Outlander: Joe Abernathy and Ishmael Foreshadow Geillis’s Death

This post is the second one concerning the character analysis of Geillis Duncan, and it will cover only the third book of the Outlander series, Voyager.

My Outlandish Acquisition
My Outlandish Acquisition

Readers have a tendency to want confirmation or explanations for certain mysteries when reading a book. In the Outlander series one of these mysteries is the relationship between Joe Abernathy and Ishmael, which is not explicitly stated. However, the author drops certain clues and allusions to solve this enigma. Here are some of these clues and allusions that implicitly explain the fact that Ishmael is Joe’s ancestor.

He sounded like Joe Abernathy, I thought drowsily, dictating an autopsy report – unvarnished and unappetizing physical details, related in a voice like a deep golden lullaby. (868-869)

I could see Joe’s hands in memory, dark on the pale skin of an accident victim, moving swiftly as he made his verbal notes to the tape recorder. (869)

I came awake suddenly, heart pounding, hearing the echo of Joe’s voice coming from the table a few feet away. (869) 

The excerpts above are Claire’s musings when Jamie is interrogating Ishmael about the 12 Scottish boys aboard the pirate ship, Bruja, in order to know young Ian’s whereabouts. As a result, there is a correlation between Ishmael and Joe.
Geillis’ comments to Claire about Ishmael’s skills are even more revealing.

Houngan is what the blacks call one of their medicine-priests; though to be quite right about it, I believe Ishmael said his sort of black called him an oniseegun, or somesuch.” (968)

Ishmael is basically a medicine-priest, and his descendant in the 20th century, Joe, is a medical doctor. A parallel is established between these two characters. However, the most interesting connection between them is that they both foreshadow Geillis’ death.

In my previous Outlander post, I detailed many references of Geillis being a white lady. Here is a link to the post:

Geillis Duncan as a White Lady

Dr. Abernathy refers to Geillis as a white lady. Here is an excerpt when Abernathy is discussing Geillis’ skeletal remains.

Well, now that we’ve got Mr. Thompson and his dead white lady sorted out, what can I do for you, L.J.?  (Voyager, ch. 20)).

Of course, he is referring to her as belonging to the European race as opposed to her being a witch / healer / wisewoman. However, the allusion is very clear that Geillis is a white lady. Furthermore, this allusion foreshadows her death later on in the book. It also partially confirms that the skeletal remains belong to Geillis.
In his forensic anthropology assessment, Joe provides the reader with some interesting revelations concerning the analysis of the skeletal remains given to him:
  • Her remains were obtained from a Caribbean cave.
  • Her age is estimated to be somewhat between late-40s and mid-50s. This was probably done by looking at teeth wear and bone density.
  • Sex determination was probably done by looking at the hip bone, which displays in females wider anatomical features and it also shows evidence of birthing trauma.
  • The remains belong to somebody of European descent (white). This task is done by comparing the measurement of long bones among different races. This information is listed on a reference table.
  • The skeletal remains are dated 150 – 200 years before 1968.
It is interesting to notice the parallel between Dr. Abernathy and his ancestor, Ishmael. Ishmael is a medicine-priest and he is of the opinion the only men can do medicine. Women can only do this once their menstrual cycles stop, I guess that would be after menopause.  It makes me wonder whether Claire would be able to travel through the stones at old age.

“A woman bleeds, she kill magic. You bleed, got your woman-power, the magic don’t work for you. The old women do magic; witch someone, call the loas, make sick, make well.” He gave me a long appraising look, and shook his head. (1012),

 “You ain’ gone do the magic, what the Maggot do. That magic kill her, sure, but it will kill you too.” He gestured behind him, toward the empty bench. “You hear Bouassa speak? He say the Maggot die, three days. She taken the boy, he die. You go follow them, mon, you die, too, sure.”  (1012).

The implication of the last quote is that the Scottish boys that Geillis kidnapped are dead, which is the topic I will be discussing in a subsequent post.
The important thing about Ishmael’s warning is that Geillis is aware that magic might kill her not only because he told her, but also because of her acquired knowledge of stones.

Stones of protection; amethyst, emerald, turquoise, lapis lazuli, and a male ruby.” ( 970)

“The male stones are what ye use, though; the females don’t work.” (970).

She took these two warnings lightly. She failed not in the sense of performing magic but in the sense that she could not accomplish what she had as her political agenda. In the end it was not magic that killed her as Ishmael predicted but her own ambitions and intentions.

The wealth of hints, allusions and other foreshadowing devices are the reason why Voyager is my favourite of the first three Outlander books.

Excerpts from

Gabaldon, Diana. Voyager. New York: Bantam Dell. 1994. Print.

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