Outlander Book Club: Drums of Autumn Chapter 49 breakdown

Foreshadowing in the Outlander chapter

There is one thing that comes up in the chapter that is worth noting as an element of foreshadowing. Claire points out that the baby could be Brianna’s rapist’s child. This is something she says to Jamie, but he doesn’t seem to pick up on the words.

At no point has Jamie realized that Brianna didn’t just get raped. She slept with Roger as well. This baby could be one of two men’s. It’s clear that all these secrets are eventually going to come out. There’s not long left for that to happen.

Other than that, there’s not that much foreshadowing. The focus is on Claire’s thoughts about what she may have to do and what could happen because of it. There’s the focus on Jamie’s thoughts about abortion. Maybe there’s the hint that it will be Claire and Jamie there for Brianna when she does eventually give birth.

Adapting the Drums of Autumn chapter

Most of the chapter wasn’t used in the series. We didn’t get to hear Jamie’s thoughts about abortion. Honestly, I don’t think we really needed to. Considering his religious views, it was always going to be clear which side of the topic he was going to be on.

Nor do I think we really needed Claire’s views. I think we all knew what she would prefer happened, but at the same time, she just wanted to be there for Brianna. In fact, I loved that Claire remained impartial outwardly on this topic. That’s what Brianna needed at the time.

The part of the chapter that was used was Brianna turning to Claire for advice. Bree does bring up the topic of abortion and Claire is simply there to offer help where she can. It’s not long before Bree decides that she’s going to keep the baby. After all, it could be Roger’s and if not, it’s always going to be hers.

Keeping it to just this was certainly a positive move. It takes out the biggest debate about abortion, which would get extremely heated within the fandom and I just don’t think it was needed for the show. There wasn’t enough time to fit everything in and we knew where Jamie and Claire would stand without them even saying anything.

What did you spot while reading Drums of Autumn Chapter 49? Let us know in the comments below.

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