Two of my favorite short stories are: "The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, and "The Yellow Pill" by Rog Phillips. Both are psychological. Both feature very bright and well spoken narrators. Both feature terrifically persuasive logic. And, both narrators are unreliable. I won't spoil either of these stories; they deserve to be read.
What do I mean by unreliable? Well, mainly that your trust of the narrator will waiver as the story progresses. Maybe what they say is true and maybe not? Because the story is directly tied to the perceptions of the narrator, we only experience what they tell us. Yet, because we are outside the story, we can deduce the reality of the situation. The funny thing is, we aren't nearly as good as we think we are. A great story will twist us onto our heads and drop the sky on it. We won't know what's real even after it's all over and the book is closed.
I particularly appreciate the story structure of the unreliable narrator, because it allows the author to specifically direct the audience's attention. There's no need of red herrings, or diversions, or distractions, because the narrator isn't trustworthy and the audience is actively suspecting everything. There's a moment in the movie, "Total Recall" (the 1990 film) when the hero is directly challenged about his delusions--and the audience can't determine what's up, at least not until the spell is broken. I adored that moment and have many times dissected how that scene functions.
Suspense, dawning horror, even terror can be the direct result of unreliable narrators. Try it out.
- M
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