The Great War

Two nights are given a name long after they have ended.

Michael's friends know that she wanted him, stayed with him, and desired him again after being afraid. She remembers the same facts, and uses them to doubt herself.

Told through philosophical dialogues inspired by Plato, The Great War examines what happens when neither the accused resembles a monster nor the woman a perfect victim, and when uncertainty preserves his humanity while consuming her right to believe herself.

The arguments in Michael's defence are disturbing because they contain enough truth to sound like justice.

Content Note

This work contains sustained discussion of sexual coercion, rape, consent, alcohol-related aggression, emotional manipulation, self-blame, victim-blaming, trauma, memory, and delayed recognition of abuse. The events are examined primarily through philosophical dialogue rather than graphic description; however, some passages refer directly to sexual violence involving a sleeping person. Please read with care.

A Note to the Reader

The Great War does not offer a trial, a verdict, or a model victim. It follows the conflict that begins after an event has ended: the struggle to name it, remember it, explain it, survive its contradictions, and decide which person must bear the moral weight of uncertainty. Some chapters may be emotionally difficult precisely because they allow harmful arguments to sound intelligent before revealing what those arguments require from the person who was harmed.

No reader is asked to mistake ambiguity for innocence, or complexity for exoneration. The work asks instead why complexity is so often used to preserve the humanity of the accused while destroying the credibility of the person who speaks.