An insider story has a protagonist who is already part of the world in which the narrative takes place. The protagonist’s connection to that world sets up key assumptions that help determine his or her arc and the nature of the main conflict. Protagonists in insider stories must often come to terms with the strictures and demands of a new world that isn’t a natural extension of their own.
Michael Mann’s 1999 drama The Insider stars Russell Crowe as Jeffrey Wigand, a former tobacco industry scientist who believes that his former employer concealed important research on the addictive power of nicotine in cigarettes. When 60 Minutes producer Lowell Bergman approaches Wigand with a request for his technical expertise, it becomes clear that Wigand is in possession of information that could devastate the tobacco industry. However, if Bergman wants to air Wigand’s story, he will need to persuade the scientist to break his ironclad confidentiality agreement with Brown & Williamson.
The first book in the Earthsea trilogy, A Wizard of Earthsa, is an example of a changing insider/outsider narrative. Ged, a headstrong boy with powerful natural gifts for magic, is sent to a school on the island of Roke to learn how to control his powers. But his pride and jealousy of the other students drive him to disobey his elders, leading to an ill-advised summoning that releases a monster that hunts him for the rest of the book. In the sequel, The Tombs of Atuan, Ged is able to use his powers wisely by accepting the necessity of caution and humility.