# Unknown Narrator — The Nature of a Crime character guide > Unknown Narrator in The Nature of a Crime by Joseph Conrad. **Role:** major **Also known as:** myself, yourself, mine, my **First appearance:** 0000-preface-i ## Snapshot A haunted collaborator who reads his own prose aloud to a convulsed, silent friend, and cannot stop—even when the words become a rack. ## Who they are He is the first-person consciousness of the book, a writer who once buried a story with a Collaborator and is now morbidly driven to resurrect it in definitive form before posterity can dismember it. His distinctive tension is that he reads on and on while watching his listener suffer an agony he cannot name, mistaking admiration for consent and persistence for loyalty. He matters because the entire narrative is filtered through his voice—his guilt, his telepathy, his refusal to call their collisions quarrels—making the act of reading aloud itself the crime the title keeps circling. ## Relationships ### [Edward Burden](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_nature_of_a_crime_se/characters/edward_burden) _psychological_ The narrator's obsession with Edward Burden drives the narrative, creating a one-sided dynamic of surveillance and envy. ### [Miss Averies](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_nature_of_a_crime_se/characters/miss_averies) _romantic_ The narrator's romantic feelings for Miss Averies are unrequited, leading to jealousy and internal conflict. ### [Zola](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_nature_of_a_crime_se/characters/zola) _professional_ The narrator interacts with Zola in a professional context, likely as a literary or intellectual influence, but with a sense of detachment. ### [Annie](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_nature_of_a_crime_se/characters/annie) _social_ Annie is a minor acquaintance of the narrator, their interactions are brief and superficial, lacking deep emotional connection. ### [Death](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_nature_of_a_crime_se/characters/death) _psychological_ The narrator has a morbid fascination with death, personifying it as a presence that haunts their thoughts and writings. ### [Tristan](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_nature_of_a_crime_se/characters/tristan) _social_ Tristan is a casual acquaintance of the narrator, their interactions are infrequent and not deeply meaningful. ### [Johnson](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_nature_of_a_crime_se/characters/johnson) _professional_ Johnson appears to be a colleague or servant of the narrator, their relationship is functional and work-related. ### [Robert](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_nature_of_a_crime_se/characters/robert) _friendship_ Robert is a friend or companion of the narrator, offering occasional support or conversation, but not a central figure. ### [Edward Burden](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_nature_of_a_crime_se/characters/edward_burden) _psychological_ The narrator's obsession with Edward Burden drives the narrative, creating a one-sided dynamic of surveillance and envy. ### [Edward Burden](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_nature_of_a_crime_se/characters/edward_burden) _psychological_ Edward Burden is the object of the narrator's intense scrutiny, but he remains largely unaware or indifferent to the narrator's fixation. ### [Miss Averies](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_nature_of_a_crime_se/characters/miss_averies) _social_ Miss Averies views the narrator as a mere acquaintance, unaware of the depth of his feelings or obsession. ### [Miss Averies](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_nature_of_a_crime_se/characters/miss_averies) _romantic_ The narrator's romantic feelings for Miss Averies are unrequited, leading to jealousy and internal conflict. ## In the story ### [Preface I](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_nature_of_a_crime_se/chapters/preface-i) Reflects on the collaborative work and its origins, expressing nostalgia and hope for his collaborator's response. ### [Preface II](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_nature_of_a_crime_se/chapters/preface-ii) Reflects on the forgotten details of writing and the collaborative process. ### [The Nature of a Crime](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_nature_of_a_crime_se/chapters/the-nature-of-a-crime) The narrator is consumed by his love and guilt, confessing to embezzlement and contemplating suicide. ### [I](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_nature_of_a_crime_se/chapters/i) Confesses his embezzlement and plans suicide, revealing his obsessive love and philosophical musings. ### [II](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_nature_of_a_crime_se/chapters/ii) Reveals his embezzlement of Burden funds, his obsessive counting habits, and his complex feelings towards Edward and Miss Averies. ### [III](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_nature_of_a_crime_se/chapters/iii) Writes a letter to his beloved, confessing his exhaustion and his willingness to die for his ideal of her. ### [IV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_nature_of_a_crime_se/chapters/iv) The narrator listens to Burden's confession with cynical amusement, reflecting on debauchery and passion. ### [Chapter V](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_nature_of_a_crime_se/chapters/v) Expounds on the virtues of the poet over the conventional man, criticizes Edward Burden's approach to marriage, and reveals he has taken action to limit the supply of a substance to the beloved's husband. ### [VI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_nature_of_a_crime_se/chapters/vi) Reflects on his identity as a 'dead man' and his gambling as an escape from thoughts of his beloved. He reveals his biggest gamble and his dread of imprisonment. ### [VII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_nature_of_a_crime_se/chapters/vii) Resolved to commit suicide; reflects on his legacy and final actions. ### [VIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_nature_of_a_crime_se/chapters/viii) Experiences a reprieve from suicide, feels dead to the world, and now places his life's verdict in his beloved's hands. ## Links - HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_nature_of_a_crime_se/characters/unknown_narrator - Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_nature_of_a_crime_se - All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_nature_of_a_crime_se/characters