Frank Randall - The Unsung Hero of Outlander

By: S. Nappo

September 2022

It has recently come to my attention that I am one of the only Frank supporters in the Outlander fandom. That’s not to say that Frank is my favorite character, not even close. However, I see him as a tragic figure and misunderstood character; he is flawed, but still an honorable man. Some might say Frank is Jamie’s nemesis or rival and most readers despise Frank. Frank might actually be one of the most hated characters in Outlander after only Black Jack Randall and Steven Bonnet. I have a different view of Frank, however. In fact, I am willing to go so far as to call him the unsung hero in Outlander. I am hoping that after reading my opinions and theories for Frank, you might see Frank in a new light and perhaps you might even change your mind about him. In my defense of Frank, I will address common complaints against him using text directly from the books, I will try to bring in a new perspective for Frank’s actions, and finally, I will even make my own theories and predictions as to Frank’s overall significance in the story.

In my research, I stumbled across a quick line that Diana Gabaldon had written in The Outlandish Companion Volume I. She is specifically talking about characters and how she develops them with idiosyncrasies, cultural background, back stories, etc. She writes you can learn about the characters by the way the other characters regard them. If I take this to heart as the reader, I have to consider the other characters’ feelings toward Frank. Brianna loved him deeply. He was the only father she had known for the first 20 plus years of her life. They had an extremely close relationship and she believed him to be a kind and honorable man. Claire, while she had a very complicated relationship with Frank, also believed him to be an honorable man. Claire continued to wear Frank’s wedding band out of a devotion to him even after returning to Jamie. Claire once described Frank to Roger as a very decent man. (Voyager, Chapter 3) She also trusted him enough to allow him to raise Brianna. So, if the two characters that knew Frank the best both considered him to be a good and honorable man, then why do so many readers believe him to be so nefarious?

Just as we should take Claire’s good opinion of Frank’s character into consideration, we also need to be wary of what Claire is telling us. Since the majority of what we know of Frank is written from Claire’s point of view, we have to consider if she is always the most reliable source of information. My kindle version of Voyager contains notes and general questions at the conclusion of the story. It contained the following explanation of first-person narrators.

First-person narrators can be very reliable, completely unreliable, or somewhere in between…but, like us, they can never be omniscient. A narrator is never identical to the author. As narrators go, Claire is extremely reliable: She is intelligent, observant, empathetic, and well informed. What are some examples of experiences that struck you that probably would have less impact if told in third person? Consider, for example, Claire agonizing about whether she is doing the right thing by leaving Brianna, perhaps never to see her again, Claire’s inner response to moments of beauty around her, and others. However, all first-person narration is at least occasionally limited. There are several episodes in Voyager (as in the other books) in which Claire says that she “knew” something to be true that is not. For example, in Chapter 35, after the violent fight over Laoghaire, she says she “knew” she was leaving Lallybroch, never to return, but she is back shortly afterward to tend to Jamie after Laoghaire shoots him. She also “knew” that she would never say “I love you and mean it,” but she does, a few pages later (Chapter 37), and so the reader has to be somewhat wary. Are there any moments like this that you think are particularly interesting? If so, do they affect your judgment of important situations or major characters? Readers often disagree, for example, about the character of Frank (see below), especially concerning the question of whether he was unfaithful to Claire. Some think it is perfectly obvious (in Chapter 19) that he was adulterous (and sympathize or condemn); others think that readers take that assessment at face value because we see him through Claire’s eyes and that she may be wrong—as she occasionally is about other things.

I like to take everything that Claire tells me about Frank with a grain of salt, unless there is absolute proof to her claims. Which there mostly is not.

An interesting observation I have made within the Outlander fandom, is that everyone seems to find “show” Frank more forgiving and likable. They consider “book” Frank to be even shadier than his show counterpart. However, what I find most interesting is that when given the opportunity to list their grievances against Frank, they almost always give examples that have occurred on the show only. Examples include, when Claire returns and Frank tells her that she can never speak of her experience or utter the name Jamie Fraser again, when Frank burns Claire’s clothing from the 18th century, and when Frank decides to skip Claire’s graduation celebration and his mistress arrives on their doorstep. Ronald D. Moore has expressed his sympathy for Frank and admits to trying to make him more likable in the series. I think the show actually made many mistakes in the liberties they took with Frank’s character. I believe that only Diana knows Frank’s true character. The show often invents storylines for their own benefit, but these storylines cannot be held against Frank. Therefore, I will not be addressing any complaint about Frank that took place in the show and is not accurate to the book.

So, where to even begin. There are so many complaints and allegations against Frank, that it seems the most logical way through is to address them chronologically. Often, people complain about Frank right off the bat in book one by saying “They are supposed to be on their second honeymoon, but Frank is spending the entire time with the reverend researching his own genealogy.” Ok, this entire series is the marriage story of Jamie and Claire. So realistically, how much time should Diana really spend getting the reader invested in Frank and Claire? In a quick scan of the first two chapters of Outlander we are with Claire and Frank for four days before she disappears on the morning of day five. We are only getting snippets of their days, not a play by play of their entire time together. By my count they are intimate with each other three times over the course of their four days together.

