Outlander Book Club: Book 2, Chapter 3 breakdown

Foreshadowing within the Outlander chapter

I’ll admit that there’s not much in the way of foreshadowing that I noticed. The part with Claire going to the manse sets up the story for the future, making it clear that Claire is there for many different reasons. She has questions that only Fiona can provide answers to. It’s clear that will come up later.

However, what I do get is the sense that Claire knows her daughter is confident. Even at 20, Brianna is fine to hang around in a new country alone. Claire comfortably leaves Bree to head to the Kiltmakers, although says that she’ll meet her there.

I know some of this will be the time. But I know plenty of people at 20 who wouldn’t even consider being in a foreign country alone. We get a sense of Bree’s confidence, so it’s not surprising that she later decides to head to the past alone to tell Claire and Jamie about the fire.

The other element of foreshadowing is how Claire thinks about Jamie. She knows that she needs to tell Brianna the truth. It’s not that she’s a coward, but it’s clear that she doesn’t want to break the bubble that Brianna has been living in. The truth will hurt Brianna considerably, especially considering how close she is to Frank. We’re getting ready for the fallout at this point in the story.