While reading The Fiery Cross, I noticed something I hadn’t before: the significance of Fergus Fraser’s missing hand.
In Voyager, we learn that since Claire saw him last, Fergus has lost one of his hands in a fight, and he wears a hook in lieu of it. This makes him more than an eighteenth-century Captain Hook. Fast foward a few years, and Fergus is married to Jamie’s stepdaughter, Marsali, and they have a constantly growing family on their hands (of course, this means no shortage of grandchildren for Claire and Jamie to spoil).
That’s exactly what struck me: their kids. They will never see Fergus with two natural hands. Once they get used to his hook, they probably don’t even give it a second glance. They won’t see anything different or stange about their father.
It’s just another reason I love these books. You may or may not know that I have a handicap myself: Cerebral Palsy, or CP for short. There are varying degrees of it, but basically it means I can’t walk by myself. Don’t get me wrong, sometimes I wish I could, but on the whole, I’ve accepted it as part of who I am.
My (future) children, if I choose to have any, will also be desensitized, if you will, to my condition. I can’t put it into words how much it means to me to have a similar situation represented in some of my favorite books. Whether she was conscious of it or not, I really appreciate what Diana Gabaldon did. I can’t thank her enough.
