Outlander Book Club: Book 1, Chapter 41 breakdown

Just the Outlander chapter

This chapter starts with Claire seeing Jamie examining his hand. She also shares what she sees, realizing that she’s not done a perfect job in resetting the bones. There will be some joints permanently fused together.

As she thinks about the flaws, I can’t help but think of how we all can look at our own work. We all look at the things we didn’t get right. I’m forever thinking about how I could have touched on something else in my chapter breakdowns or how I missed a particular moment when looking back at episode breakdowns.

However, it’s important to focus on the good. That’s something Jamie does.

He cries looking at his hand but they’re not tears of sadness. They’re tears of joy. At one point, Jamie was sure that he would lose his hand, and he explains that was why he didn’t think he could be Claire’s husband. He would view himself as less-than because of his disability.

We get this reminder of the time. In Claire’s time, she would never have considered amputation unless it really was the last resort. Most of the time, antibiotics would have done the job. It doesn’t surprise me when she says she didn’t think about amputation considering she would have likely seen some of this during her time as a battlefield nurse.

However, she was just focused on saving Jamie’s hand. Looking back, she wants to save him from not being able to use his hand; not having the movement in his fingers back. She never did even utter the word amputation.

Claire shares a little of the medicine that can be used to save hands and legs. Meanwhile, Jamie is just happy that he has his hand, even if there are a few flaws to it. The scars don’t matter to him. The lack of movement in some fingers doesn’t bother him. He has his hand to use.

Jamie and Claire then move onto a discussion of what they’re going to do next. Jamie has a letter of recommendation from his uncle for King James in Italy. They could head to Rome, which Claire seems to seriously consider at another part in the chapter.

There is a war coming. They need to decide which side of this war they’re on, with Claire knowing everything she does.

Before they can make a decision, a package is delivered. It’s from Marcus MacRannoch and includes a pearl bracelet for Jamie and a wolf pelt for Claire. It turns out Marcus couldn’t send Claire the bracelet due to social standards, so sent it to Jamie for him to give to her. It’s to match the necklace.

Meanwhile, the wolf pelt gives Claire a chance to tell Jamie everything she faced. Everyone has been so focused on Jamie, he never knew anything about the wolves.

This moment in the chapter is important for me. It shows that Claire and Jamie certainly made an impression, and not just because of Ellen. Claire is going to be someone Marcus remembers for the rest of his days, and I think it’s a hint that they will always have a friend in that neck of the woods should they need it.

Finally, Claire and Jamie get a chance to spend some more alone time together. They head down to the bottom of the abbey where the mineral spring is. This spring is hot, allowing Claire to have a warm bath, while the two reconnect intimately.

Jamie mentions that Claire’s moans and noises were the things that helped him during the nights chained up with other prisoners. She has always been the one to keep him sane.

After all this, Claire has something to share with Jamie. She’s pregnant.