The Outlandish Companion - Diana Gabaldon [231]
Her husband, in even greater contrast, is a six-feet-four-inch Scottish Highlander. Men of this size were certainly known to exist during the eighteenth century, but they were remarkable—George Washington was roughly six-feet-three, and judged an “impressive man.”
The point here is that Mr. Willoughby is seen entirely through Claire’s eyes and, most often, in close company with her very tall husband. Descriptions of him are given either by her, or by her husband, Jamie. Even if Mr. Willoughby were the same mean height as the average European male of the time, he would likely still seem “short” to either Claire or Jamie, and be described as such.
Now, in terms of novelistic intent, there is a real (if subtle) reason for depicting Yi Tien Cho as “small”—I wished to emphasize his relatively helpless situation in this strange culture, because this is key to the character and motivations of Mr. Willoughby. I.e., while he consciously acknowledges Jamie’s friendship and patronage, subconsciously, he greatly resents the dependence imposed upon him by the relationship. It’s this resentment—at being deprived of his rightful social position, at being despised by people he considers the lowest of barbarians, at being deprived of even his real name19—that causes him inadvertently to betray Jamie (an act he redeems later, by his rescue of Claire—while acknowledging his anger and claiming his independence at the same time).
Mr. Willoughby is an “outsider,” and an obvious one, by reason of his strange culture and customs (hence the mention of foot-binding, which underlines the “otherness” of his culture, in the eyes of the Scots and English he associates with). But there are “outsiders” of various kinds all through the book—Jamie, as a Jacobite prisoner, Lord John, as a gay man, Claire, as a time-traveler—the theme of the book is identity, with explorations of how people define themselves: in terms of profession, relationship, place in society, the perceptions of those around them—and most of all, by the ability to name themselves. Mr. Willoughby is merely one more exemplar of the theme.
While I understand that many short people (particularly men) are sensitive about their height, objecting to the portrayal of a single “small” Chinese man as a negative cultural stereotype seems…
Well, some people read to expand their experience; others read to confirm their prejudices. I’m writing for the former, I hope.
1In fact, I never did post work in an attempt to attract agents or editors. Given the way publishing works, random electronic exposure is not really a very effective way to go about it, and was still less so when I began writing novels, ten years ago.
2I was at one point in my checkered career an ethologist—one who specializes not in ethics, but in the study of animal behavior (not that animals are unethical; it’s just a concept that doesn’t apply).
3Many people no longer make any distinction between obscenity, vulgarity, and profanity. I spent eight years in a Catholic parochial school, and I do.
4Mr. Toole’s messages are reprinted here with his permission.
5In fact, all four of the novels include the F-word. Apparently it didn’t/doesn’t trouble people to hear Claire use it, while hearing it from Roger did bother them. I couldn’t say whether this is because they’re accustomed to Claire’s fairly casual use of bad language (while Roger is a clean-spoken preacher’s boy), or simply because the scene in which Roger uses the word is one of considerable emotional intensity, causing the word to stand out more sharply. Interesting, though.
6I have now and then had a reader tell me that the F-word was certainly known in the eighteenth century, having been recorded since the fifteenth century, and therefore, it’s not likely that Jamie would be unfamiliar with it, in the scene (Outlander [page 432]) in which he asks Claire its meaning. It’s quite true that the word was in existence in 1743. However, I offer two possibilities