When characters make assumptions
One thing I have learned from many years of reading Diana Gabaldon's books: Don't make assumptions! The characters do it, certainly many readers do it, and most of the time those assumptions turn out to be wrong. Sometimes these mistaken assumptions are harmless, but on occasion they can have very serious consequences! I thought it would be interesting to take a look at some of the most memorable examples in the OUTLANDER books of characters making incorrect assumptions or jumping to the wrong conclusions. Hope you enjoy it!
*** SPOILER WARNING!! ***
If you haven't read all of Diana Gabaldon's OUTLANDER books, there are SPOILERS below! Read at your own risk.
1) Sir Marcus MacRannoch assumed that Black Jack Randall had been killed in the cattle stampede during Jamie's rescue from Wentworth Prison.
“If it’s any comfort to ye,” Sir Marcus said suddenly, eyes fixed on the decanter, “he’s dead.”It came as quite a shock to both Jamie and Claire to discover, months later, that BJR was still alive.
“You’re sure?” Jamie’s tone was unreadable.
“I dinna see how anybody could live after bein’ trampled flat by thirty half-ton beasts.”
[....]
“[By] the time we’d cleared the cattle out, there was no much left but a rag doll rolled in blood. Sir Fletcher’s men carried him awa’, but if he was still livin’ then, he didna last long.”
(From OUTLANDER by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 36, "MacRannoch". Copyright © 1991 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)
2) Frank and Claire both assumed that the Randall genealogical chart was correct when it listed Black Jack Randall as Frank's direct ancestor.
“Jamie! For God’s sake, Jamie, listen to me! You can’t kill Jack Randall because I won’t let you!”It wasn't until many months later, a few weeks before Culloden, that Claire finally realized that BJR's brother Alex was actually the father of Mary's child, and therefore Frank's direct ancestor. The genealogical chart Frank was so proud of didn't reflect that fact, so Frank didn't know.
He stared down at me in utter astonishment.
“Because of Frank,” I said. I let go of his sleeve and stepped back.
“Frank,” he repeated, shaking his head slightly as though to clear a buzzing in his ears. “Frank.”
“Yes,” I said. “If you kill Jack Randall now, then Frank ... he won’t exist. He won’t be born. Jamie, you can’t kill an innocent man!”
(From DRAGONFLY IN AMBER by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 21, "Untimely Resurrection". Copyright © 1992 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)
3) Newly reunited with Claire after twenty years, Jamie was a little taken aback to find that his assumption that their child would be a boy turned out to be incorrect.
“What did ye name her?”4) The girls at Madame Jeanne's welcomed Claire with good-natured teasing and advice, assuming that she, too, was a whore, newly arrived at the brothel.
“Brianna,” I said proudly.
[....]
“You told me to name the baby for your father. His name was Brian, wasn’t it?”
“Aye, it was.” A smile seemed to be struggling for dominance of the other emotions on his face. “Aye,” he said. “Aye, you’re right, I did. It’s only--well, I thought it would be a boy, is all.”
“And you’re sorry she wasn’t?” I glared at him, and began snatching up the scattered photographs. His hands on my arms stopped me.
“No,” he said. “No, I’m not sorry. Of course not!” His mouth twitched slightly. “But I willna deny she’s the hell of a shock, Sassenach. So are you.”
(From VOYAGER by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 24, "A. Malcolm, Printer". Copyright © 1994 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)
The table was surrounded by twenty-odd women, a few gowned for day, but most of them in a state of dishabille that made my quilt modest by comparison. A woman near the end of the table caught sight of me hovering in the doorway, and beckoned, companionably sliding over to make room for me on the end of the long bench.Claire handled that situation pretty well, considering that she could hardly get in a word among all that chattering!
“You’ll be the new lass, aye?” she said, looking me over with interest. “You’re a wee bit older than Madame usually takes on--she likes ’em no more than five and twenty. You’re no bad at all, though,” she assured me hastily. “I’m sure you’ll do fine.”
“Good skin and a pretty face,” observed the dark-haired lady across from us, sizing me up with the detached air of one appraising horseflesh. “And nice bubbies, what I can see.” She lifted her chin slightly, peering across the table at what could be seen of my cleavage.
“Madame doesna like us to take the kivvers off the beds,” my original acquaintance said reprovingly. “Ye should wear your shift, if ye havena something pretty to show yourself in yet.”
“Aye, be careful with the quilt,” advised the dark-haired girl, still scrutinizing me. “Madame’ll dock your wages, an’ ye get spots on the bedclothes.”
(From VOYAGER by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 26, "Whore's Brunch". Copyright © 1994 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)
5) Bree and Roger came to breakfast one morning bursting with excitement, eager to share the news about the matches Bree had invented. Mrs. Bug took one look at their faces and assumed that only one piece of news could put them in a mood like that. Unfortunately, her assumption turned out to be totally wrong.
