Outlander Book Club: Book 1, Chapter 34 breakdown

Foreshadowing within the Outlander chapter

There are some moments that stand out for me in this chapter. They mostly revolve around Geillis.

Dougal makes a point that Wentworth isn’t like the thieves’ hole in the village. While he tells Claire that Geillis died at the stake, this comment suggests that wasn’t the case. Did Dougal manage to get Geillis out of the thieves’ hole? Why would he have made this comparison otherwise?

Of course, we know now that Dougal definitely did get Geillis out. He smuggled her to safety, which is how she ends up in Jamaica with Claire at a later point in the story.

There is also foreshadowing of Claire’s pregnancy during this chapter. She feels faint and sick. At first, it does look like it is just shock at learning the truth. However, we know that this is just the earlier signs of pregnancy.

Claire doesn’t realize this at first, despite being a nurse. For one, she thinks she’s barren, so why would she be looking out for signs? Second, she is so focused on Jamie that she doesn’t have the space to think of anything else. I think this is also the reason why Claire doesn’t even consider that Dougal has hinted that he’s broken Geillis out of the thieves’ hole.

Later chapters continue the foreshadowing of the pregnancy reveal. She’ll only realize once she’s allowing her time to avoid the stress of saving Jamie.