Outlander Book Club: Book 1, Chapter 36 breakdown

Foreshadowing the Outlander story

There isn’t too much in the way of foreshadowing in this chapter. However, there’s a little that we should pay attention to.

The first is the mention of Black Jack Randall and the cows. Marcus says that he saw Black Jack Randall trampled on by the cows and there’s no way anyone could survive that. We’re told this to think that Randall is gone. Well, Jamie is told this to make him feel safe.

We know that Randall isn’t dead. I do think this story is foreshadowing for a sense of safety the Frasers have, only for that to be taken away.

The other small bit is that Jamie will need to open up to someone. Claire doesn’t want it to be her, and I think we get a sense that it’s not going to be her in the end. Even Jamie says that he wouldn’t want to tell her everything.

Yet, in the end, it has to be Claire. There’s only Claire who can pull him out of his dark thoughts. It foreshadows the strengthening of their relationship.

There’s also talk of the soldiers at Wentworth Prison coming looking for Jamie. We know that everyone will need to get out of Marcus’s place as soon as possible. They’ll need to find somewhere safer that the soldiers won’t be able to follow them.

Not much foreshadowing. We’re at the end of the chapter, so a lot of it now is going to be in the moment. It’s about closing out this book’s storyline and setting a few things up for the second book.