An Unreliablel Narrator

I've been thinking a lot about an unreliable narrator. I think that would be so hard to write. I'm reading a book called The Perilous Road by William Steele. It's a Newberry Honor, and it's a good book.

The setting is the Civil War. The protagonist is a young boy named Chris. He's friends with a mountain man that has leanings toward the South. Chris's parents and brother are against slavery. Even though Chris is the narrator, the reader can see from the beginning that his thinking is flawed in the following ways:

1.         His parents are against Chris spending so much time with the mountain man because he just roams the woods--never tending to his place.

2.            Chris is full of hate--fueled by the mountain man's ideas.

3.         Chris gets into trouble several times. The first time the mountain man leaves him to suffer the consequences on his own. The second time the mountain man lets Chris do the dirty work.

4.         The parents make comments about good men on both sides of the conflict.

5.         Chris's brother also has a much more mature positive attitude.

           

I don't know if I could write an unreliable narrator myself, but I'm thinking about it. Hoping to get up enough courage to try it someday.  I haven't finished Steele's book yet, but I think the character arc will be more powerful because of the misconceptions Chris has in the beginning.

Happy writing.

PS. Blog tour for my new books, Love, Hugs, and Hope and Becoming Free starts next week. I'm excited. If you have a writer's group or any group that would like a self help subject, I'd love to come speak. Comment here or go to my  web site

www.christymonson.com