Day 1 - It is implied that they were intimate after Frank comes inside from seeing the ghost. (Outlander, Chapter 1)

Day 2 - It is again implied that they become intimate after leaving the Reverend’s manse. (Outlander, Chapter 2)

Day 3 - While they aren’t shown being intimate this day, they do spend the entire day at Loch Ness together (leaving before sun up and not arriving home until late). (Outlander, Chapter 2)

Day 4 - After seeing the druids at sunrise on Beltane, they are intimate at the bottom of the hill at Craigh na Dun. (Outlander, Chapter 2)

To me, three times in four days is enough to imply that they are being intimate. In The Outlandish Companion, Diana even discusses “The Rule of Three'' in her writing and how it is important to show underlying patterns in her storytelling. So, we can deduce that Frank and Claire are being intimate and this honeymoon isn’t just a ruse for Frank to research his genealogy. However, genealogy was one of Frank’s passions and Claire explains that that was one of the reasons they chose to go to the highlands. (Outlander, Chapter 1) Presumably, Claire knew that Frank would spend some time devoted to doing research on his genealogy.

If you are of the persuasion that three sexual encounters in four days is not enough and that Frank and Claire should have spent their entire time in bed, keep in mind that Claire states that “it was difficult to maintain the proper mood of languorous romance with Mrs. Baird industriously Hoovering away outside the door. (Outlander, Chapter 1) I think it is safe to say that both Frank and Claire went to Scotland with the intention of getting to know each other again after six years apart, and by all of the evidence shown, they were both making an effort. For what it is worth, in the four days that we are with Frank and Claire, Frank only spent one morning with the Reverend at the manse researching genealogy while Claire was out with Mr. Crook searching for local plant specimens.

The next complaint against Frank usually has to do with his reaction to seeing a ghost outside of Claire’s window. Readers think he immediately jumps to conclusions when Frank thinks Claire cheated on him during the war. They go on to assert that Frank is projecting his own guilt because he in fact did cheat on Claire while she was away. Diana actually responds to this allegation. In her own words she says:

In the books, we see Claire and Frank’s relationship only from Claire’s point of view. Which is understandably a trifle biased, following her return through the stones. What we see prior to her disappearance is an awkward but affectionate relationship between two people who are married, but who are effectively strangers-they’ve barely seen each other in six years, and have been back together for only a few days. They’re feeling each other out, trying to reestablish the connection they once had, and struggling to overcome the fact that they are now quite different people than who they once were. Frank asks her diffidently at one point whether she had ever been tempted to stray during the war-assuring her that he would understand if she had. Claire-and the reader-think that his reason for doing this may well be that he had strayed, and would feel better about confessing his own transgression if she had suffered similar temptations. Well, maybe he did, and maybe he didn’t. It’s actually not an abnormal question to ask a mate you haven’t seen in six years, and one whom you know has been working closely with hundreds of wounded (and thus possibly emotionally appealing) men, in conditions that you know are stressful, dangerous, and highly conducive to passionate, if short-lived, physical attractions. He’s trying to ask it tactfully, but-they’re strangers. She takes offense, and he hastily drops the question. He doesn’t bring it up again, in the time they’re together-which is fairly short. So you have to draw your own conclusion there.

Follow this link to read the article in its entirety

https://timeslipsblog.wordpress.com/diana-gabaldons-defense-of-frank-randall/

Following Claire’s return trip through the stones readers accuse Frank of not being understanding and possibly trying to gaslight Claire and silence her experience. They allege that Frank realized what Claire had done in the past but made her swear to never speak of it. Now, I know that I said I wouldn’t address things that Frank did in the show, but not in the book. I want to address this instance however, because I think it is important to acknowledge that Frank never told Claire that she couldn’t speak of her experience or Jamie again. He asked only that he raise Brianna as his own daughter for as long as he lived. (Dragonfly in Amber, Chapter 5)

As to the rest, Claire told Frank her story, but he didn’t believe her. The doctors were telling Frank that she was delusional and in a traumatic state (Dragonfly in Amber, Chapter 5) and honestly, think of how truly far-fetched her story must have sounded to him. In Chapter Four of Dragonfly in Amber, Roger is reading through the Reverend’s old journals and stumbles upon a few entries regarding Frank and Claire. We know that Claire traveled through the stones on April 16th, the day of the Battle of Culloden. It is unclear in the books when Claire was admitted into the hospital and when she was reunited with Frank. We only know that he drove through the night to be with her. According to the Reverend’s journals though, the Reverend meets with Claire and Frank several times in May. However, it isn’t until the journal entry on May 14 that Frank mentions Jack Randall and Jamie Fraser to the Reverend. Frank asks him to research them but the Reverend doesn’t find anything. So nearly a month passes from the time Claire travels through the stones and when Frank begins to consider that Claire’s story could have some basis in reality. I think this is the very beginning of Frank’s research into Jamie, but not having Frank’s point of view we don’t know how long it took for him to fully believe Claire’s story or if he ever really did. In Voyager, Claire and Roger have a discussion about Claire confiding in Frank.

