The Outlandish Companion - Diana Gabaldon [226]
On a tangential issue:
Why did Jamie offer himself to Lord John [Voyager, chapter 59, “In Which Much Is Revealed”]? A few readers (male and female) said the very thought made them ill; many others (male and female) said they found the scene [pp. 929–930, U.S. paperback] intensely arousing and emotionally moving. As I said above, novelists really can’t be trying to figure out how readers will respond to anything, because there’s simply no telling.
In answer to the question, though: Jamie feels a deep—and deeply disturbing—sense of obligation to Lord John. Lord John, after all, has saved him from a dangerous fate (being transported was often a death sentence, even for those without acute seasickness) and from permanent separation from his loved ones, given him as much freedom as possible, freely offered his friendship—and made no attempt at all to demand any sort of return.
Now Lord John has revealed that he knows Jamie’s secret—that is, Willie’s true paternity—and will not only protect the secret, but the boy as well. Knowing that Jamie must leave Willie, Lord John is willing to alter his entire life—even going so far as to marry Isobel Dunsany—in order to safeguard Jamie’s son and ensure that Jamie will still have some connection with the boy.
Jamie, in his present position, can offer Lord John nothing at all as a gesture of gratitude or acknowledgment—except himself. His offering this particular gift is both an effort to acknowledge the great debt he feels he owes, and to show his final acceptance of Lord John, as a friend and as a man.
That is, he is aware that his earlier rejection (and the method he chose to implement it) has hurt John deeply. Though it is impossible for him to overcome his repugnance at the thought, he can force himself to the action (Jamie’s made himself do quite a lot of things that he didn’t want to do, after all), and thus show Lord John that he does not hold Lord John’s nature against him—Jamie accepts him as he is.
Still, Lord John is quite aware of Jamie’s true feelings, and thus gently refuses the offer—while accepting the gift of Jamie’s friendship.
ABORTION
I must say, I had expected to receive quite a bit of comment on the abortion scene in Drums [chapter 49, “Choices”], if only because this is a subject on which a great many people hold extremely strong opinions. I’ve encountered surprisingly few comments about it, though (mind you, I’m not looking for any more).
One lawyer generously sent me a four-page treatise on the legal meaning of “murder,” presumably in reference to Claire’s remark about justifiable homicide committed in self-defense [page 831, U.S. paperback]. This is irrelevant (also immaterial) to the book, given that Claire isn’t a lawyer, there were no such interpretations in the eighteenth century, and law doesn’t apply to personal opinions anyway—but I certainly appreciate the effort this person took to share her knowledge with me.
Beyond that, I’ve seen only two or three comments (not made directly to me, but seen on electronic services) regarding this scene. One person said that the scene made her uncomfortable (I should certainly hope so), and she wished that Claire had not made the offer to abort the child. Two others said they approved heartily of Claire’s actions; they sympathized with Jamie’s anguish, but the decision was Brianna’s and no one else’s. That’s what I think, too.
WIFE-BEATING
This is, by a wide margin, the single biggest topic of controversy about the books. I refer, of course, to the notorious scene in which Jamie, completely fed up with Claire’s (he thinks) irresponsible behavior, Takes Steps [Outlander, chapter 22, “Reckonings”].
Frankly, this is one of my favorite scenes in that particular book. It illustrates perfectly the cultural and personal clashes going on between these two characters—clashes in which each one is absolutely convinced that he or she has the right of it—and they both do!
By Claire