job	Reconstruct	Catch out

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Unreliable Narrator

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