Narrator and point of view

The events presented in the short story “Appointment” by Olivia Parkes are told by a first-person narrator. The narrator, a middle-aged woman, is also the main character, and the story is told entirely from her perspective. Therefore, readers have insight into the narrator’s thoughts and feelings and can understand her better. 

However, several clues suggest that the narrator is unreliable. First, she clearly has a drinking problem, and she is aware that she should “quit drinking and call Paulie…”, her son. However, she never explicitly mentions that she is an alcoholic, but always seems to skirt around the issue. Secondly, her drinking has probably been the main cause of a house fire that the narrator started and failed to put out: 

‘So what I didn’t put out the flames? I remember the acrylic bedspread in our temporary digs looked finally alive, dancing hot as merry hell. So I liked a drink. So I liked to heat what happiness I had and watch it burn.’ 

Again, however, the narrator does not seem to take responsibility for her actions and even downplays them. 

Thirdly, the narrator is unreliable because she lies to Moira and even starts imagining events based on her lies. For example, she tell...