The Black Prince Theme of Truth

Truthiness. You've heard about it: it's when things feel like they're true, even if the actual facts say they aren't.

Truthiness is so prevalent in The Black Prince that it's impossible for us to know who and what we can believe. Sure, we have P. Loxias (who may be a god incarnate) telling us that Bradley Pearson is trustworthy, and sure, we have Bradley himself insisting on the veracity of everything he says—but can we really trust these voices coming to us from the beyond? Where does truth lie in the novel? Does it shine through in what is literally being said? Is it written between the lines? Is it absent altogether?

We don't have all of the answers, but hey—that's the whole point. It's part of the fun.

1. Imagine that P. Loxias is exactly who he seems to be—the god Apollo incarnate. If this is true, can we trust his word when he says that Bradley Pearson is telling the truth, or would Apollo himself be willing to overlook certain misconceptions and lies?
2. The various postscripts that appear at the end of The Black Prince all give us reason to believe that Bradley Pearson is either lying about or evading certain truths and facts throughout his narrative. Do the postscripts themselves hold up as truthful documents, or do they demonstrate errors or inconsistencies that raise your suspicions?

The difficulty of pinpointing the truth in The Black Prince isn't limited to the question of whether or not Bradley Pearson is lying or being honest throughout his narrative. Even if we knew that Bradley never uttered an intentional lie throughout his book, that wouldn't mean that he never writes anything that isn't true. As Bradley's own narrative makes clear, he isn't always stellar when it comes to seeing things or people as they are.

Despite the fact that Bradley Pearson seems like an unreliable narrator, and despite the fact that many of the novel's other characters cast doubt on the veracity of what he says, we can accept Bradley's words as truth. After all, we have a divine being telling us that Bradley can be believed.