Outlander Book Club: Book 1, Chapter 5 breakdown
Foreshadowing in the Outlander chapter
The real foreshadowing is in the date. Being in 1743, we get a sense of how much time Claire has time-traveled, but it’s a date that should stand out for other reasons. When in her own time, Claire had heard of Frank and Reverend Wakefield talking about the Jacobite rebellion.
It’s clear from this moment that the Jacobite rebellion is going to be a big thing. We just have to wait to find out who is on the side of Bonnie Prince Charlie and who has no interests in putting the Scottish king on the British throne.
The touch on Colum’s disability is also important for the future books. Eventually, Claire will figure out what he likely suffers from and what that means for his life expectancy. Already, we have someone who will be a strong character but won’t make it through many more years.
One thing that I wondered the first time reading this part was whether Claire would use it to her advantage to gain support from Colum. Would she use her medical skills to offer him some comfort to get him talking in the way she’d managed to encourage Jamie to talk?
Other than those points, I didn’t notice too much in the way of foreshadowing or setting up future storylines. This chapter was relatively self-contained but important all the same.