Outlander: Why the focus on the slaves in Do No Harm was so important

The naivety of some is a danger to others

Both Claire and Jamie had this view. Jamie thinks he can just free the slaves, only to find out that they all need to do acts of honor and Jamie needs to pay a fortune to release all from their bonds. Then he’d need the support of others around him and there were far too many who went with the status quo.

Living in the 21st century and seeing all this in the history books, it’s hard to understand just why Claire and Jamie couldn’t save Rufus. I’ll admit while watching 12 Years a Slave, I couldn’t understand why Benedict Cumberbatch’s character couldn’t send Solomon Northup back to his family — why it took so long to get word to his family and it was a risk for Brad Pitt’s character to get that word out.

Outlander helped to explain that. The writers were able to take a step back and look at what life would have been like. Instead of just a view of Claire attempting to heal and save, we got more from the other black characters, especially Ulysses in a higher position to share his views and discuss the matter with Claire.

We get to hear what Claire’s naivety means for all the other slaves on the plantation. While I’ve detested Claire’s naivety and wish to force her views on others, in this instance it all worked out for the bigger story. We got this look at the danger she imposed on others even though she didn’t mean to; the harm she did without ever wanting to.