Outlander Book Club: An Echo in the Bone Chapter 55 breakdown

Just the Outlander chapter

The chapter starts with William regretting breakfast with General Fraser. It’s not the breakfast itself but what comes after. He goes to see Burgoyne and his dinner threatens to come back up.

There is a fight threatening to break out. The Indians who were there to help take over the fort haven’t been paid yet. They want their money. However, it turns out that there has been some sort of misunderstanding.

William notices that the scalp one of the Indians is holding belonged to a woman. A man, David Jones, then comes out in tears. The scalp belonged to his fiancee, Jane. He’s distraught, and it’s clear that this is leading to some ill will to the Indians. And the Indians really just care about being paid. They’re confused why people are mad at them for doing what they were paid to do.

William already doesn’t really trust Burgoyne. He already thinks that as a playwright, Burgoyne doesn’t really know much about war. The man finds the Indians fascinating and thinks he can control them, but it is clear from this whole interaction that he can’t. The whole point of the chapter is for William to realize that Burgoyne is definitely wrong.