“Did—er, did your husband—Frank, I mean,” he added hastily. “Did you tell him … um … about …” His voice trailed off, choked with embarrassment. “Well, of course I did!” I said, a little sharply. “What did you think—I’d just stroll back into his office after being gone for three years and say, ‘Oh, hullo there, darling, and what would you like for supper tonight?’ ” “No, of course not,” Roger muttered. He turned away, eyes fixed on the bookshelves. The back of his neck was deep red with embarrassment. “I’m sorry,” I said, taking a deep breath. “It’s a fair question to ask. It’s only that it’s—a bit raw, yet.” A good deal more than a bit. I was both surprised and appalled to find just how raw the wound still was. I set the glass down on the table at my elbow. If we were going on with this, I was going to need something stronger than lemonade. “Yes,” I said. “I told him. All about the stones—about Jamie. Everything.” Roger didn’t reply for a moment. Then he turned, halfway, so that only the strong, sharp lines of his profile were visible. He didn’t look at me, but down at the stack of Frank’s books, at the back-cover photo of Frank, leanly dark and handsome, smiling for posterity. “Did he believe you?” Roger asked quietly. My lips felt sticky from the lemonade, and I licked them before answering. “No,” I said. “Not at first. He thought I was mad; even had me vetted by a psychiatrist.” I laughed, shortly, but the memory made me clench my fists with remembered fury. “Later, then?” Roger turned to face me. The flush had faded from his skin, leaving only an echo of curiosity in his eyes. “What did he think?” I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. “I don’t know.” (Voyager, Chapter 3)

Later, in Drums of Autumn, Chapter 71 we read Frank’s confession letter to the Reverend. There are a lot of revelations in Frank’s letter that are pertinent to his side of the story, but it’s clear in his letter that even years later he has doubts about Claire’s story. The letter also makes reference to the fact that over the years, Claire’s story never changed. This leads me to believe that perhaps Frank and Claire had an open and ongoing dialogue about Jamie and her experience in the past. I urge you to reread Frank’s confession letter found in Drums of Autumn, Chapter 71 as I will be referencing it several times.

In the text we can also gather that Claire knew that Frank was researching Jamie. In Voyager, Chapter 3 she says “I did know historians. I’d lived with one for twenty years. Frank hadn’t wanted to leave this particular puzzle alone, either. But neither had he been willing to solve it. Frank has been dead for two years, though, and now it was my turn - mine and Brianna’s.” Even though Claire refused to read any of Frank’s work, she knew the subject matter was the 18th century, which was Frank’s area of specialty.

Another complaint against Frank is that he made Claire move to Boston followed by the fact that once in Boston he wasn’t supportive of her becoming a doctor. I think the move to Boston was a chance for both Frank and Claire to start over. There was no reason for them to stay in Scotland. Even before her disappearance they would have moved to England for Frank’s job at Oxford. The move to Boston was in part to escape the gossip that was following both of them after Claire returned. Had they stayed in Scotland or England it wouldn’t have taken long for friends and acquaintances to figure out that Claire had gotten pregnant during the time that she was missing. It was important to Frank and Claire that they raise Brianna as Frank’s daughter and avoid the stigma that adultery would have had on Claire.

Now, as to the allegation that Frank was not being supportive of Claire. It is true that Frank did not want Claire to pursue medicine. In fact, he told her that if she was bored she could volunteer to write letters to the inmates of the nursing home. (Voyager, Chapter 3) However, a couple of years later when Claire thinks that she is going to resign, it is Frank that convinces her not to. He acknowledges that Claire has known forever who she is. He was envious of her and her absolute knowledge of herself and her calling. He then decides that he will watch Brianna in the afternoons and allow Claire to focus on her schooling/work without having to worry over Brianna. (Voyager, Chapter 7) What I find interesting about this grievance with Frank is that Jamie was guilty of the exact same thing in regards to Claire practicing medicine, only Jamie is never vilified for it. Jamie and Claire argue when Claire wants to volunteer at L’Hôpital des Anges during their time in Paris.

“I’m a nurse, Jamie. A healer. You have reason to know it.” He flushed hotly. “Aye, I do. And because ye’ve mended me when I’m wounded, I should think it right for ye to tend beggars and prostitutes? Sassenach, do ye no ken the sort of people that L’Hôpital des Anges takes in?” He looked pleadingly at me, as though expecting me to return to my senses any minute. “What difference does that make?” He looked wildly around the room, imploring witness from the portrait over the mantelpiece as to my unreasonableness. “You could catch a filthy disease, for God’s sake! D’ye have no regard for your child, even if ye have none for me?” Reasonableness was seeming a less desirable goal by the moment. “Of course I have! What kind of careless, irresponsible person do you think I am?” “The kind who would abandon her husband to go and play with scum in the gutter!” he snapped. “Since you ask.” He ran a big hand through his hair, making it stick up at the crown. “Abandon you? Since when is it abandoning you to suggest really doing something, instead of rotting away in the d’Arbanvilles’ salon, watching Louise de Rohan stuff herself with pastry, and listening to bad poetry and worse music? I want to be useful!” “Taking care of your own household isna useful? Being married to me isna useful?” The lacing round his hair broke under the stress, and the thick locks fluffed out like a flaming halo. He glared down his nose at me like an avenging angel. (Dragonfly in Amber, Chapter 11)

Many readers believe that Frank had a malicious intent when he asked the Reverend to place a false gravestone for Jamie in the same kirkyard where Jack Randall had been buried. I believe that this act was something that Frank actually did intentionally to allow Claire and Brianna to discover the grave, ask questions, and ultimately find Jamie alive in the past. And guess what, it worked like a charm.

