I. What is an “unreliable narrator”?
III. The Persian’s View of Erik
I. What is an “unreliable narrator”?
Before can answer the question as to whether the Persian is or is not reliable, I need to have a working definition of a reliable narrator.
An unreliable narrator is a narrator, whether in literature, film, or theatre, whose credibility has been seriously compromised…. This narrative mode is one that can be developed by an author for a number of reasons, usually to deceive the reader or audience. Most often unreliable narrators are first-person narrators…
The nature of the narrator is sometimes immediately clear…the story itself may have a frame in which the narrator appears as a character, with clues to the character’s unreliability. A more dramatic use of the device delays the revelation until near the story’s end. This twist ending forces readers to reconsider their point of view and experience of the story. In some cases the narrator’s unreliability is never fully revealed but only hinted at, leaving readers to wonder how much the narrator should be trusted and how the story should be interpreted. [Source: Wikipedia article on Unreliable Narrators]
In my opinion, the Persian fits the definition above. When the main story narrator turns the story over to the Persian, we are then treated to a huge swatch of first person narration, which is also a frame in which the narrator is a character, as described in the passage above.
He leaves clues to his unreliability sprinkled throughout his narrative, and therefore his narrative needs to be taken with a grain of salt, as the saying goes.
- His timeline doesn’t match up with the timeline as laid out by both the main narrator’s descriptions, or Christine’s story she tells to Raoul.
- He refers only to Erik in negative terms, so we must conclude that he doesn’t believe that Erik can be seen in a positive light. He calls Erik a monster and a fiend; therefore, his descriptions of how everyone else feels don’t necessarily tell the truth.
When the narrator turns the story over to the Persian, he ends up going backwards a bit. The Persian explains this by saying he wants to give some background information. However, a careful reading of his events don’t match up with the established timeline set up in the rest of the story.
Chapter XXII [67. The correct chapter number – TdM combines the two chapters about Box 5 into one, therefore his numbering is off.] starts the Persian’s narrative. The first incident he recounts is getting into the rowboat to try to cross the lake to get to Erik’s house. The siren draws him to the water and Erik pulls him under. Then, when Erik learns it is Persian, when the Persian calls out, Erik saves his life and returns him to the far shore.
The Persian asks him the trick of the siren, and Erik tells him about breathing through the reed. The Persian then asks Erik about the chandelier, and Erik says:
The chandelier was very old and worn. [Note: Unless otherwise noted, quotes in this post are from TdM]
Since the night the chandelier fell was the first time that Erik kidnapped Christine, this incident would appear to have happened sometime after that.
The Persian then goes on to say:
From that day, I gave up all thought of penetrating into his house by way of the lake. That entrance was obviously too well-guarded, especially since he had learnt that I knew about it….
A few paragraphs later he then says:
A few days later, what was not my amazement to learn by my own eyes and ears that Erik and Christine Daaé saw each other and to catch the monster stooping over the little well, in the Communists’ road, and sprinkling the forehead of Christine Daaé, who had fainted.
We know this occurs that same night that the chandelier fell and Erik kidnapped her through the mirror. Not awhile after the chandelier fell if the Persian is to be believed. Just to confirm that the Persian is saying this happens *after* the incident with the rowboat and the siren, he says:
When I came to myself again, Erik, Christine and the white horse had disappeared. I felt sure that the poor girl was a prisoner in the house on the lake. Without hesitation, I resolved to return to the shore, notwithstanding the certain danger.
“…to return to the shore…” indicates this incident was supposed to have happened after the previous one.
He then relates:
…notwithstanding the certain danger. For twenty-four hours I lay watching for the monster to appear; for I felt that he must go out, driven by the need of obtaining provisions.
Erik then rows up to him and says he has been annoying. They talk and a few paragraphs later:
“Look here,” I said. “I shall believe you if I see Christine Daae come out of the house on the lake and go back to it of her own accord.”
“And you won’t meddle any more in my affairs?”
“No.”
“Very well, you shall see that tonight….Come to the masked ball. Christine and I will go and have a look round…
Huh? He wakes up and sees that Erik and Christine have gone on with Ceasar…he then goes to the shore of the lake…waits 24 hours…Erik comes and tell him to come to the masked ball “tonight”. That must have been a long 24 hours – like 2 weeks long since that was how long Christine was with Erik before the masked ball. The two weeks is confirmed many places, so that is not in doubt.
While it’s not clear why the Persian is mixing up these incidents, it is certainly clear that he is mixed up about things. Personally, I believe that he has such a negative opinion of Erik that it has consumed him, and he is getting things mixed up in his mind.