[When] Roger announced that they had great news, it was perhaps only reasonable that Mrs. Bug should leap directly to the obvious conclusion.I love that whole scene! Just hilarious. Fortunately, the mistaken assumption was cleared up quickly, with no lasting harm done.
“You’re wi’ child again!” she cried, dropping a spoon in her excitement. She clapped her hands together, inflating like a birthday balloon. “Oh, the joy of it! And about time, too,” she added, letting go her hands to wag a finger at Roger. “And here was me thinkin’ as I should add a bit o’ ginger and brimstone to your parritch, young man, so as to bring ye up to scratch! But ye kent your business weel enough in the end, I see.”
“Call Arch in, a muirninn, and we’ll tell him your news. Blessed Bride save ye, lass, I thought ye’d never get round to it! Here was all the ladies saying’ as they didna ken whether ye’d turned cold to your husband, or was it him maybe, lackin’ the vital spark, but as it is--”
“Well, as it is,” said Roger, raising his voice in order to be heard.
“I’m not pregnant!” said Bree, very loudly.
The succeeding silence echoed like a thunderclap.
(From A BREATH OF SNOW AND ASHES by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 21, "We Have Ignition". Copyright © 2005 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)
6) When Claire was arrested for the murder of Malva Christie, she shared a cell for a while with a woman named Sadie Ferguson, whose crime was forgery. Sadie told the governor's aide that she was the murderer and Claire was the forger. Claire assumed at first that Sadie had spoken up out of kindness -- surely murder was considered a more serious crime than forgery, as it would be in our own time? -- but she soon learned otherwise!
“You write a very fair hand, Mrs. Fraser,” [Governor Martin] unbent enough to say, at one point, and gave me a brief, wintry smile. “It is unfortunate that you should have been the forger, rather than the murderess.”Oops! Even after all this time in the past, Claire still gets tripped up occasionally by unfamiliar 18th-century customs.
“Why?” I asked, rather astonished at that.
“Why, you are plainly literate,” he said, surprised in turn at my astonishment. “If convicted of murder, you could plead benefit of clergy, and be let off with a public whipping and branding in the face. Forgery, though--” He shook his head, pursing his lips. “Capital crime, no pardon possible. If convicted of forgery, Mrs. Fraser, I am afraid you must be hanged.”
My feelings of gratitude toward Sadie Ferguson underwent an abrupt reappraisal.
(From A BREATH OF SNOW AND ASHES by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 92, "Amanuensis". Copyright © 2005 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)
7) Lord John assumed that Jamie had been aboard the ship Euterpe when it sank with all hands.
“Euterpe,” [Lord John] blurted, and I stopped dead, jarred to the backbone.What Claire and John don't realize, of course, is that Jamie was not in fact aboard the Euterpe when it sank. The readers know that, because we saw Jamie and Jenny boarding a different ship. This particular mistaken assumption is not John's fault -- there's no way he could have known it wasn't true! -- but the news has a devastating effect on both Claire and Lord John.
“What?” I whispered. “What?”
“Lost,” he said, in a voice that wasn’t his own. “Lost. With all hands.”
“No,” I said, trying for reason. “No, it’s not.”
[....]
“I heard it this morning from a naval captain I know. I met him at the coffeehouse, and he was recounting the tragedy. He saw it.” His voice trembled, and he stopped for a moment, firming his jaw. “A storm. He had been chasing the ship, meaning to stop and board her, when the storm came upon them both. His own ship survived and limped in, badly damaged, but he saw the Euterpe swamped by a broaching wave, he said [....] She went down before his eyes. The Roberts--his ship--hung about in hopes of picking up survivors.” He swallowed. “There were none.”
“None,” I said blankly. I heard what he said but took no meaning from the words.
“He is dead,” Lord John said softly, and let go of my arm. “He is gone.”
(From AN ECHO IN THE BONE by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 93, "A Series of Short, Sharp Shocks". Copyright © 2009 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)
8) Roger assumed (from the limited information available in Frank's book) that the Battle of Savannah would take place on October 11, 1779, two days later than it actually did. That's why he thought it would be safe to go into the Continental Army camp to speak with Francis Marion.
“You’re keeping track of the calendar, aren’t you?” Bree pulled her sleeping shift over her head, noting from the smell that she should talk to the Brumbys’ laundress tomorrow. “How many days until all hell breaks loose?”Roger clearly thought that there would be plenty of time to go see Marion and return to Bree before the battle began. Instead, he found himself trapped in the Continental camp when the battle broke out, and he went through a very harrowing experience on the battlefield.
“Less than three weeks,” he said, more soberly. “Your father didn’t give much detail on the battle, but we know the Americans will lose. The siege will be lifted on October the eleventh.”
