Unreliable Narrator

There was a man who owned everything in his land. He lacked absolutely nothing he needed including power. He had so many children besides his wealth. The children were very obedient to him as a parent, duly respecting him.

One of his children was called Obel Sbuth. "Obel Sbuth! Obel Sbuth! Obel Sbuth!". Obel Sbuth, when did you last think rightly? Obel Sbuth thought of taking the seat of his father. With a few of his siblings he planned to go and overthrow the father. The other siblings who remained obedient to the father fought him and he was defeated, never was a space found for him in that home.

Obel Sbuth became a vagabond. One day while roaming he met some children to whom the father had allocated a very good land, commanding everything there and living happily. The father gave them everything and told them only not to go to a place which was risky for them. Obel Sbuth was aware of the place. He was also aware that the father had told the children not to go to the place.

Obel Sbuth admired the lifestyle but he could not access it. As an unreliable narrator, he thought of destroying the relationship between the children and their father. Being clever and cunning, Obel Sbuth looked for an entry point into the children's lifestyle. He got a weaker point, reached the children's lifestyle intending to destroy their relationship with the father.

There was a very deep cleft where the father told the children not to go. He told them that they would die when they went there by falling unknowingly into the cleft. The father wanted the children to remain obedient to him. Obel Sbuth knew very well that obedience was what the father wanted from the children.

Determined to cause the children to disobey their father, Obel Sbuth came.

"Hello, Madam, Good Morning". Obel Sbuth said.

Good Morning, Obel". Madam said.

Obel Sbuth said, "Has the father said, you shall not go everywhere in the land?". Madam answered, " we can go anywhere in the land except to the cleft, when we go to the cleft we will surely die". "No, you will not die. The father knew that when you go to the cleft you will see well what is there". Obel Sbuth said.

With the appetite to see well, Madam took the husband and they went to the cleft, thus disobeying the father. After disobeying the father things did not remain the same again. Lifestyle changed. The father stopped providing fully for the children. They toiled to survive and not even getting enough from their labour to support their survival. In the process of living and labouring they also got children, grandchildren and so on.

After a long time the father sent his firstborn to the land which he had allocated to the good children who disobedient later. The firstborn found his brothers and sisters suffering as a result of Obel Sbuth's craftiness. He instructed his relatives how to get out of Obel Sbuth's powers but his brothers disobeyed.

Obel Sbuth did not respect the firstborn too. As an unreliable narrator, he came to him to narrate his story, thinking the firstborn was like the others. The firstborn had been with the father the longest, knew everything belonging to the father and understood all the occurrences in the land. Nothing was outside his knowledge.

"Good afternoon, Ruoth Jawar", Obel Sbuth greeted. The firstborn (Ruoth Jawar) did not answer but recognized his presence. Obel Sbuth continued, "all this land and everything in it are mine. If you obey and honour me, they will all be yours". In response Ruoth Jawar said, "all the land and everything in it belong to no one else but to the father".

Obel Sbuth left the firstborn but behind the curtains he mobilized his brothers against him and he was killed. Obel Sbuth celebrated the death of the firstborn. A little while after death, Obel Sbuth's operation was adversely affected because the brothers of the firstborn discovered that Obel Sbuth is just unreliable narrator.

Take Home

1. It is not possible to separate children from the love of a living father 2. Unreliable narrators speak loudly and visibly but father-child relationship is deeper and powerful. 3. Unreliable narrators pursue selfish gains while True narratives are generous 4. Unreliable narrators do not care about the well-being of others.