How Reliable Is The Narrator In The Giver

Christoper is not a reliable narrator because whenever he does not have control over his emotions, he completely shuts down his body and mind. For instance, when Christopher is describing how he feels when he is in a new place, he mentions how he covers his eyes and ears, blocking out all outside surroundings. “Sometimes when I am in a new place and there are lots of people there it is like a computer crashing and I have to close my eyes and put my hands over my ears and groan…” (143). Clearly, whenever Christopher is in a new place or somewhere he feels uncomfortable and he covers his eyes and ears, he is missing all the things that are happening around him. Similarly, when Christopher is in the train station, there are too many noises and people for him, so he sits on …show more content…
“And I didn’t open my eyes and I didn’t look at my watch… I had been sitting on the bench for approximately 5 hours”(180). This shows how whenever Christopher detaches his mind for his body, he completely ignores everything that is happening around him and can stay like that for hours. Likewise, when Christopher is talking about detaching his mind at will, he mentions how sometimes it's a bad thing because he does not notice if anyone is trying to talk to him or trying to get his attention. “I don’t notice anything else and Father can be calling me to come eat my supper and I won’t hear him”(73). When Christopher says this, it becomes apparent that he misses a lot sometimes. Detaching his mind at will, leads Christopher to be an unreliable narrator.
Christopher is an unreliable narrator because he gets very sidetracked at points while trying to explain something. For instance when Christopher is running away from his Father, he hides behind the shed and starts to describe a metal pan, but then he starts talking about how far London is from where he is now. “There was the circular lid of a very old metal pan leaning against the wall. And it was covered in rust. And it looked like the