74 pages • 2 hours read
Diana Gabaldon, Darynda JonesA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Several of the characters in Outlander engage with issues of parenthood. At the beginning of the novel, Claire questions her interest and ability to be a parent. At first, her ability to parent is thwarted by her and Frank’s failure to conceive. It is again thwarted when Frank refuses to consider the possibility of adopting a child. However, at the end of the novel, Claire’s pregnancy serves as a symbol for a new beginning in her life with Jamie in 1743.
Minor character Geillis touches upon parenthood when she informs Claire that many village women and girls come to her for herbs to abort fetuses. Geillis herself becomes pregnant after having an affair with Dougal, a pregnancy with a powerful Scottish man that Geillis considers to be an act of patriotism. Colum’s responsibility to further his family lineage leads him to instruct his brother Dougal to impregnate his wife Letitia, which resulted in Dougal fathering Colum’s adoptive son Hamish.
Jamie’s pregnant sister Jenny complicates the issue of parenthood by connecting it to sexuality, describing having a child in her belly as synonymous with sexual penetration. She describes pregnancy as, “…a feeling like you’ve your man inside ye, when he comes to ye deep and pours himself into you” (884).
By these authors
A Breath of Snow and Ashes
Diana Gabaldon
An Echo in the Bone
Diana Gabaldon, T.L. Swan
Berlin Alexanderplatz
Alfred Doblin, Diana Gabaldon
Carrie
Stephen King, Darynda Jones
Dragonfly in Amber
Diana Gabaldon
Go Tell the Bees That I Am Gone
Diana Gabaldon
Paula
Isabel Allende, Darynda Jones
Sent for You Yesterday
John Edgar Wideman, Diana Gabaldon
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Douglas Adams, Darynda Jones
Whistling Past the Graveyard
Susan Crandall, Darynda Jones
Written in My Own Heart's Blood
Diana Gabaldon
Challenging Authority
View Collection
Chicanx Literature
View Collection
European History
View Collection
Fantasy
View Collection
Guilt
View Collection
Hate & Anger
View Collection
Hispanic & Latinx American Literature
View Collection
Historical Fiction
View Collection
Marriage
View Collection
Power
View Collection
Romance
View Collection
Sexual Harassment & Violence
View Collection