Brianna and Roger were both raised by men not biologically their fathers. Both have a struggle of two fathers in their lives in Outlander.
Brianna and Roger have much more in common than they originally realize in Outlander. One of those similarities is having two fathers in their lives. While their circumstances are vastly different, their struggle of two fathers in their lives is similar and it’s worth a spotlight.
Roger’s knowledge of two fathers
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For Roger MacKenzie Wakefield, he vaguely remembers his biological father. Roger was just a baby when his father’s plane went down. However, there are stories that his father traveled through time and ended up in the London Blitz, saving Roger but dying in the process. There aren’t many memories, but he knows that there was another man he would have called “Dad.”
After his mother’s death, Roger went to live with his uncle, the Reverend Wakefield. This would be the man who would raise him, helping him gain an interest in history and a love for the Presbyterian religion.
With the knowledge of having another father, Roger would have come to respect Reverend Wakefield, in a way. This was a man who was able to raise a child that wasn’t his own biologically. He did it out of love and honor, and so, Roger loved this man as a father.
But there was always a nagging thought for his dad, a man who likely became an accidental time traveler. That’s something Roger has the chance to explore, getting to know his father in other ways throughout the Outlander story.
His life is also what probably helps him decide that he can be a father to Jemmy, regardless of parentage. Being raised by a man who wasn’t his father but loved him as a son had a powerful outcome.
Brianna’s struggle with learning the truth
For Brianna Randall Fraser, the situation was different. She was raised by a man she believed was her father. There was no need to doubt the story, after all. It’s not like Brianna was raised knowing about Claire’s disappearance. Claire and Frank left Scotland behind, focusing on the present and rewriting their story for their new friends.
It was only after Frank’s death that Brianna learned the truth. And it was hard to take. Imaging learning after 20 years that your father wasn’t actually your biological father. Frank raised Brianna out of love, but there’s still that knowledge that her mother had an affair (to put it in simple terms).
When Claire went to the past, Brianna was left in the future. She wanted her mother to be happy and find her father, but at the same time, she was left as an orphan in her own time. Is it really that surprising that when she found a newspaper clipping of Claire and Jamie’s deaths that she wanted to prevent it from happening?
It’s certainly not surprising that she struggled with heading back to the past. She was going to see her biological father, the reason Claire had fallen out of love with Frank. This was the man Claire would have stayed with had the Jacobite rebellion not taken place, had Jamie not sent Claire back through the stones.
There was a sense of guilt about Frank, feeling like she was leaving behind. While Roger had always wanted to know his father and knew that Reverend Wakefield would have supported the chance to get to know him, Brianna knew that the situation between Jamie and Frank was different. They were two men in love with the same woman, with one getting to raise the daughter that the other would have loved to.
It’s an interesting look at the two characters and how their stories overlap but have some major differences at the same time. Understanding the characters from their own perspectives is essential.
What have you noticed about the similarities and differences in Roger and Brianna’s stories? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
Outlander premieres on Feb. 16 on STARZ. Like Claire and Jamie on Facebook for more 25 Days of Crime-mas straight to your feed.