Unreliable narrator yet again (Was: Why did Snape call Lily a 'Mudblood'?)

[Tiffany B. Clark]

No: HPFGUIDX 177993

Carol wrote:

The unreliable narrator is a standard literary device in which the pov
character's perspective is inaccurate. It has nothing to do with being
unfair (though I suppose you could call it being tricky, just as red
herrings mixed with clues are tricky). An extreme example of an
unreliable narrator is Huckleberry Finn (who is both the protagonist
and the narrator) thinking that it's wicked to help the runaway Jim
escape because he's Miss Watson's property. The device can also be
used with a third-person narrator who reports events and describes
characters from the pov of a character who doesn't fully understand
what's happening.

Tiffany:

There's a lot of misdirection in the books, even in some key moments
in the books.  However, saying that JKR is using an unreliable
narrator to tell us the story is a bit inaccurate.  I've personally
not found anything wrong with JKR's narrating abilities when she does
so in the books.  There's a definite slant to a Gryffindor type of
perspective in the novels, esp. via Harry's viewpoint, but because
he's the central character in all of the books, it's real sound.  I
think she wants us as the reader to learn & grow as Harry grows &
learns also, esp. in HBP & OotP when he starts to begin to come of
age & see the Slytherin house in a different way than what he had
before.