Self-deceiving narrator reveals what he hides
A first-person narrator who embellishes, digresses and declares himself 'not much of a talker' while talking nonstop lets the reader see what he cannot admit. The gap between his cheerful self-account and the facts he lets slip becomes the story's real subject: his exploitation by friends and his refusal to see it. The reader's sympathy comes from watching him protect his dignity through storytelling, not from believing his version.