Malva Christie is an enigmatic character in book 6 of the Outlander series. I tend to think that Malva is a tragic character designed to be despised by readers. My purpose in this post (and also in subsequent ones) is to show that she deserves to be pitied instead. Is Malva’s malice and wickedness inherited? Are these undesirable characteristics the result of her upbringing? I am of the belief that certain mannerisms and certain conditions that affect behaviour could be inherited. In fact there are certain inherited conditions that might cause atypical behaviour in a person at certain times but not always. However, Malva does not suffer from any of these inherited conditions. Her behaviour is mostly the result of how she was raised. There are four people who have shaped Malva’s behaviour.
- Her uncle / father, Tom
- Her aunt, Tom’s sister-in-law (the real “witch” to me)
- Her mother
- Her brother, Allan
In this post and the next one, I will concentrate on the relationship between Tom and Malva. I will write about the other characters in more detail in subsequent posts.
Tom confesses to Claire that Malva resembled her mother (A Breath of Snow and Ashes, ch. 97).
“The girl . . . she was nay more than five years old when I first saw her, but already she had it – the same slyness, the charm – the same darkness of soul.”
He had tried to the best of his ability to save Malva, as well – to beat the wickedness out of her, to constrain the streak of wildness, above all, to keep her from working her wiles upon men.
“Her mither had that, too.” His lips tightened at the thought. “Any man. It was the curse of Lilith that they had, the both of them.”
The reader is given two main points by Tom.
- Malva used to display her wicked and deceitful nature at a young innocent age (something that does not make sense).
- She is also described as being seductive or a seductress.
What is interesting about Tom’s revelation is that he does not say anything negative about his son, Allan. He is aware that his son is responsible for Malva’s death and the one to be mostly blamed for all the negative events that subsequently affected both Jamie and Claire. In fact, Claire suspects Tom knows something but he avoids the topic.
He shook his head, but would not look at me, and I knew that he had some idea, at least, He would not tell me . . . (A Breath of Snow and Ashes, ch. 97).
As a result, Tom’s assessment of Malva is basically biased against her. Malva is a constant reminder of his wife’s unfaithfulness, and the reason why he does not reveal Allan’s nature. At the same time, his decision to take the blame for his niece’s death in order to save Claire is also made not only because of love but also to protect his son.
More astonishing is the fact that Malva shares certain traits not only with her mother but also with Tom.
“She . . . wanted,” he said at last. “She lusted. Lusted for wealth, for position, for what she saw as freedom, not seeing it as license – never seeing!” He spoke with sudden violence, and I thought it was not Malva alone who had never seen things as he did. (A Breath of Snow and Ashes, ch. 97)
Malva craves for power, a characteristic she shares with Tom. In his conversation with Kenny Lindsay, Roger realizes that Christie at Ardsmuir was “ambitious, intelligent – and envious. Competent himself, but lacking Fraser’s fortunate birth and skill at warfare . . . “ (The Fiery Cross, ch. 95). Since most prisoners at Ardsmuir were Highlanders, they opted to follow Jamie because of his noble birth and warrior skills. Furthermore, it is obvious that they would prefer a Highlander as opposed to a Lowlander that was creating a rift between Catholics and Protestants. Of course, Tom grew more envious of Jamie after Quarry, the prison’s governor at that time, started to invite Jamie for dinner to discuss matters of what was needed by the prisoners. Obviously, Quarry saw Jamie as a leader for the prisoners instead of Tom. According to Kenny, Tom “was a chief himself”, but not good as Jamie (The Fiery Cross, ch. 95).
. . . Christie didna like it a bit, that Mac Dubh should be the great one, when he felt it his own place by right.” (The Fiery Cross, ch. 95)
It is possible that Malva resembled her uncle / adoptive father more than her mother. This is something that cannot be fully proved due to the fact that none of the Christies is a point of view character. Furthermore, there is no enough information about Malva’s mother, and what the reader is given is most likely biased. The fact is that Malva is ambitious, intelligent and envious as Tom. The only difference is that Malva can take extreme measurements such as killing people in order to achieve her ends. In fact her medical studies fascinate her. Of interest is the scene in which Claire witnesses Malva’s lack of distress when observing one of Daniel Rawling’s drawings – the one in which a stillborn is removed from the uterus. Claire is made uneasy by this drawing as opposed to Malva. Of course, this drawing foreshadows Malva’s death. It is not clear whether this fascination for disturbing things was a trait that Malva shared with her mother (a topic that will be discussed in a subsequent post).
Malva is attracted to everything that empowers her. Therefore, she is ambitious. A good instance is her reaction when she was administering ether to Bobby Higgins.
“Oh, ma’am! It was . . . I’ve never seen the like. It’s such a feeling, is it not? Like as we killed him, and brought him alive again” (A Breath of Snow and Ashes, ch. 42).
Malva feels like God when making Bobby unconscious and bringing him back to consciousness. It is no wonder that she subsequently reveals that Tom thinks that only God has the right to take away life and give it back. Of course, Tom’s opinion about ether and its use is more associated with the Presbyterian belief of predestination. Obviously one wonders whether she was learning medicine from Claire in order to provoke or annoy Tom. The truth is that back in the eighteenth century women were not allowed to be powerful. Men could go to universities to acquire knowledge. This is probably the reason why “wise” women like Claire are not viewed in a good light by many (people do not think she went to university). In regards to Malva, it seems that she is struggling to break free from a cultural system in which a woman’s future and choices are pretty much restricted. Of course, it may be that Tom never approved of her actions and choices, good or bad.
Malva is intelligent. She did not only show eagerness in learning new things but also understanding of very difficult biological concepts.
. . I had explained the germ theory of disease a number of times, to a variety of disbelieving eighteenth-century listeners, and in the light of the experience had little expectation of finding a favorable reception (A Breath of Snow and Ashes, ch. 46).
Jamie and Young Ian fall into this category in which their faces show a lot of disbelief for cells and germs when Brianna and Claire make mention of them. Malva does not fall into this category. It seems that she is able to understand twentieth century biology.
To my surprise, though, she seemed to grasp the notion at once – or at least pretended to (A Breath of Snow and Ashes, ch. 46).
However, Malva was not the only one able to grasp modern medicine concepts. Her uncle / father, Tom, is also able to understand them. He reveals to Claire that Malva told him about the germs when he decides to take the blame for his niece’s death. He gives Claire a detailed description of Malva’s attempt to poison her: how Malva took germs from the sin-eater’s body and use them to kill them both.
Claire suspects that Malva cut her hair when she was extremely ill and almost about to die to make her less attractive. Obviously Malva was envious of Claire.
“Oh, I should wish nothing but to be just like her, sir!” she assured him, clutching the handle of her basket in worshipful enthusiasm. “She is so kind and lovely, and she kens so much! I want to know all she can teach me, sir.” (A Breath of Snow and Ashes, ch. 48 – a conversation between Malva and Jamie)
Obviously she wanted not only medical knowledge but also Jamie. She wanted to be Claire’s replacement. However, Allan reveals to Claire that Malva did love her and that she wanted to rectify her actions. Overall it seems that Malva envied and admired Claire.
Next Outlander post will be about Malva’s notion of love, which is also something that she shares with Tom. It will be posted two weeks from now.
Works cited
Gabaldon, Diana. A Breath of Snow and Ashes. 2005. New York: Bantam Dell. 2006. Print.
– – -. The Fiery Cross. 2001. New York: Bantam Dell. 2005. Print.