Another complaint against Frank is that he was a racist. Unfortunately, all evidence points to this being true. Frank had issues with Claire spending time with Joe Abernathy and also accuses her of having an affair with Joe. Frank was also concerned about Brianna spending time with Joe’s son, Lenny as witnessed in Voyager, Chapter 19. Now, this is the only place in the books that Frank expressed these kinds of sentiments. We have to ask ourselves, is this truly what Frank believed? Or, was Frank purposely trying to hurt Claire and this was simply the quickest way to achieve it? While this is by no means an attempt to defend Frank on this issue, I would also like to point out that Frank was of a different era, when unfortunately this line of thinking was commonplace.

Frank’s alleged infidelity is perhaps the number one reason that Frank is so widely despised. However, given that the books are never seen from Frank’s point of view, we do not have absolute proof that this is true. We only have the repeated insistence from Claire that Frank was unfaithful and had had multiple affairs over the course of their marriage.

In Outlander, Chapter 1, Claire questions Frank’s faithfulness to herself after he mentions that the ghost could have been a liaison of hers.

‘It was only later, listening to his regular breathing beside me, that I began to wonder. As I had said, there was no evidence whatsoever to imply unfaithfulness on my part. My part. But six years, as he’d said, was a long time.’ This is not proof of him cheating during the war it is merely her considering the possibility.

When Claire returns from the past, she believes that Frank had not been celibate during their time apart. Again, this is just speculation from Claire. However, Frank truly believed Claire to be dead. She was gone for three years. I don’t think it is unreasonable for him to have tried to move on and start a new life for himself. Given the fact that Fr. Anselm ensures Claire that both of her marriages, to Frank and Jamie, were valid and consecrated by the church, and that she had committed neither sin nor crime in what she had done regarding the two men because she was separated by Frank by 200 plus years. I have to believe that the same would apply to Frank; he therefore cannot be guilty of infidelity during the time that Claire was in the past.

I also believe that Claire would not hold any attachment Frank had during her disappearance against him. Not only because she was with Jamie during this time and Frank believed her to be dead, but also because of what we learn later in the series. In Echo in the Bone, we know that Claire and Lord John Grey believed Jamie to be dead. Lord John married Claire in order to protect her from being arrested as a rebel spy and conspirator in the Revolutionary War. During their very brief marriage, Claire and Lord John have sexual relations. Claire maintains that she did nothing wrong, Jamie was dead. Claire and Jamie have a heated argument over this in Go Tell the Bees that I am Gone, Chapter 37.

“This is about you and me.” “And his lordship.” I lost the temper I’d been holding. “What the bloody hell do you want me to say? That I wish I hadn’t slept with John?” “Do ye?” “Actually,” I said, through my teeth, “given the situation, or what I thought the situation was…” He was no more than a tall black shape against the night, but I saw him turn sharply toward me. “If ye say no, Sassenach, I may do something I’ll regret, so dinna say it, aye?” “What’s wrong with you? You forgave me, you said so—” “No, I didn’t. I said I’d love ye forever, and I will, but—” “You can’t love somebody if you won’t bloody forgive them!” “I forgive you,” he said. “How fucking dare you?” I shouted, turning on him with clenched fists. “What’s wrong wi’ you?” He made a grab for my arm, but I jerked away from him. “First ye’re angry because I didna say I forgave ye and now ye’re outraged because I did?” “Because I didn’t do anything wrong to start with, you fatheaded arsehole, and you know it! How dare you try to forgive me for something I didn’t do?” “Ye did do it!” “I didn’t! You think I was unfaithful to you, and I. Bloody. Wasn’t!”

Claire’s insistence of Frank’s infidelity continues throughout their marriage. I want to reference once again the article linked earlier with Diana’s take on the situation. She writes “Claire thinks he may be having affairs, but she doesn’t ever have evidence of it. Either the guy is very dang good at hiding this stuff (and unfaithful spouses almost always give themselves away)-or he isn’t having affairs. He may well be seeking companionship, sympathy, and ego-reinforcement from other women (he ain’t gettin’ a lot of those things at home-but note that he isn’t leaving, either), but it’s at least possible that he isn’t crossing the line into actual physical infidelity. Note that Claire says that now and then she forces her sexual attentions on him, trying to prove that he’s been with someone else (and thus unable to respond to her)-but that every time, he does respond to her, even if with mutual rage.”

In Voyager, Chapter 19, Frank ultimately tells Claire that he is leaving. Claire again accuses Frank of adultery. It’s important to note that Frank never confirms Claire’s allegations. I also want to make reference to Brianna’s opinion of the situation. In A Breath of Snow and Ashes, Chapter 81 she is speaking with Roger wondering if Jamie was capable of cheating on Claire with Malva.

“Not Da,” she said slowly. She put the tip of her finger in her mouth and sucked the syrup off. “And I don’t know for sure about Daddy. It’s only—looking back at things I didn’t understand at the time—now I see—” She stopped abruptly, and closed her eyes, then opened them, fixing him directly. “I was looking through his wallet one day. Not snooping, just having fun, taking all the cards and things out and putting them back. There was a note tucked away, between the dollar bills. It was asking him to meet somebody for lunch—” “Innocent enough.” “It started out with Darling—, and it wasn’t my mother’s handwriting,” she said tersely. “Ah,” he said, and after a moment, “how old were you?” “Eleven.” She drew small patterns on the plate with the tip of her finger. “I just put the note back and kind of blotted it out of my mind. I didn’t want to think about it—and I don’t think I ever did, from that day to this. There were a few other things, things I saw and didn’t understand—it was mostly the way things were between them, my parents … Every now and then, something would happen, and I never knew what, but I always knew something was really wrong.”

