Written in My Own Heart's Blood

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2014

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Summary

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

Part 6

Part 7

Part 8

Part 9

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Symbols & Motifs

Eyes

Eyes are a motif in the novel, symbolizing both a character’s ability to see truthfully or their false perceptions. Eyes are linked to appearances as well—the nature of a character’s eyes demonstrates their inner nature. Janet has eyes like Jamie’s and like her brother, she sees Claire’s nature clearly. Mrs. Figgs eyes are compared to gun sights, revealing her to be coldly accurate and somewhat dangerous. Claire’s eyes are, besides her hair, her most memorable feature, being light brown and flecked with gold. Her unique eyes symbolize her singular view in this world; she can see the past, present, and future.

John focuses intently on men’s eyes, though he spends a good part of the story unable to see clearly. His injured eye symbolizes a lack of clarity; Tears from his injured eye cloud his sight and his actions are cloaked in deception; he is accused of spying, he disguises himself and joins the enemy’s army, and he hides Germain’s identity along with his own. When John views men’s eyes through his damaged sight, he sees beauty but doesn’t see the danger; he describes Colonel Smith’s eyes as attractive though Smith intends upon executing him. When Claire repairs his eye, he finally sees the machinations surrounding him and escapes to warn his family.

William’s sight is likewise clouded for the first third of the novel. Despite his obvious similarity to Jamie, he never sees the resemblance until Claire tells him of his true paternity. Even his attraction to Jane mirrors Jamie’s love for Claire, as Jane’s eyes are the same sherry-wine color as Claire’s. His lack of clear sight creates danger where there is none; he sees Jane through “swimming eyes” (26) and misinterprets her intentions, and his eyes are “black with violence” when Jamie extorts him into releasing Ian (179). He also doesn’t see the distress of his grooms in the camp until Jane points out their terror to him. It isn’t until he finally confronts Jamie and asks for details about his paternity that his sight clears, “Just for an instant, he’d seen her in those words. He’d seen her, and the knowledge of the immensity of his loss struck through his anger like a lightning bolt” (1060).

Flies

Flies, a symbol for both death and transformation, figure prominently as a motif in the first half of the book, although references to the flies disappear after Claire is shot and William faces the reality of death. Gabaldon uses flies to build a sense of dread before the battle; they represent decay, rot, and death, and their numbers grow as the battle draws nearer. Claire hears the flies as the army makes ready for battle and brushes them away from John’s forehead (541). As the battle commences, the flies connect to those who will be injured or killed. Ian finds William still alive but covered by “a half-dozen black flies feeding on his drying blood (598). Afterwards, when William is out of danger, the flies are “falling into William’s bed like snowflakes” (616). William’s final encounter is when he sees a dead soldier in the field and turns away, “but not fast enough to avoid seeing the greedy flies rise up in a buzzing cloud from what was left of the face” (712). Gabaldon employs the fly imagery as a grotesque signal of death and decay in battle.

Claire is especially associated with flies; they surround her triage tent, and she is bothered by the “relentless buzzing of the flies” as she works (619). When she is shot, the flies descend upon her, “black and buzzing, drawn by the blood [...] They were swarming around Jamie’s own ears, but he didn’t bother about them, instead brushing them away as they crawled on Claire’s body, over her twitching, pallid face” (643). Once Claire heals, however, the flies disappear from the narrative. Ian also has a brush with the flies as he lays wounded by the Abenaki’s arrows, they “clustered on Murray’s shoulder; he lacked the strength to brush them away” (707). The flies heighten the tension in the novel as a clear sign that a character is close to death.

Animals

Gabaldon employs animals as symbols throughout the novel, significantly as imagery when describing characters. Jamie is described as “a bear brought to bay by hounds” and “a tiger,” both large, dangerous animals (19-21). Meanwhile, Hal is “red-eyed as a ferret and in roughly the same temper as a rapid badger” (113); both animals are small and normally docile unless they feel threatened, as Hal feels threatened when he is held prisoner. William is a rooster, protective over his hens and displaying amazing courage. The Abenaki, when they are hunting Ian, “cast to and fro like wolves” (599) indicative of their predatory nature.

Gabaldon also uses the imagery of a white bird to symbolize a supernatural connection between Ian and Rachel before the battle. Ian sees the white bird in a dream, and it hovers like a shadow over his right shoulder the day before battle. When Jamie is helping Ian with his war paint the next morning, he unwittingly chooses the white bird to represent Rachel, and paints it on Ian’s right shoulder. Ian is saved by his father’s ghost from an otherwise fatal arrow wound to the heart because the arrow strikes the white bird painted on his shoulder. White animals are messengers in both the Kanienʼkehá꞉ka and Highland cultures, and a white dove is a symbol of peace. The white bird painted on Ian’s shoulder therefore represents his father’s message which saves his life, as well as Rachel, whose love symbolically protects him in battle.