Outlander Book Club: Drums of Autumn Chapter 54 breakdown
Just the Outlander chapter
Roger realizes that he has been passed onto a new tribe, but he doesn’t immediately get to know which tribe he is now with. Before he can find out, he’s forced to strip naked and run the gauntlet. Roger puts in an effort but falls toward the end.
In Roger’s defense, he’s doing this with an infected foot. He even thinks about how he’s running a fever now and then. This could be a big problem.
After the gauntlet, the Mohawks give him tasks to do in the village, and this is when he starts to pick up some of the language. He finds a girl he can talk with to test out the language, and he finds out that he’s with the Mohawks. He also finds out that he’s called “dogface.”
While he’s there for some time, a Jesuit priest turns up with another priest. This is when things start to change. Eventually, Roger is taken to a hut where there’s a fire. He’s with Father Alexandre, the French priest that was brought earlier in the chapter.
Father Alexandre doesn’t share too much, but he knows that he is “other” despite being with the Mohawks for some time—you’re either Mohawk or “other.” There is no in-between. One thing Alexandre asks is for Roger to pray for him if he’s taken away. Right now, the tribe is debating what to do with him.
Alexandre is burned by a brand and eventually taken away. Roger tries to pray for him, but he realizes something. If Roger is taken away, who will pray for him? I do wish the book would have focused on this feeling for a little longer than it did. What sort of fear and despair did it cause in this moment?
When the priest returns, Roger offers him comfort. This is a big point for Roger’s character. He now understands why Claire was a field nurse and why she followed her calling. Comforting someone during a time of danger or in the face of death is a comfort to the person doing the comforting.
While he does comfort Alexandre, he thinks about how the tribe is full of savages. This is something nobody would do to a dog.