Again, I don’t believe this to be proof of infidelity by Frank. Brianna is trying to make sense of Claire and Frank’s relationship. Obviously, they had a flawed marriage; Claire never got over Jamie. It is easy for Brianna to jump to conclusions that Frank must have been unfaithful because Malva had just accused Jamie of the same thing. The topic of infidelity is clearly on her mind.

In Frank’s confession letter to the Reverend, Franks admits to “hate, jealousy, lying, stealing, unfaithfulness, the lot.” I don’t believe unfaithfulness to mean infidelity in this instance. Those two words are not always synonymous. In the context of the letter to the reverend, infidelity is never mentioned. In this instance I believe Frank is referring to the fact that he lied to Claire about the truth of Jamie over the years.

Now, if you believe the narrative that Frank did cheat on Claire (for the record, I do not for reasons I will explain later), and this is proof positive in your eye...would it not have been understandable given the circumstances? Frank and Claire were married for 18 years after her return through the stones before Frank’s death in 1966. In all that time, Claire was never able to get over Jamie, and Frank knew that. Even though Claire didn’t have a physical affair during these 18 years she was emotionally unavailable to Frank. Her heart was with Jamie. Did Claire even care that she believed Frank to be having affairs or was she just continuing to turn a blind eye? During an argument in Voyager, Chapter 19 although Frank never confirms that he was unfaithful he says “You might have behaved as though it mattered to you.”

The two final complaints against Frank are the fact that he knew that Jamie survived Culloden and kept it from Claire and that he wanted to take Brianna away from Claire. I will address both of these points in the next section with my own personal theories and predictions for Frank based on my own interpretation of the books.

Frank had a lot of allegations weighed against him. I hope that I have thus far convinced you of his innocence on some of the charges. Or at the very least, given you pause to consider the validity of the allegations. However, at this point I want to flip the tables and give you perhaps a different perspective of Frank. These theories are purely based on my own personal interpretation of the books. Obviously, Diana is the only one who knows Frank’s story and motives, but I would like to think that my interpretation of the story is just as valid as the readers that believe Frank to be malicious.

I think one of the most important details to bring to mind in understanding my interpretation of Frank is his role in World War II. In Outlander, Chapter 1 we learn that the outbreak of the war sent Frank to Officers training and the intelligence unit of MI6 and A Leaf on the Wind of All Hallows confirms this; we find out that Frank was from the secret arm of British Intelligence. So presumably, Frank was not able to discuss much, if any, of his experience in the war with Claire. In A Leaf on the Wind of All Hallows, there are scenes of Frank meeting with both Jerry and Marjorie Mackenzie. He was recruiting Jerry to fly his spitfire into Poland to get secretive photos of labor camps to bring back to England. After Jerry disappears, Frank personally visits Marjorie to deliver an award posthumously for Jerry. It is obvious that Jerry isn’t the first soldier Frank has lost and the losses weigh on him.

In Outlander, Chapter 5, Claire recalls Frank telling her about his course in withstanding interrogation as part of officer’s training. I personally believe that Frank would have learned a great deal from his time in the British Intelligence unit. He most likely would have gained skills in espionage and counterintelligence. I think he continued to utilize these skills well beyond his war years.

So, let’s revisit the last two complaints that I skipped over from earlier. Frank knew that Jamie survived Culloden and kept the knowledge of it from Claire. Yes, Frank did know that James Fraser survived the Battle of Culloden, but at what point does Frank fully believe that this whole story of Claire’s could be true? How many years does he conduct his research on Jamie? Without Frank’s point of view, we don’t know how he is processing this information and what ramifications he believes it could have for Claire and Brianna.

As a historian specializing in the 18th century, we have to assume that Frank did extremely thorough research on Jamie. He most likely found the exact same traces of Jamie throughout history as Claire, Roger, and Brianna did, if not more. There is a passage in Voyager, Chapter 7, where Frank is talking to Claire about her calling as a doctor. At first glance you think he is making an analogy of Claire pursuing medicine, but if you read between the lines it is clear that Frank is speaking directly of Jamie and Jamie’s sacrifice.

“To have that passion for anything”—a small twitch tugged the corner of his mouth—“or anyone. That’s quite splendid, Claire, and quite terribly rare.” He squeezed my hand gently and let it go, turning to reach behind him for one of the books on the shelf beside the table. It was one of his references, Woodhill’s Patriots, a series of profiles of the American Founding Fathers. He laid his hand on the cover of the book, gently, as though reluctant to disturb the rest of the sleeping lives interred there. “These were people like that. The ones who cared so terribly much—enough to risk everything, enough to change and do things. Most people aren’t like that, you know. It isn’t that they don’t care, but that they don’t care so greatly.” He took my hand again, this time turning it over. One finger traced the lines that webbed my palm, tickling as it went. “Is it there, I wonder?” he said, smiling a little. “Are some people destined for a great fate, or to do great things? Or is it only that they’re born somehow with that great passion—and if they find themselves in the right circumstances, then things happen? It’s the sort of thing you wonder, studying history … but there’s no way of telling, really. All we know is what they accomplished. “But Claire—” His eyes held a definite note of warning, as he tapped the cover of his book. “They paid for it,” he said.

