Re-reading BEES (Part 1)

I recently started listening to the audiobook of Diana Gabaldon's GO TELL THE BEES THAT I AM GONE (Book 9 of the OUTLANDER series), for only the second time since the book came out. It turns out I last listened to it in June 2022, so I'm sure I've forgotten many of the details. (No, I wasn't avoiding this book on purpose. I didn't realize until this week that it had been so long since the last time I listened to it!) I made a deliberate decision to take it much more slowly this time, paying closer attention to details, and already I'm noticing a number of things I hadn't before.

I have been posting my reactions on TheLitForum, which is the online forum where Diana Gabaldon hangs out. (I've been moderator of Diana's section of the forum since 2008. You have to sign up to read or post on the forum, but it's free.) I thought the rest of you might be interested in some of my Deep Thoughts as I make my way through the book. So I will be sharing those here as well from time to time. This will be the first of a multi-part series, over the next few weeks. Hope you enjoy it!

*** SPOILER WARNING!! ***

If you haven't read GO TELL THE BEES THAT I AM GONE, there are MAJOR SPOILERS below! Read at your own risk!

In Chapter 6, Jamie returns home after his encounter with a bear. Claire sees that his leg is injured:

"How much of that blood is yours?"

"No much,” he said tranquilly, sitting down on the Big Log.

(From GO TELL THE BEES THAT I AM GONE by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 6, "Home is the Hunter, Home from the Hill". Copyright © 2021 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)

On re-listening, I heard the unmistakable echo of Claire's words at Kings Mountain:

I fell to my knees and groped frantically through his heavy clothes, wet with sweat--and blood.

“How much of this blood is yours?” I demanded.

“All of it.” His eyes were closed, his lips barely moving.

(From GO TELL THE BEES THAT I AM GONE by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 147, "A Lot of Blood". Copyright © 2021 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)

We've seen this sort of exchange between Jamie and Claire a number of times over the years, going all the way back to the ambush at Cocknammon Rock, early in OUTLANDER:

Just then, he moved into a patch of moonlight, and I saw the huge spread of blood on his shirt front. Arterial bleeding, I thought at once; but then, why is he still standing? “You’re hurt!” I exclaimed. “Have you broken open your shoulder wound, or is it fresh? Sit down and let me see!” I pushed him toward a pile of boulders, rapidly reviewing procedures for emergency field treatment. No supplies to hand, save what I was wearing. I was reaching for the remains of my slip, intending to use it to stanch the flow, when he laughed.

“Nay, pay it no mind, lass. This lot isna my blood. Not much of it, anyway,” he added, plucking the soaked fabric gingerly away from his body.

(From OUTLANDER by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 3, "The Man in the Wood". Copyright © 1991 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)

In most cases, "how much of that blood is yours?" usually turns out to be not all that serious. Jamie shrugs it off, treats it as no big deal.

Until Kings Mountain.

“How much of this blood is yours?” I demanded.

“All of it.” His eyes were closed, his lips barely moving.

“Bloody f*cking hell. Where are you hit?”

“Everywhere.”

(From GO TELL THE BEES THAT I AM GONE by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 147, "A Lot of Blood". Copyright © 2021 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)

And suddenly we realize: this is not like the other times. This is Very Serious, a matter of life and death, and his injuries might be more than Claire can deal with. On my first reading of the Kings Mountain sequence, I was terrified that Jamie might actually die, for real. (Because "there's no safety net in this book", as I kept reminding myself.)

So I think the line is there, way back in chapter 6, in part to provide that contrast, particularly for readers who might not recall all the other times Jamie has made similar dismissive comments over the years. In other words, to put that idea in our heads -- "Don't worry, he's been hurt before and usually it's not that big of a deal" -- so that when we get to Kings Mountain, Jamie's condition comes as a much bigger shock.

When I mentioned this on TheLitForum, Diana Gabaldon confirmed,

Yes, that was indeed my intent. <g> Glad it worked for you!

As I thought about it further, it occurred to me that this is also an example of a storytelling technique that Diana calls "The Rule of Three":

One, two, three. The Rule of Three. It’s one of the important underlying patterns of story-telling; one event can be striking. The next (related) event creates resonance. But the third brings it home—WHAM. (That is, btw, why classic fairy tales always involve three brothers, three sisters, three fairies, etc.—and why the most classic form of joke always starts, “A priest, a minister and a rabbi…” The climax of the story, the punchline of the joke, always comes on the third iteration.)

We can see how she uses this technique in BEES:

1) Jamie is injured by a bear in Chapter 6. There's a fair amount of blood, but he's not badly hurt.
2) Jamie suffers a bad cut across his chest in Chapter 106, during the fight with Cunningham's men. But again, he's not badly hurt (especially compared to what just happened to Captain Cunningham, who suffered a spinal cord injury in the same fight) so we're inclined to think it's no big deal.
3) And the third time, at Kings Mountain.... YIKES!!!

This is an example of the sorts of things that jump out at me on re-reading. Hope you enjoyed it.

Look here for the other posts in this series. I'll post more of my thoughts on re-reading BEES in the coming weeks. Stay tuned!