Roger leads a ‘lively’ funeral in Outlander Book 6, Chapter 39
The chapter starts off with Roger getting a request early in the morning for a funeral. That funeral doesn’t quite go as planned in Outlander Book 6, Chapter 39.
This is one of those chapters that gives us a look at life on the Ridge. We get a chance to meet some of the new tenants, experiencing life in the 18th century.
We also get a chance to see Roger continue to find his calling. It’s all by accident, really. It’s like others have seen his calling before him, and that’s something I love about this part of the story. We have this chance to see Roger fall into something that has always been right in front of him.
The chapter certainly foreshadows things for Roger. I also think there’s a bit of foreshadowing for Claire, and I’ll get to that in the foreshadowing section of the post.
This hasn’t been used in the TV series yet. I’m not sure the entire chapter will be used. We’ll get to see Roger’s journey, but possibly not everything that happens in this chapter. I’ll get to why I think that in the adaptation section.
Let’s dive into A Breath of Snow and Ashes Chapter 39.
Just the Outlander chapter
The chapter starts with Roger being woken up. Hiram Crombie is on the other side, looking for Roger’s help. It turns out his mother-in-law has died suddenly, and Hiram needs Roger to say words at the funeral. Jamie’s previous actions in getting Roger to say words at a funeral has helped people see that Roger is the one to turn to for this.
Roger agrees, and then it’s time to figure out what happened to Hiram’s mother-in-law and why the rush for the funeral. It turns out his mother-in-law wasn’t that much older than Claire. However, Claire looks 20 years younger than people her own age in this time period. It’s all thanks to the nutrients of the 20th century.
There doesn’t seem to be anything suspicious about the death or the rush to have her buried. It’s almost time for the snow to fall, so of course, people want to get her in the ground before that happens.
Claire takes some time to think about the new tenants. Very few of them turn to her for help. They look down on her as a “sassenach” and a Catholic. They just don’t trust her, and it says a lot about the time period. However, they do listen to Roger’s words at the funeral and even follow his lead when he realizes that he’s struggling to translate some of the words into Gaelic.
However, everyone is in for a shock. Hiram’s mother-in-law wakes up from the coffin. She isn’t happy that there’s no wake and that Hiram has spent so little on the funeral. She also isn’t happy that she’s not being buried with the jewelry that she wishes to be buried with.
Has it all been a mistake? Claire notes that there’s a pulse in the woman’s abdomen that shouldn’t be there. It’s clear this woman isn’t going to stay alive for much longer. In fact, by the end of the chapter, she’s died although saying that she forgives Hiram for his actions. It’s time for the funeral again.
Foreshadowing in the Outlander chapter
The chapter foreshadows a couple of things. The first is Roger’s journey into how he can serve the people of the Ridge. He is slowly finding his calling—or people are finding it for him. He’s going to end up being the Ridge’s minister. That is clear from all this. The people trust him and follow him to do that.
Then there’s the foreshadowing of Claire. Nobody trusts her. We know that she lands herself in some trouble a few times. The first is going to be when it comes to Malva’s storyline, but then there is another time when she’s accused of witchcraft. It’s clear that some of the people at the Ridge are never really going to accept her for who she is, and really, they’re just respecting Jamie as their laird.
Adapting A Breath of Snow and Ashes chapter
I’m not sure how much of this chapter will be used in the TV series. I just don’t think there will be enough time for all of it. While it’s great to see life at the Ridge, each scene has to have a purpose for the TV’s storyline or for some sort of character development. This scene isn’t all that necessary for either.
It’s all doing to depend on whether Hiram Crombie is going to be introduced or not. If he is, this would be a good scene to include but to make it quick. If not, then there’s really no need for it. We can see Roger’s development into becoming a minister done in other ways.
What did you spot while reading A Breath of Snow and Ashes Chapter 39? Let us know in the comments below.
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