SPOILER ALERT: Dinna read unless you've read chapter 25 in Outlander.
OK so here's the thing. Claire is sitting in the shed - eating bread and wine that thankfully does NOT have any dooty on it. (Was that gross or was that gross? And she and Geilie ate it!) And I'm sitting here listening and wondering "Has she even washed her hands since then?!?" I cannot IMAGINE living in that time. I just can't. I'm sorry.
And I'm wondering a zillion things. Does Colum know Claire is being tried with Geilie? He must. And if he does, can't he put a STOP to it? He's the Laird! I know he wants Geilie to burn... but come on man! Claire is your nephew's WIFE who - last time I checked - you kindof like. As far as I know, Colum thinks Claire is swell. Unless we're going to find out differently when The Exile comes out.
OK so - more. Dougal is off with Jamie... knowing it's going to be "taken care of". (Typical men, btw. What did you THINK was going to happen, dude? You put your thingie in her hoo-hoo! That can happen! Sex Ed 101!) But if he knew Claire was with Geilie - would he care? I'm thinking "No". COMMA HOWEVER - he wouldn't want Claire to die for the simple fact that she solves his property and succession problems with Jamie. So I dunno... I'm sortof thinking Dougal would try to help if he could.
I just can't get past Colum. He knows Claire is in trouble and does nothing to stop it? WTF?
And then... there's LaogWHORE. Snotty little beotch from Planet Hell. She is the scourge of the earth... the dregs of society. Selfish little piggie. She's evil from the word "go". COME ON! She sent Claire to Geilie's KNOWING there was going to be a witch trial! She KNEW what would happen! I don't buy this "Oh Leghair wasn't really trying to have Claire killed." Oh really? Then what was she trying to do, send Claire down for a little crumbcake and marigold leaf? No way man. She knew. She's vile. SHE'S the WITCH who should be hangit!
Post Scriptum: My daughter just came over to show me something she drew - and I went to say "Hang on" and I said "Hangit" - because that's what I was typing at the time. And she goes "Hangit? Huh?"
I'm still laughing....
Even though Colum may like Claire, she is first and foremost still an unknown to him. And Colum, unlike Dougal, is very good at divorcing his emotions from his actions; Colum is very utilitarian: if it serves his purpose, he will do it, regardless of how morally questionable or unsavory it is.
ReplyDeleteI am so waiting for you to get farther in this book so we can explore the "just how does Dougal feel about Claire?" question. That to me was a HUGE thinking point within my own reread.
ReplyDeleteStop, Tracey, please. The biggest disappointment to me in the entire series was the death of Dougal. I dinna think I can even go there. It's just such an avenue that's rich with possibility... but was snuffed out. It kills me... but at least Dougal lives on in SOW (Sideways Outlander World.)
ReplyDeleteI think the biggest reason the brothers McKenzie did nothing to help Claire, no matter what or when they knew, was simple. Their canny creator needed Jamie to save her. If you What-If her being saved by someone else we would have not had the whole rescue scene.
ReplyDeleteLove this blog.
Right, L, right! But that's logic - and we sometimes forget to use it around here. ;)
ReplyDeleteCarol, I agree with you about Dougal in some respects...I would have loved to see him pop up in future books (imagine him as the crotchety old uncle in Echo, eh?). But at the same time I HATED him in that scene before Culloden for the evil things he was saying about Claire (my girl!). I also hated him for propositioning Claire in Outlander when they thought Jamie as good as or already dead. But then he redeemed himself slightly in Dragonfly (SPOILER - I just want to be careful so please let me know if I don't need to put spoiler!) by helping Claire lock up Black Jack to avoid a duel (temporarily, anyway). I'm so very torn about him!!
ReplyDeleteIt really bothered me that Colum didn't help Claire - really bothered me. I had to start thinking about it from the authors perspective too and kinda get "out" of the story a little to not get too upset. Gosh I was mad at him, I was still mad at him when he comes back into the story later. (I think that MOP is the only place that I don't feel stupid saying something like that)
ReplyDeleteLogic does block my side door at times but I CAN step through.
ReplyDeleteDon't forget Dougal (maybe at Colum's encouragement) manipulated Jamie into not going home by telling him him lies about Jenny and her baby. He had an agenda from the first page.
Ok, here's my theory: Rewind a couple weeks prior, Claire clumsily (IMO) calls out Colum for not really being Hamish's father. I mean really, what the eff was she thinking when she said that?! So, when the news reached him he just figured ‘two birds with one stone’. Gellis is “taken care of” and Claire would also be gone which equals his secret being safe.
