VOYAGER
©Diana Gabaldon 1994
Chapter 43: Phantom Limbs

Scene One:

Claire discovers Innes has gas. Bad gas. Poor guy! Not only is he uncomfortable, and embarrassed, he now has to endure a full examination by Mistress Claire. The horror! The outcome of the Oatmeal Wars? Claire would ‘be responsible for the preparation of the Scots’ morning parritch, permitted to do so under provision that I confined myself to a single pot and spoon, did not sing while cooking, and was careful to make a mess in the precincts of the sacred galley.’

A few thoughts:

▸ I am trying to imagine Claire being a woman who sings while she cooks ... not likely.

▸ Twice while examining Innes, we have Claire being able to visualize the inside of his body, which indicates she has some special sight or power when it comes to healing. While she is a rational scientist, she recognizes and respects her intuitiveness.


▸ p551: I could envision the cavity of the belly in my mind, as thought it lay open in fact before me, my fingers translating the soft, lumpy shapes beneath the skin into vision --

▸ p552: ‘Breathe in,’ I said, hands on his chest, and saw in my mind the pink-flushed grainy surface of a healthy lung.

▸ p552: I was quite sure of the diagnosis – had been virtually from the moment I had looked at him –

As we move further into the scene, the Oatmeal War has a deeper meaning: it sheds light on the difference in the relationship between Jamie and his men, and the relationship he would have had with his tenants at Lallybroch. The clan system of Scotland is gone, and the men of Scotland scattered in the new world.

‘There was more that died at Culloden than the Stuart cause, Sassenach,’ he said.

Scene Two:

A week later, Innes comes to Claire for help relieving the pain of his missing limb. She learns Innes was with Jamie in prison, and the fate of the other men at Ardsmuir, none of whom were able to return to Scotland after they were sent to the Colonies as indentured men. Willoughby is called in to help and makes the statement which sums up the chapter:

‘Arm tries to come back, for it does not like to be away from body.’

In terms of phantom limbs: what are Jamie’s phantom limbs? What is Jamie trying to pull back to himself? Is Jamie feeling the pain of the phantom limb of not only his men of Ardsmuir, but also the phantom limb of Scotland’s clans? Is he feeling pain of the missing -- phantom -- relationship between these men and himself?

Thank you! I read the chapter earlier this afternoon (when I didn't have time to pop in here and read or post) and have been trying to find deeper meaning from the chapter title. Obviously, Innes has his phantom limb. And, he spoke to Murphy and Fergus about theirs. (Does three amputees among a fairly small crew seem like a lot? Or were there that many amputees back then?) But, I thought there should be more than that and couldn't come up with anything. I like your thoughts on this. Based on his reaction to the oatmeal wars, he clearly misses the closer relationship he had with his men.

Interestingly, since Innes was with him at Ardsmuir, I would have thought he would have been comfortable approaching Jamie about something like that. Or one of the men could have mentioned something to Fergus since Fergus had promised them parritch.

Oh, and about Innes, I wonder whether Jamie was as sure about him not being the traitor as he was because of the lack of the arm, or because he knew one of his Ardsmuir men wouldn't kill him. And, in fact, Innes tells Claire that Jamie saved him from starvation.

I definitely think Jamie misses the highland clan structure, too.

When I reread the line you posted from Mr. Willoughby: ‘Arm tries to come back, for it does not like to be away from body.’, I actually thought of Claire coming back to Jamie. Neither of them was complete without the other. Hadn't thought of that earlier when I read it myself, though.

And, one more semi-spoiler-ish thing from the end of this book (which I'm pretty sure is fair game): There's a comment about how Innes couldn't be the traitor because with only one arm he couldn't have hanged the exciseman. But, if I remember correctly who turns out to be the traitor, it's not clear that hanging an exciseman was a possibility there either. So, that wasn't definitive. I'm being a little obscure here to avoid major spoilers, but that whole storyline continues to baffle me a bit.

Laura - Innes likely would have preferred to be anywhere but being examined by a woman in that time! Thank you for a great example of a review.

ABL - I agree with you on all counts.

My wife and I have discussed how Claire seems to avoid cooking in any of her domestic situations. I guess the parritch tasking here slipped under our radar.

As for amputees, wouldn't many of them no longer be "able bodied seamen" and therefore not found on a ship? Murphy, as cook, seems to be an exception. Fergus and Innes are with Jamie and would not count as part of the regular crew. Notice that both turned to smuggling. Regular work was probably difficult to find.

An additional point regarding amputees. I lived in Michigan's Upper Peninsula for a number of years. Many men are employed at mining, farming, and logging. Many of the men of my acquaintance were missing at least a finger, even at the end of the 20th C. So, three amputees on the ship did not surprise me.

I guess I wouldn't have been so surprised if it were a large ship with a big crew, but there really aren't that many people on board. But, I will take your word for it that this isn't that surprising. And, at least Fergus had a share in the print shop, so although it wasn't enough to support him as yet, he had hoped one day it would so he'd have a respectable job and income to support a wife. Just to say that smuggling wasn't his only option, though maybe it was at that moment his only way to support himself.

Yes, it is rare for Claire to cook (didn't Jamie comment about being surprised that she could cook in Dragonfly when they had the tenants over for potatoes that first time? And, Claire said even she could roast - or boil, or whatever - a potato??). But, in this case, if it's cook parritch or let the men do without, cook she shall do.

There are so many great thoughts here. I love the arm analogy that ABL added about Claire being Jamie's phanthom arm to Laura's about his loss of Scotland and his clans. Jamie may be physically whole but there are a whole lot of missing parts to him and missing parts OF him that he needs to share with Claire.

For someone like Innes, he would have very limited prospects in any industry were it not for Jamie's help. But I think that he provided Jamie with someone to care for which is essential to Jamie's wellbeing also. This is a case where Jamie received back what he was giving for sure.

I don't post much in the re-kilt threads but I read when I can.

I really like the analogy of Claire being Jamie's phantom limb -- and vice versa. They might have been complete without the other, but they weren't fulfilled.

Great recap. Thank you so much for pointing out the additional layers of meaning in the concept of phantom limbs. What a great way for DG to illustrate just how much was lost at Culloden, and the ongoing pain for Jamie and the rest of the Highlanders because of the loss of their old way of life. It's nice how a seemingly simple matter -- poor Innes and his digestive problems! -- is a trigger for Claire to realize just how much things have changed for Jamie. The insight that these men, even if at least five are loyal to Jamie, still aren't "his" in the way his tenants were when he was Laird of Lallybroch, is really quite important.

I love that Claire once again exhibits her no-nonsense, 20th century woman approach. She takes a stand and doesn't take no for an answer, particularly when a patient is involved. We saw this in the previous chapter, when she stood her ground against Murphy, and again here, with her absolute authority in treating Innes. I don't think a woman of the 18th century could have pulled it off.

Last comment: Interesting to compare the mystical elements of Claire and Mr. Willoughby's medical treatments. As pointed out above, Claire visualizes the internal organs during the examination, can tell just by looking what's working and where the problem is. Yes, she uses her scientific knowledge to change his diet and provide helpful herbs, but there's more to it than that. Likewise, Mr. Willoughby's use of pressure points is effective and is probably what actually helped Innes, but I think the psychological fix was in addressing the ghost arm.