“And you’ll be here and safely inside, right?” She raised her eyebrows at him, and he smiled and took her hand.
“I will,” he said, and kissed it.
(From GO TELL THE BEES THAT I AM GONE by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 89, "The Filature". Copyright © 2021 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)
9) Bree took one look at William's drawing of Richardson, and immediately leapt to the conclusion that Richardson and the 20th-century archaeologist, Michael Callahan, whom we met in ECHO, are the same person. That's a pretty big assumption, if you ask me!
She stopped, something tickling at her brain, and looked closer. Could anyone actually have ears that noticeably off-kilter? Big ears were one thing, but displaced ears ... Perhaps if the man had had an accident that severed one ear and a surgeon had sewed it back on awry ... The notion made her smile, despite her uneasiness, but another thought was pushing up behind the first, triggered by the thought of surgery. Plastic surgery.The jury's still out on this one. We don't yet know if Bree's assumption is correct. I for one am skeptical that the resemblance is as strong as Bree thinks it is. William is not a modern-day police sketch artist, after all. Maybe it's just a coincidence, that the sketch reminds Bree of Callahan. On the other hand, it's possible that her suspicions are correct. I expect we'll find out one way or another in A BLESSING FOR A WARRIOR GOING OUT (Book 10). But it's fun to speculate about it!
She looked again, closer, at that very ordinary face, lacking most of the normal lines of expression. Alarm was flooding through her, even before her mind had dotted the I’s and crossed the T’s.
[....]
[She] breathed cold air smelling of pine and heather and burning rubber and hot metal and the acrid ghost of gunpowder. Remembered the hail-like sound of shotgun pellets pattering through gorse and heather. And the warm, greasy feel of an old wool cap in her hand, pulled off the head of a man whose face she hadn’t quite seen, as he tried to kidnap Jem and Mandy from the dark dooryard of Lallybroch. But now she saw him plain and saw through his disguise. Both of them.
Someone will come.
(From GO TELL THE BEES THAT I AM GONE by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 133, "Such an Odd Feeling". Copyright © 2021 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)
10) Last but definitely NOT least: the cascading set of assumptions in DRUMS OF AUTUMN that led to Roger being sold to the Indians. I refer to the whole scenario as "The Great Miscommunication", because a great deal of confusion and heartbreak could have been avoided if the people involved had only talked to one another!
The whole scenario is too complicated to summarize here, so I'm going to focus only on the first part. It starts with Lizzie telling Jamie her version of what happened on Bree and Roger's handfasting night. A big man called MacKenzie accosted Bree in a tavern, and Bree went away willingly with him.
“She--she didna come back till nearly dawn. And--and--”Jamie is left with the inescapable (but incorrect!) assumption that this man MacKenzie raped Brianna. He can't imagine that his daughter would have willingly gone with him, so it must have been rape -- and now she's with child, and he assumes (incorrectly, as it turned out) that the rapist must have been the one who got her pregnant.
Jamie had very little patience left, and no doubt it showed on his face.
“I could smell him on her,” she whispered, voice dropping almost to inaudibility. “His ... seed.”
The surge of rage took him unaware, like a white-hot bolt of lightning through chest and belly. He felt half choked with it, but clamped it down tight, hoarding it like coals in a hearth.
“He bedded her, then; you’re sure of that?”
Thoroughly mortified at this bluntness, the little bondmaid could do no more than nod.
“Oh, sir. She’s wi’ child, can ye not see? It must be him--she was virgin when he took her. He’s come after her--and she’s afraid of him.”
Quite suddenly, he could see it, and felt the hairs rise all up his arms and shoulders. The autumn breeze struck cold through shirt and skin, and the rage turned to sickness. All the small things he had half seen and half thought, not allowing them to rise to the surface of his mind, came together at once in a logical pattern.
(From DRUMS OF AUTUMN by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 50, "In Which All is Revealed". Copyright © 1997 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)
Jamie and Ian find Roger in the woods, and Roger, taken completely by surprise and fumbling for words, admits that he did take Bree's maidenhead, and she was willing -- but he omits the critical fact that he and Brianna were handfast at the time! Jamie, still operating under the assumption that he's dealing with the lowlife scum who raped his daughter, beats Roger to a pulp and orders Ian to give him to the Indians. Everything else that happens in the book follows from that. It takes a long time to resolve all of the many complications, and for everyone involved to find a way to forgive each other for what happened.
This is an excellent example of what I mean when I say, "Don't make assumptions, because most of the time your assumptions turn out to be wrong." We would all do well to remember that, as we look ahead to BLESSING!
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What about the rest of you? Do you have a favorite example of characters making incorrect assumptions, or jumping to the wrong conclusions, that I haven't listed here? Please leave a comment here or on my Outlandish Observations Facebook page.
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