ReplyDeleteI think that Claire had come to this conclusion too when she heard Ned (whose full name is Edward!! …Hehe) tell her that Colum hadn’t sent him, but he came for himself.
Claire says, "...given his fear that I might reveal Hamish's parentage, or what he thought I knew of it, what he had done to me was understandable too. Understandable, but not forgivable"
Here’s another verra debatable and controversial theory I have: What if Colum sent wee ho to tell Claire to visit Gellis’ house?!
Claire did later say to Jamie, "And Colum...he thinks I'm a witch because I know Hamish isn't his own son"
Random off topic thing I wanted to share: I think I’ve found out what the “big mistake” in the GN preview is! (Sorry if this is old news) But Claire’s eyes aren’t a light golden color! They are like a light denim color! Does anyone else see that? Or, am I just crazy?!
RE: Dougal's death - don't forget he tried to kill our Jamie way back in France, and always said it would be "one of us or the other." Jamie has to watch his back for enough treachery, Dougal would have been just one more VERRA nasty threat to him at all times! Add Geilis to Dougal's side and Jamie and Claire would have been found in a ditch somewhere! Those two were made for each other!
ReplyDeletePS - having written all that, I forgot to add that I, too, loved Dougal!!!
ReplyDeleteI think Dougal and Colum were very interesting characters, indeed! And talk about complicated- how about the relationship between Jamie and Dougal? Can't wait to do a reread and catch all the details I didn't realize were significant the first go-around!
ReplyDeleteI always thought Jamie was too good to Laoghaire. She totally plays on his guilt over what happened. No one twisted her arm to marry him.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure Jamie did his best to love her, but the heart wants what it wants.
As for Claire, she has the patience of a saint around Laoghaire. Personally if I were Claire, I would throw in her face the fact that she tried to kill me by sending me to Geillis and perhaps that's the reason why Jamie couldn't love her when he was married to her!
Awesome website btw. :)
To all who are obsessed with all things Scottish.
ReplyDeleteOn Sunday there will be a show on animals found in Scotland. I hope to see great scenery as well as hear some Scottish accents.
PBS Nature, July 11
OK, first of all - I love Dougal! In fact, I think I remember reading somewhere that Diana G actually had thought that it would be Dougal and Claire that got together when she first started writing until Jamie put a stop to it! So, of course we love him! I think that in many ways he is the anti-Jamie... sexy and powerful but evil instead of good. Like Darth Vadar vs. Luke. hehehe
ReplyDeleteOh, and, I think the 'big' mistake in the GN is that the sling is on Jamie's left arm but it was his right shoulder/arm that was injured... Although the eye color may be something to 'look' at too. ;)
Hi, all. I've been following this blog for a while but have been silent until now. (Love it, btw!) Since we are on the topic, though...it's good to see that I'm not the only one who took a liking to Dougal! Of course I have mixed feelings regarding his actions...how bad is he? How good is he? But perhaps that's part of the appeal to me. Plus, the way he's described as tall, handsome, fastidious, strong, powerful and respected...I'll take some, thank you! Hehe. I was always fascinated by his scenes with Claire. What an interesting dynamic, especially after he confesses to wanting her. I was so sad when he was killed--it seems like there were so many possibilities for his character. Le sigh.
ReplyDeleteI also believe that Claire's verbal misfire of telling Column that Hamish was not his son is the reason Column did not help her. I have to say that was incredibly stupid. It would have been more believable it if she were drunk or loopy on laudanum.
ReplyDeleteDiana has defended Laoghaire about her actions regarding Claire. She says Claire never mentioned Laoghaire's part to Jamie until years later because she didn't think of it. A lot happened after that and Claire felt at 16 Laoghaire was too young to realize the ramifications of her actions and that she didn't mean any harm to come to Claire, only to make trouble for her. I took that to mean Claire didn't blame Laoghaire.
I don't quite understand what that has to do with telling Jamie about what happened. Whether Laoghaire didn't mean to do what she did or whether someone else (like Dougal or Column) told her to give that message to Claire, what does that have to do with recounting to Jamie how she got there, how she ended up stripped to the waist, tied to a pole and being whipped?
Jamie knew Dougal did not want to take the chance that Jamie would wind up Laird when Column died and he suspected Dougal had tried to kill him. Jamie had also told Claire to stay away from Gellie while he was gone. Given all that, I don't understand why Jamie himself didn't ask Claire who sent her into the village.
But, if he had known then he wouldn't have married Laoghaire and all the drama from that marriage would not have been in the series.