Before moving on, I would also just like to take note of Frank’s tenderness in that scene. Frank gently squeezes her hand and then later traces the lines that webbed her palms, tickling as he went. To me, that seems to be more the behavior of a man who has deep feelings for Claire rather than one who is resentful and acts with malicious intent. A closer look at the text will reveal several of these types of moments of intimacy between Frank and Claire throughout their marriage.

So, Frank researched Jamie. What does this mean? We can speculate that Frank knows the timeline of events. He knows of Jamie’s time spent at Ardsmuir prison and he knows of Jamie’s term of indenture at Helwater. If he knew this much, what good would it be telling Claire that Jamie survived. Jamie was imprisoned; Claire would not have been able to be reunited with him under those circumstances. It would perhaps only cause her more pain and regret for leaving Jamie. Furthermore, telling Claire would create further tension between Frank and Claire’s already struggling marriage. Additionally, there was Brianna to consider. Frank feared for the loss of his daughter if Claire decided to risk the trip through the stones with Brianna. Frank later admits he was wrong to keep the truth to himself and not tell Claire about Jamie; he also says that he believes Brianna has a right to know of Jamie - later, as evidenced in the confession letter to the Reverend. This leads me to my next theory and my response to the complaint that Frank was going to take Brianna away from Claire. If Frank knew about Jamie being imprisoned, he would eventually discover when Jamie was pardoned and how he would live out the remainder of his life. Therefore, Frank finds out that Claire returns to Jamie in the past. So what should Frank do with this knowledge?

I truly believe that Frank was going to share this information with Claire and eventually Brianna. I believe that his decision to take Brianna to England was his attempt at beginning the conversation. Unfortunately, the conversation turned into a very heated argument with Claire and resulted in him walking away. We all know what happens next, Frank is killed in a car accident that night. So let’s expand on my theory. Frank knows that Claire will travel back to be with Jamie. Let’s say he realizes that based on the timeline he has discovered, Claire must travel within the next few years.

The timelines between the different centuries very conveniently line up. Jamie is officially pardoned, leaves Helwater, and heads home to Lallybroch in 1764 at the parallel time that Frank tells Claire that he is planning to leave with Brianna in 1966. I think Frank’s timing of leaving Claire is by design. Claire herself even speculates that he had been planning it for a long time, by lining up a new job for himself and a boarding school for Brianna. Perhaps Frank believes that by taking Brianna away to England he is giving Claire the opportunity to go back to Jamie. Another theory to consider, is Brianna in danger? Frank certainly believes she is as referenced in his Dearest Deadeye letter that she finds years later. (Written in my Own Heart’s Blood, Chapter 42) Is it possible that Frank believes that the safest option for Brianna is to take her away to England?

I made mention before of the possibility of Frank having acquired skills in counter-intelligence from his time in the war. Could Frank have been purposely trying to make it appear that he was having affairs over the years to cover the fact that he was actually involved in activities that he didn’t want Claire to know about? I have searched the text over and over looking for whatever evidence Claire has against Frank. The best description I find is in Drums of Autumn, Chapter 26.

“Sometimes it would be months—even a year or more—between episodes, and we would live in peace together. But then it would happen again; the silent phone calls, the too-excused absences, the late nights. Never anything so overt as another woman’s perfume, or lipstick on his collar—he had discretion. But I always felt the ghost of the other woman, whoever she was; some faceless, indistinguishable She.”

I think this just further strengthens my case. I do not believe that Frank was cheating on Claire. My theory is that all of the affairs that Claire was so convinced Frank was having actually was him secretly trying to neutralize the threats to Brianna and possibly Claire. Could we even go so far as to wonder if Frank ever met Brianna’s children as adults since they have the ability to time travel. In Written in my Own Heart’s Blood, Chapter 99, Jemmy asks that very question.

“Could we see him?” Jem said suddenly, his voice drowsy and soft. “Daddy? Yes, we’ll see him,” she promised, making her own voice solid with confidence. “No, your daddy …” he said, his eyes half open, glazed with sleep. “If we go through the stones, could we see Grandpa Frank?” Her mouth dropped open, but she still hadn’t found an answer when she heard him start to snore.

We don’t know what Frank's real intentions and motives are, never having his point of view, and unfortunately Frank is killed before his last conversation with Claire could be continued.

While we are on the topic of Frank’s death, let us consider for a moment, was his death truly an accident? Could there have also been an outside threat to his life? In Frank’s letter that he writes to Brianna (both his first draft and final version) it is evident that he has actively been working to secretly discover exactly who is researching Brianna’s connection to the Fraser Prophecy and neutralize the threat. In Frank’s confession letter to the Reverend, he also mentions trouble with his heart. “The doctor says it might be years yet, with care, and I hope it is-but there’s the odd chance.” Frank is clearly preparing himself for his death. This letter to the Reverend is in fact Frank’s final confession, a Holy Sacrament to a Catholic. Since Frank knew that his time was limited, he had to set a plan into motion to hasten Claire’s return to Jamie. Frank had the gravestone placed as his insurance policy in case he wasn’t able to have the conversation with Claire prior to his death.

