The Narrator's Credibility

The narrator’s credibility is very slim. The narrator makes false ideas and events, which would make an unreliable narrator. The narrator isn’t very clear on his surroundings. He doesn’t give us details like his age, when he was born or about his family. In the text of The Outsider it states “I cannot recall any person except myself; or anything alive but the noiseless rats and bats and spiders.” When the narrator talks he is not giving us the full view of his ideas. It’s hard to understand where he is and what he is doing. Because the narrator has been living in a dark mansion he doesn’t know what he looks like or what his age is. According to the author, “I looked in and saw an oddly dressed company indeed; making merry, and speaking brightly
to one another. I had never, seemingly, heard human speech before; and could only guess vaguely what they said.” The narrator had never interacted with human life before and he had never heard human speech. The narrator had false ideas on what the people were saying because he could barely interpret their speech.

Throughout the story you don’t learn much about the narrator or his surroundings. I think this adds to the suspense because it’s a mystery. It isn’t until the very end of the story when he realizes he is not even human! Before that time you don’t know a thing about his appearance. In the story it states “I know always that I am an outsider; a stranger in this century and among those who are still men.” The narrator knew down in his heart that he was different in some way he just didn’t know what. The story creates suspense with the mysteriousness of the narrator, I also think the surroundings are mysterious because they are described with such detail you can create a clear image in your head. These reasons answer the questions how credible is the presentation of events and does your understanding of the narrator add to the suspense.