Two sides of the same conflict

[Garren Jacobsen]

Recently I watched a basketball game between two huge rivals. The rivalry as a whole is called the Holy Way (there's an interesting history behind this). Well, during the game it looked like one player from the home team was punched by a player from the opposing team. The puncher got ejected for a Flagrant 2 foul. The aftermath was interesting we have one side calling the play dirty and the other side accusing the person who got punched of "flopping" (faking being fouled). It made me realize that with an upcoming novel I want to highlight this kind of partisan outlook on events. I also have a spy in another novel in a country that is at war with his home country and I want to do a double lens view where he sees what the other side says about certain battles and how he reacts to those reports.

I just wanted to ask if any of you have done this or know of good books not name Game of Thrones that has instances where two opposing sides analyze certain events and come to markedly different conclusions about the events.

 

[Miskatonic]

Any political disputes, no matter how small should have this written all over them.

I'm working on trying to figure out some type of background information on the different nobles and their dealings with each other. There may be grudges that have gone on for generations over land disputes, contribution towards a past war effort, breaking off a proposed marriage because a more lucrative alliance came along, etc.

I'll have to rack my brain to see if I can think of any examples. Movies are usually easier for me to use as examples, lol.

 

[Penpilot]

Well, it's not epic fantasy, but the short story The Grove by Ryūnosuke Akutagawa deals with an event seen from multiple viewpoints, all seeing something different. It was the basis for the movie Rashomon by Akira Kurosawa. It's awesome. You can google the store up to read.

 

[Miskatonic]

Rashomon is a great film so I second that recommendation. One event told from I believe three different points of view.

 

[Velka]

The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Him and The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Her by Ned Benson. They've now been fused into, you guessed it, The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Them.

Go. I remember liking it when it came out in 1999, but that was a long time ago so I have no clue if 2015 me would like it now.

Hoodwinked is actually a really good one

The third act of Quentin Tarantino's Jackie Brown is basically the same scene shown multiple times from different character's perspectives.

Clint Eastwood's Flag's of Our Fathers and Letters from Iwo Jima are two movies that show the same war from two different perspectives (American and Japanese respectively). They were filmed back to back.

À la folie... pas du tout (He Loves Me... He Loves Me Not) is a great French film that shows two sides of a messed up relationship.

Casino with De Niro and Pesci switching narration to show their differing POVs.

 

[thedarknessrising]

It might just be me, but I think Star Wars is a great example. For a majority of the saga, you learn how great and noble the Jedi were, and how evil the Sith were. But in Revenge of the Sith, when Anakin begins to walk the path to the dark side, you learn that the Jedi are too powerful. The balance has heavily shifted in their favor. The Sith need to restore the balance, and believe themselves justifed in their actions.

 

[T.Allen.Smith]

Sounds like a grand undertaking.

While not fantasy, Les Miserables may be something to consider reading (or watching if you'd prefer the film).

"The best stories don't come from "good vs. bad" but "good vs. good.”
- Victor Hugo.

 

[Svrtnsse]

I would like to put a word in for The Darkness Series by Harry Turtledove.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Darkness_Series says:

The Darkness Series is a series of six fantasy novels by Harry Turtledove. Though a fantasy the general history, geography, and combatants are analogs of World War II, or the "Derlavai War" in this universe.[1] Many of the characters are also the equivalents of historical people. Magic and other fantastic beasts, like dragons, are also stand-ins for World War II technology. Important battles in the series are also based on famous World War II battles, like the Battle of Sulingen which is an analog to the Battle of Stalingrad.[2][3]

It features protagonists from all sides of the conflict and they're all the heroes of their own stories. It sounds like something fairly similar to what you're describing. For the most part the different story lines are independent of each other, and the characters don't meet, but on a few occasions they do intermingle.

 

[Miskatonic]

This topic is one of the major reasons I designed my MC to be the way he is. He owes no loyalty so he can take sides in a manner that might seem arbitrary, even if it means going against those whom he may have recently helped. In his mind he's orchestrating things in order to maintain some type of balance, or start a chain of events that hopefully results in a restoring of order, as far as the big picture goes. Of course its his definition or order.

He participates in a continent wide war and manipulates things because he wants to create an outcome that suits him best; and it never has to do with attaining the power of kings or the command of armies to use when he feels like it. Power means a loss of freedom because of the responsibilities that go with it. Sitting on a throne is one of the worst fates he can imagine.

So needless to say there is plenty of room for debate on whether his actions are justified or not.

 

[arboriad]

Two films that were really cool and also speak to your theme of multiple perspectives are 'At the Gate of the Ghost', a murder mystery with four perspectives, and Jet Li's 'Hero', an assassination attempt told three times based on interpreting the evidence.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G920A using Tapatalk

 

[MineOwnKing]

You could check out Coriolanus.

I found it annoying that Caius Marcius is such a momma's boy, but there might be some of the elements you're looking for.

Reading it would be too dry.

Check out the film with Ralph Fiennes and Gerard Butler.