III. The Persian’s View of Erik
When it comes to how the Persian views Erik, he tells Raoul that he doesn’t hate him. That he only feels horror. But, it’s hard to see how he doesn’t hate Erik.
The Persian talks of how he saved Erik’s life and how he has forgiven Erik for the harm Erik had done to him. Yet, he feels horror for Erik. He has a feeling of dread when it comes to Erik, and he tries to be the voice of conscience to Erik to temper his murderous tendencies.
Of course, Erik doesn’t care what the Persian thinks. He has his own reasons for doing things. So, there is reason for the Persian to fear what Erik is capable of, especially considering what Erik has done in the past. But, is there reason to believe that Erik has no redeeming qualities?
I don’t believe so. I believe that Christine does love Erik. Given that I don’t believe Christine is a complete idiot – she is aware of Erik’s dark side and his tendency to murder – there must me some redeeming qualities to him.
So, why won’t the Persian admit this? He is so overwhelmed with his own view of Erik, that he can’t see anything else. This affects his sense of time, as detailed above. It also affects his ability to believe that Christine does love Erik. He says:
Christine must have stood dumb with horror…[Note: He and Raoul are in the torture chamber and he is relating what he “thinks” is going on in the next room.]
– not acknowledging that there may be other feelings that Christine is having.
Christine does fear Erik, without a doubt. But, that doesn’t mean that she doesn’t also have positive feelings for him.
Since the Persian is the only narrator that we have for the end of the story, we have to take his word for what happens. Since the experience was clearly traumatic, the details would have been very clear. I believe that we can trust the events themselves happened pretty closely to how the Persian describes them. However, he is in and out of consciousness after he is rescued from the torture chamber, so this period of time is the least reliable.
The narrator reveals to us that the Persian did have a personal stake in whether or not it was found out that Erik was still alive. Of course, given what he knows about Erik, he has reason to believe that Erik poses a threat to more than just him. Yet, one can’t deny that he closely follows Erik due to his own interests.
He is looking for an excuse to get rid of Erik. He says it’s for the good of Christine and Raoul, but it’s quite possible that subconsciously, he’s more interested in killing Erik for himself.
He admits he is willing to kill Erik:
I was prepared to go to all lengths: to kill the monster, if necessary, and explain it to the police afterwards.
In the end, I have to conclude that the Persian is generally accurate in describing the events as they unfolded the evening Christine was kidnapped and he and Raoul went after Erik. Yet, his interpretations of Christine’s state of mind, and her reasons for turning the scorpion are simply his opinion, and don’t necessarily reflect the whole of what Christine was thinking.
As the description of an unreliable narrator says:
A more dramatic use of the device delays the revelation until near the story’s end. This twist ending forces readers to reconsider their point of view and experience of the story. In some cases the narrator’s unreliability is never fully revealed but only hinted at, leaving readers to wonder how much the narrator should be trusted and how the story should be interpreted.
It is quite clear that the Persian’s opinions of Erik cloud his judgement and may even have caused him to exaggerate his retelling of Erik’s actions. He takes every opportunity to point out every negative thing he can find to convince the rest of us that Erik is evil through and through, and that there is was no way that Christine could care for him at all. We are meant to believe that Erik is nothing but an ugly man, bent on kidnapping and possessing, immune to the real feelings of Christine. In turn we are also meant to believe that Christine is innocent through and through, and has no desire other than to get away from Erik and be with Raoul.
The last chapter, which the main narrator opens by saying the Persian’s written narrative has been relayed in full is titled:
The end of the love affairs of the phantom [Note: This is my translation. TdM calls it: The End of the Ghost; however, the original French includes the word “amours”. This is close enough to English to realize “The End of the Ghost” leaves something out.]
This certainly seems to indicate that the main narrator believes there was in fact an exchange of love between Christine and Erik. We are then told of how Erik came to see the Persian after Christine and Raoul left together. He tells how Christine agreed to be his “living wife” indicating she wouldn’t kill herself. She also allows him to kiss her forehead, even holding it out to him. Finally, she kisses his forehead. Raoul had already been saved by the point where she kissed Erik. So, if she didn’t do it to save Raoul, why did she do it? Certainly not because she feared him and only felt horror for him. She must have had tender feelings for him, feelings which I firmly believe were love.
Hence the twist in the ending, giving the full reason for Christine’s turning the scorpion – not just because she wanted to save the opera house and free Raoul and the Persian.
In the end, we can see the Persian is not a reliable narrator. We can believe parts of his story, but his opinions and bias don’t tell us what is really going on.
