What should you be aware of when you encounter a first person narrator?

This is an excellent question because it draws attentions
to both the limitations and strengths of adopting a first person point of view in
narration. Certainly we need to be aware of the great strengths of this approach - it
creates a real sense of openness and connection with the reader as we literally see
everything through one character's eyes. This can explain the popularity of novels such
as To Kill a Mockingbird, as we feel a real connection with Scout
and sympathy for her as we share her growth from innocence to maturity step by step as
she experiences it herself.

However, we must always be
aware that this strength is also its greatest weakness. For a first person point of view
will always be partial. Because we see everything from the perspective of one person we
always have the danger of being told the story by an unreliable narrator - a narrator
that either intentionally or not deceives us because of their perception of the world
and the action that is happening. Note that this can be used absolutely masterfully by
authors such as Edgar Allen Poe and Henry James, whose use of the unreliable narrator is
key to so many of their great stories, when we can tell that what actually is happening
is not what is happening in reality. Try novels such as The Turn of the
Screw or What Masie Knew or short stories such as "The
Tell-Tale Heart" and "The Cask of Amontillado" for excellent examples of the unreliable
narrator at its best.

So, whilst the use of this point of
view undoubtedly has tremendous strengths, we always need to remember the partial nature
of this narration and the potential of the author using an unreliable
narrator.