– – – – -Spoiler Alert – – – – –
This post will concentrate mainly on chapters 4 and 5, and it is not a summary of them. It is about some hints and quotations that I consider significant.
Brianna’s Second Sight
Voyager reveals one of the gifts that Brianna inherited from Jamie, the second sight. Of course, this endowment is more prominent in subsequent books. In the third chapter, Brianna speculates that the Laird associated with the legend of the “Leap o’ the Cast” is indeed her father. She relates:
“I was thinking about that while I was reading – trying to see him, you know?” She stopped and cleared her throat, as though something might be caught in it. “I could see him, out in the heather, hiding, and the sun shining off his hair. You said he’d been an outlaw; I just – I just thought he must have known pretty well . . . how to hide. If people were trying to kill him,” she finished softly.
There is already a connection between Jamie and Brianna at this stage. This passage foreshadows the communication that Jamie and Brianna will have by the end of Voyager.
The Hidden Laird
Chapter 4 describes the shaving ritual that Jamie undergoes every time he leaves the cave to meet his sister at home. It seems that having a beard is associated with being a savage. Of note is the fact that his nephew, Jamie, Rabbie, and Fergus do not see him as such.
It dawned on Jamie quite suddenly that to the boys he must seem a most romantic figure. Living alone in a cave, emerging at dark to hunt, coming down out of the mist in the night, filthy and wild-haired, beard all in a fierce red sprout – yes, at their age, it likely seemed a glamorous adventure to be an outlaw and live hidden in the heather, in a dank, cramped cave.
Why does Jamie perceive himself as wild? There is a possible explanation at the end of chapter 4. Most of the time his mind is disconnected from his body. At the cave, where he remains hidden during daylight, he is alone and thinks and meditates all the time. He has some characteristics of a hermit but also of an intellectual. He does not much in terms of physical activity and is restricted to a defined space: “. . . disciplined retreat into the avenues of thought and meditation, seeking refuge in the pages of books. . .” During the nighttime, he goes hunting, and he feels “wild” when doing it, which can be translated to more physical and instinctive: “. . . as he emerged into the fresh air like a beast from its lair, . . .” Once he reaches Lallybroch, he feels human again by achieving a mind and body connection:
It was only as the lights of Lallybroch manor came into view that he felt at last the mantle of humanity fall upon him, and mind and body joined as one again as he prepared himself to greet his family.
Jamie hardly was at his sister’s house for those seven years in which he went into hiding. Therefore, most of the time he felt “not human.” The text suggests that it was hard for him to live like that. Shaving allows Jamie to think what to say, especially since his presence at Lallybroch endangers everybody. There is nobody to protect his family and tenants. He has to think about ways to provide them with food.
One wonders whether somebody other than Hal and Wallace knew about Red Jamie’s whereabouts after Culloden. The English patrols seem to perform certain atrocities to provoke someone who is suspected to be hiding there.
- They take Ian away because he is suspected to be a Jacobite supporter.
- They burned three crofts and killed two of Jamie’s tenants.
However, it is difficult to tell whether they know about Jamie since those atrocities were commonplace in the Scottish Highlands at that time.
Hypnagogic Hallucinations
While talking to his sister, Jamie starts remembering Claire. He suspects that his dreams are responsible for bringing him back the memory of her:
He had them often, in varying forms, and it always unsettled him the day after, as though for a moment Claire had really been near enough to touch, and then had drawn away again. He could swear that sometimes he woke with the smell of her on him, musky and rich, pricked with the sharp, fresh scents of leaves and green herbs. . .
Before falling asleep, there is a stage in which one can experience vivid hallucinations. Even sounds and smells can be perceived as real. Based on the research that I did for my published essay, hypnagogic hallucinations are associated with out-of-body experiences, which Jamie does have.
Other Highlights and Quotes
There is a reference to Jamie learning the gralloch prayer from Ian’s father, Old John Murray, in chapter 4. Black Brian’s reaction to hearing it (mouth twisting) reveals that the origin of this prayer predates Christianity. It might also mean that he was not superstitious as Jamie.
Of note is Fergus’s request for a trained midwife for Jenny when she is about to give birth to Young Ian. Apparently, he has grown to see Jenny as a mother in a way. It is a fun read when Fergus details the traditional practices that were applied to women who had given birth at the brothel.
There seems to be a reference to Leonardo Da Vinci’s “La Gioconda” when Jamie is interacting with his sister in Chapter 5.
She closed the eye and a small smile curved her lips. She looked, he thought, very like a painting he had seen in France – an old one by some Italian fellow, but a good picture, nonetheless.
Jenny’s views about her brother marrying again are revealed in Chapter 5. It foreshadows the marriage between Laoghaire and Jamie.
“. . . Ye dinna think Claire would mean ye to live alone all your life, with no one to comfort ye or bear children?”
Apparently, Jamie needs comfort. However, he does not want a wife. He tells Jenny that he is useless – not helpful at all to both Claire and his sister. There is an element of truth in his explanation. Immediately, the English patrol arrives, and his presence there endangers everybody in the house. Furthermore, he has to hide, unable to protect his sister. At the same time, he is still in love with Claire, who is also still in love with him.
Thanks for reading!
Sources
Gabaldon, Diana. Voyager. 1994. New York: Bantam Dell. 2002. Print.