If we move on to consider what we learn of Frank in Go Tell the Bees that I am Gone, we discover that Frank has in fact dedicated his life to researching Jamie. His final book is The Soul of a Rebel: The Scottish Roots of the American Revolution. Brianna brings a copy of it through the stones with her and after reading it, Jamie believes that Frank is talking directly to him through the book.

“I think the bastard wrote it for me, is what I think,” he said bluntly. I was startled. “For you?” “Aye. He’s talking to me.” He raised one shoulder, self-conscious. “Or at least I think he is. Between the lines. I mean…it might only be as I’m losin’ my mind. That’s maybe more likely. But…” (Go Tell the Bees that I am Gone, Chapter 20)

What could Frank’s intentions and motives be behind this? If Frank truly believed that Claire and Brianna could be in danger from those that are hunting them for the Fraser’s Prophecy and time travel, wouldn’t he do everything in his power to protect them. I believe that his obsession with researching Jamie was in part to discover all he could about the man he would send his wife and daughter back to, but also in order to equip all of them with as much knowledge as possible to ensure a safe future for them. I also believe this is why Frank is so adamant on teaching Brianna how to shoot, ride horses, and survive outdoors. He wanted them all to be prepared for what he knew was coming.

You may be screaming at this point, but why didn’t Frank just tell Claire. I think that it was his intention to do so directly before his death. He wanted to tell Claire what he knew and give her the opportunity to return to Jamie. As to why Frank didn’t tell her earlier, I believe it was for her own protection. I don’t see this as Frank being dishonest or lying either, just a secret that he wasn’t ready to share. Even Jamie agrees that respect has room for secrets, but not lies.

“There are things that I canna tell you, at least not yet. And I’ll ask nothing of ye that ye canna give me. But what I would ask of ye—when you do tell me something, let it be the truth. And I’ll promise ye the same. We have nothing now between us, save—respect, perhaps. And I think that respect has maybe room for secrets, but not for lies. Do ye agree?” He spread his hands out, palms up, inviting me. I could see the dark line of the blood vow across his wrist. I placed my own hands lightly on his palms. “Yes, I agree. I’ll give you honesty.” His fingers closed lightly about mine. “And I shall give ye the same.” (Outlander Chapter 15)

I’m sure that your next instinct would be to say, “but Jamie would never do that.” On the contrary, even Jamie has kept secrets from Claire. Remember the disaster that occurs as a result of Jamie not telling Claire that a man named Mackenzie came to the ridge looking for Brianna in Drums of Autumn?

Another example can also be found in Drums of Autumn. Jamie deliberately does not tell Claire that the overseer at River Run, Davie Byrnes is suffering from tetanus that eventually leads to his death.

“No,” I said, with a little effort. “No, I couldn’t have saved him. But I should have seen him; I might have eased him a little.” Now he did look at me; I saw his head turn, and felt the shifting of his weight in the boat. “You might,” he said evenly. “And you wouldn’t let me—” I stopped, remembering his absences this past week, and his evasive replies when I had asked him where he’d been. I could imagine the scene all too well; the tiny, stifling attic room in Farquard Campbell’s house where I had dressed Byrnes’s injury. The racked figure on the bed, dying by inches under the cold eyes of those the law had made his unwilling allies, knowing that he died despised. The sense of cold came back, raising gooseflesh on my arms. “No, I wouldna let Campbell send for you,” he said softly. “There’s the law, Sassenach—and there is justice. I ken the difference well enough.” “There’s such a thing as mercy, too.” And had anyone asked, I would have called Jamie Fraser a merciful man. He had been, once. But the years between now and then had been hard ones—and compassion was a soft emotion, easily eroded by circumstance. I had thought he still had his kindness, though; and felt a queer pain at the thought of its loss. I shouldna think so, no. Had that been no more than honesty? The boat had drifted halfway round, so that the drooping branch hung now between us. There was a small snort from the darkness behind the leaves. “Blessed are the merciful,” he said, “for they shall find mercy. Byrnes wasn’t, and he didn’t. And as for me, once God had made his opinion of the man known, I didna think it right to interfere.” “You think God gave him tetanus?” “I canna think anyone else would have the imagination for it. Besides,” he went on, logically, “where else would ye look for justice?” I searched for words, and failed to find any. Giving up, I returned to the only possible point of argument. I felt a little sick. “You ought to have told me. Even if you didn’t think I could help, it wasn’t your business to decide—” “I didna want ye to go.” His voice was still quiet, but there was a note of steel in it now. “I know you didn’t! But it doesn’t matter whether you thought Byrnes deserved to suffer or—” “Not for him!” The boat rocked suddenly as he moved, and I grasped the sides to keep my balance. He spoke violently. “I didna care a fig whether Byrnes died easy or hard, but I’m no a monster of cruelty! I didna keep you from him to make him suffer; I kept ye away to protect you.” (Drums of Autumn, Chapter 13)

Although not being completely honest with Claire may not always seem like the best decision, both Frank and Jamie seem to be of the same mind that in certain situations it is the most prudent.

