![]() As a reader, then, you’ll only note how shaky Humbert’s tale really is if you spot that Humbert is an unreliable narrator. Because Lolita is a literary tale rather than a commercial blockbuster, the burden of understanding lies with the reader. There is no big reveal on par with The Usual Suspects. Why it works: The surprise ending is subtle in Lolita.Humbert is The Sympathy-Seeker because his desire for sympathy drives his tale. The difference is in his motivation for telling his story. That and his attraction to prepubescent girls could qualify him as The Psycho type. What Makes Humbert the Sympathy-Seeker? Humbert did a brief stint in a mental hospital.We never hear Lolita’s side of the story. Although his admission of guilt makes it easier to believe the rest of his tale-after all why lie about anything if he’s so willing to share his ugliest secret?-Humbert wants forgiveness. And that is a reason to lie. He takes us through his remorse, his genuine affection for Lolita, and speculates on the childhood experiences that may have caused his pedophilia. He narrates his story of abduction, coercion, and rape while awaiting trial. Known Sympathy-Seeker: Humbert Humbert, Lolita. Humbert is a middle-aged man obsessed with 12-year-old Lolita.And a greater reason for you to suspect his tale. Or, at least, not all bad. That’s a great reason to lie. He wants us to see him as the good person in his tale. The sympathy-seeker plays on our emotions. It’s one of the most masterfully pulled off and memorable plot twists. You’ll want to watch the movie again with the reveal in mind, but it won’t feel like the same movie. We realize we know as little about what really happened as the police interrogator does. Why It Works: In the final scene we’re left wondering if anything Verbal said was true.What Makes Verbal the Self-Preservationist? The self-preservationist lies to save himself. If Verbal told the truth about how he ended up in the boat explosion, he’d never leave that interrogation room.I’ll leave that final detail for your viewing pleasure. But that’s not the biggest reveal in this mind-blowing tale. After the police interrogator releases Verbal from custody, he finds an unlikely number of details from Verbal’s story in photos and documents hanging throughout the interrogation room where Verbal spun his tale. The story is purely Verbal’s say so which makes it all too easy for it to be a great big lie. During the after-disaster police interrogation, Verbal tells the convoluted story of how he and four fellow criminals ended up on that boat, the victims of legendary crime boss and criminal mastermind Keyser Söze. Known Self-Preservationist: Verbal Kint, The Usual Suspects. Verbal Kint, the soft-spoken small time criminal, is the only survivor of a boat explosion.Which means, of course, the whole story is suspect. Either way, his side of the story is suspect. He might lie to escape a sticky situation. ![]() The self-preservationist is a deliberate liar. Or feel free to steal what works and make up the rest.Įnjoying this article? You’ll also like The Art of Brevity: 5 Powerful Techniques to Cut the Fluff from Your Fiction Seven Unreliable Narrators to Twist Your Plot #1: The Self-Preservationist And at the end you’ll get tips for creating that subtly deceiving narrator for the twist your reader never saw coming. Here you’ll get seven character types to add to your arsenal. Why? Because the key information your unreliable narrator holds back is the same key information you’ll unleash on your reader in the big reveal. Whether he’s a skilled liar or just naive, the unreliable narrator doesn’t tell the full story. ![]() And they’re the secret weapon behind those memorable plot twists that wow readers and get published. ![]() Unreliable narrators come in rainbow varieties. The best surprise endings hinge on one thing-the unreliable narrator. Here are the best of the infinite to get you started. That’s great news for you because your options as the all powerful creator of dastardly characters (or “writer” if you’re into being humble) just blew wide open. There are more unreliable narrators in literature than we could discuss in a single article. ![]()
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