I could go on and on about the unshaven Leghair, but I think Bree said it so perfectly in Drums!!
ReplyDelete“If they ought to be wary of anybody, it's you, you effing murderess!”
OMG!! I was like so jealous (but still happy) that Bree got to say that to her! I was like full on rooting out loud when I read it! Hell yeah Bree wax that bitch!!
Alli - "torn" is SUCH a good word. Right up there with "purgatory". Seriously. It's perfection when talking about Dougal AND Colum.
ReplyDeleteAmie you ROCK. You post whatever you want - WHENEVER you want - here at MOP! We want to hear it ALL! :)
L - TREMENDOUS point about Dougal telling Jamie about Jenny. That's one of those things that bothers me but I sortof let it run in the background and I forget about it and then when it comes up again I'm like "Oh YEAH!! WHY didn't I QUESTION that more?!"
Megs - where do I start? 1) tee hee Ned/Edward.. 2) Oooooh maybe Leghair was on a MISSION from someone ELSE like Colum!! Never really pondered that possibility too much! 3) Just got to that part in my reread the other day, where Claire says she can't forget what Colum did (or did not do). I don't know why she opened her mouth either.. but I guess that goes back to that "logic" thing L and I were talking about. If she never opened her mouth to Colum about Hamish - we wouldn't have quite so much fun of a storyline!
Diane - isn't it bizarre how we can love and hate Dougal so much all at the same time??
Patti - you go, girl. The reread will blow your mind in the details department.
Jeannie - THANKS! Glad you're here. And WOW are you right about Leghair. She acts all "Waah waah poor me" (even I drank her Kool-aid in Echo) but she never had to marry Jamie, either. And if she loved him since she was 9, why didn't she LOVE him when they were married? I still don't get that. He's there - in the bed with you - and you're wearing a wedding ring that HE gave you - when you got MARRIED! He's YOURS! So PUT UP OR SHUT UP but quit whining!!!!
L - (insert major curse words here) I forgot!!! But thanks for letting us know! Did you watch? How was it? I did get to see the Scottish Open from Loch Lomond over the weekend and that was very cool. :)
Christie - DOUGAL = DARTH and JAMIE = LUKE! You, my friend, are a GENIUS! I LOVE this! As for the Graphic Novel - I dunno... is it me? I don't even care about/notice mistakes. I mean - one thing I noticed is that Claire has long hair and she's supposed to go through the stones with shorter (shoulder length?) 40s hair. But I didn't mind. I guess seeing he who is the god of all things Scottish - aka Jamie Fraser - just totally blinded me to the point where I can't really see much else. ;)
Melissa - Hi and Welcome! YES! Totally agree on Dougal. How far to the right or left is he on the good/bad scale? Reminds me of a story about a Scottish actor... I think I'll blog it! THANKS for the inspiration!
Ann - right right right! It's so true. Again - logic rears its ugly head. LOL If Leghair didn't send Claire to see Geilie, we wouldn't have had the "Fun with Claire and Geilie" scenes. And I also agree with you about Claire telling Jamie. HOW that NEVER came up is MIND-BLOWING to me. It's also mind-blowing for anyone - Diana or not - to suggest Laoghaire didn't mean for Claire to die - only to cause trouble for her. How does one send someone to a WITCH TRIAL - knowing a good chunk of the town AND castle thinks she's a witch - and NOT expect her to be burned at the stake?? (Or hung like all but one were in Salem. The other was "pressed" to death. There is my little factoid of the day. No burnings.) It is my opinion that Laoghaire knew damned well what could very well have happened to Claire in Crainesmuir - and didna care. And for that, she can ROT.
Jessica - holy CRAP! You just made me actually MISS Bree! That's unbelievable! I lOVED her in that scene! I was cheering too! Like "FINALLY! SOMEONE PUTS LEGHAIR IN HER DAMNED PLACE!!!" Bree is like a little slice of Jamie, isn't she? ;)
I'm waaaaay late to this, but don't know where else to ask this--has there been any discussion about the Nathan Hale quote in the pit (i regret but I have but one life to give from my country)--why didn't geillis say something to Claire about that to establish where/when she was from??
ReplyDeleteColumn wanted Jamie as his successor until he married an English woman. So, if she is tried and put to death that frees up Jamie to marry a good Scott's woman of Colons choosing....doesn't? And puts him in the running again ha?
ReplyDeleteOkay, is it Column (a pillar/or numbers arranged vertically) or Colon (part of our intestines)? Lol, because I don't know how to spell his name either.
ReplyDeleteLOL!!!! Colum :)
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