Outlander Book Club: Book 1, Chapter 13 breakdown

Foreshadowing within the Outlander chapter

A lot of the foreshadowing I see is around Black Jack Randall and Dougal—them both separately, of course.

We get a sense of Black Jack Randall’s personality in this chapter, both in Claire’s thoughts about him and in Dougal’s story. This is a chance to see that he’s not a fair man. He’s cruel and sadistic, and he will carry out punishments as a game rather than as they’re intended.

There’s an interesting line, though. When Dougal mentions that Black Jack Randall wouldn’t take money for Jamie, Claire notes that BJR has someone who supports him financially. Dougal knows this too. Now, Claire already suspects that it will be the Duke of Sandringham. At least, she should if she was listening to Frank and Reverend Wakefield enough. Dougal doesn’t know this, but he knows enough to know that BJR doesn’t afford things just on his commission’s wage.

We get this sense that there’s far more to BJR than we know right now. He has someone in a high place, and this is going to make it almost impossible to take him down.

Then there’s the foreshadowing around Dougal. He specifically wants Claire to marry Jamie. In a joking way, he does suggest Rupert, but it’s clear that he wants Jamie out of the way for something. After all, Jamie doesn’t have land or money, but Dougal knows that Jamie is a threat being kin—and we know from a previous conversation between Claire and Ned that Jamie is Jacob MacKenzie’s grandfather.

Dougal is looking for a way to undermine Jamie completely. Marrying a Sassenach would do that. Little does Dougal realize is that Claire manages to win the hearts of many, especially through her healing skills. Of course, there are times she’s still watched with suspicion but she can work her way into the hearts of the right people.

But I also get a sense of conflict in Dougal’s heart. There are times that he’s proud of Jamie. We see that in the story he tells Claire when he talks about how Jamie doesn’t flinch, except for when the rope hits his back. He knows that he would never be able to do that, and while there’s pride, there’s also this foreshadowing that he knows Jamie is a better man than he is. At least, that’s what I see in this chapter.

There is also some foreshadowing of trouble with Laoghaire. Claire thinks of her when she’s told that she will marry Laoghaire. It leads to a conversation with Jamie about no man wanting to agree to his daughter marrying Jamie. We’re constantly reminded that Jamie has a bounty on his head, but it doesn’t look like Laoghaire has ever worried about that. She wants Jamie.

Finally, I have to comment on Claire’s thoughts of not wanting to talk to Dougal about Jamie’s flogging. She feels bad for betraying Jamie’s trust. And yet, we know that she eventually tells Brianna about the rape at Wentworth. At least, in the show she does. I’m glad I’m rereading the books to remind myself of whether she does in the book or not.

It always struck me odd that Claire would break Jamie’s confidence by telling Brianna the truth about the rape at Wentworth Prison. I think that strike of oddness comes from this chapter when she doesn’t want to talk about Jamie’s past to someone else.