Is Rachel An Unreliable Narrator In 'The Girl On The Train'?

2025-06-28 05:03:10 179

3 Answers

Daniel
Daniel
2025-07-02 18:30:41
Reading 'The Girl on the Train' feels like being trapped in Rachel’s mind—chaotic, paranoid, and utterly compelling. Her alcoholism doesn’t just cloud her judgment; it rewrites it. She’ll insist on details with shaky confidence, then backtrack when evidence contradicts her. What makes her fascinating is how her unreliability mirrors real human memory. We all reshape events to fit our narratives, but Rachel takes it to extremes.

Her relationship with truth is messy. She isn’t deliberately deceptive; she’s drowning in self-deception. The scenes where she pieces together her own blackouts are masterclasses in tension. You’re never sure if she’s uncovering facts or inventing them. This ambiguity forces readers to engage actively, scrutinizing every word like a detective.

The genius lies in how Paula Hawkins uses Rachel’s flaws to explore themes of perception and control. Other characters dismiss her as a drunk, but her instability becomes the key to unlocking the mystery. The more unreliable she seems, the more the plot twists—because truth isn’t absolute here. It shifts with sobriety, emotion, and circumstance. By the climax, you understand: Rachel’s broken lens was the only way to see this story clearly.
Paige
Paige
2025-07-03 13:33:18
Rachel's narration in 'The Girl on the Train' is like a puzzle missing half its pieces—intentionally. She drinks heavily, blacks out constantly, and her memories are foggy at best. But here’s the kicker: that unreliability is the story’s backbone. Her flawed perspective makes every revelation hit harder because we’re doubting alongside her. When she swears she saw something crucial, we second-guess it, just like she does. The beauty is how the narrative weaponizes her instability. It’s not just about whether she’s lying; it’s about how trauma and alcohol distort reality. By the end, you realize her fragmented voice was the only way this story could’ve been told.
Hope
Hope
2025-07-04 02:18:58
Rachel’s narration is a train wreck in the best way possible. She’s not just unreliable; she’s a walking red flag for credibility. Half her 'memories' are alcohol-induced hallucinations, and the other half are distorted by her obsession with her ex-husband. But that’s what makes her so gripping. You don’t trust her, yet you can’t look away.

Her unreliability isn’t a cheap trick—it’s psychological realism. Trauma survivors often rewrite history to cope, and Rachel does this constantly. When she fixates on Megan, it’s unclear whether she’s witnessing a crime or projecting her own guilt. The brilliance is how Hawkins lets us solve the mystery through Rachel’s mistakes. Each inconsistency becomes a clue, each drunken rant a piece of the puzzle. By the end, you realize Rachel’s flawed voice was the point all along.
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