:: COMPARE ::
The short 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.
Side by side
| 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 |
What each one means
A narrator whose account you cannot take at face value — because they are lying or concealing, because they are naive or self-deceived, or because, in Wayne Booth's formulation, they do not speak or act in accordance with the norms of the work.
Full definition of Unreliable Narrator →The contrast above sets out how Lying narrator differs from Unreliable Narrator on the points that actually matter.