Now, my next theory may be hard to believe, but it is vital to understanding what I believe to be the driving force behind Frank’s motives. I believe that Frank was in love with Claire, not just before her disappearance, but during the entirety of their marriage. This is one of the main reasons why I do not believe that Frank was unfaithful to Claire. So many people ask, why did Frank and Claire stay married. I think the easy answer is that divorce for Catholics was just not done in those times. However, I think the reason is because Frank still loved Claire. He told her in Outlander, Chapter 1 that even if she had had an affair during the war it would make no difference to him. He says “I love you so. Nothing you ever did could stop my loving you.” Let’s also keep in mind Claire’s wedding ring that Frank had engraved with “From F. to C. with love. Always.” I think Frank’s love for Claire was selfless and unconditional throughout their entire marriage. He knew that she did not love him in return, but he loved her so much that he stayed with her for 18 years and was ready and willing to send her back through the stones to Jamie when the time came. Just as Jamie had done at the Battle of Culloden.

I know that all of my theories about Frank may seem like a stretch. But let’s consider for a moment how Diana writes a few other very complicated and nuanced characters. Arch and Murdina Bug seem like wonderful and steadfast additions to the ridge until we find out that they are the ones who have secretly been stealing the Frenchman's Gold. Malva Christie is another example of a character who initially seems like a decent human being, but then turns out to be extremely dangerous and manipulative. Readers have been shocked by both circumstances involving the Bugs and Malva. What if this whole time Diana has been writing Frank in the complete opposite fashion. She is making the readers distrust him, only to give us his redemption at the end and make him the unsung hero of the series.

So many people cringe when I call Frank the unsung hero of the story. So I think it is important to elaborate on exactly what an unsung hero is. An unsung hero is a person who has achieved great things or committed acts of bravery or self-sacrifice, yet is not recognized or known. How many honorable deeds has Frank done in secret over the years? He literally devoted his life to researching Jamie. Did he in fact sacrifice his life in the car accident to protect Claire and Brianna? How much debt is owed to him by Jamie? Will more be revealed in the upcoming tenth book to redeem Frank in the eyes of the reader?

Diana has often spoken of Jamie’s ghost and has said that all will be revealed about the ghost in the last chapter of the final book. My prediction is that the story will end with Jamie’s ghost watching over Claire and Frank. Frank’s letter to the Reverend reveals even more to support my theory.

“Fraser-shall I curse him for stealing my wife, or bless him for giving me my daughter? I think these things, and then I stop, appalled that I should be giving a moment’s credence to such a preposterous theory. And yet…I have the oddest sense of James Fraser, almost a memory, as though I must have seen him somewhere. Though likely this is just the product of jealousy and imagination-I know what the bastard looks like, well enough; I see his face on my daughter, day by day! That’s the queer side of it, though-a sense of obligation. Not just to Bree, though I do think she’s a right to know-later. I told you I had a sense of the bastard? Funny thing is, it’s stayed with me. I can almost feel him, sometimes looking over my shoulder, standing across the room. Hadn’t thought of this before-do you suppose I’ll meet him in the sweet by-and-by, if there is one? Funny to think of it. Should we meet as friends, I wonder, with the sins of the flesh behind us? Or end forever locked in some Celtic hell, with our hands wrapped around each other’s throat?”

In Go Tell the Bees that I am Gone, Chapter 117, Claire and the Sachem have a very lengthy discussion about the dead and ghosts. He asks Claire if she believes the dead concern themselves with the living. She responds that she does believe as do most Highlanders, who have a very intimate relationship with their dead. Their conversation continues and he reveals that he sees ghosts. She goes on to ask him if she has ghosts.

He tilted his head to one side, as though inspecting me. “You lay your hands on many people, to try to heal them. Some of them die, of course, and some of those, I think, follow you for a short time. But they find their way and leave you. You have a small child sometimes near you, but she is very faint. The only other one I have seen with you more than once is a man. He wears spectacles.” He made circles of his thumbs and middle fingers and held them up to his eyes, miming glasses. “And a peculiar hat, with a short brim. I think he must be from your place across the stones, for I have never seen anything like that.” I honestly thought I was having a heart attack. There was an immense pressure in my chest, and I couldn’t breathe. The Sachem touched my arm, though, and the pressure eased. “You shouldn’t worry,” he assured me. “He is a man who loved you; he means you no harm.” “Oh. Good.” I’d broken out in a cold sweat and groped for a handkerchief. I was wiping my face and neck with it when the Sachem got to his feet and offered me a hand. “What is strange,” he said as I rose, “is that this man often follows your husband, too.” (Go Tell the Bees that I am Gone Chapter 117)

We can deduce that Frank’s ghost is also watching over Jamie. Claire also eventually comes to believe that Frank was in fact trying to speak to Jamie through his book and the letter he wrote to Brianna.

Bree had told me—and Jamie—about the letter Frank had left for her. An extremely disturbing letter, on multiple levels. But what was echoing in the back of my mind just now was the last paragraph of that letter: And…there’s him. Your mother said that Fraser sent her back to me, knowing that I would protect her—and you. She thought that he died immediately afterward. He did not. I looked for him, and I found him. And, like him, perhaps I send you back, knowing—as he knew of me—that he will protect you with his life. For the first time, it occurred to me that even if Jamie was right, and Frank was making an attempt to tell him something—it might be a warning, rather than a threat. (Go Tell the Bees that I am Gone Chapter 117)

These two men, Jamie and Frank, are inextricably bound to each other. They share both a wife and daughter. Even though they may despise each other, they are both men of honor who put absolute faith and trust in one another. If Frank’s ghost is watching over Jamie, then Jamie’s ghost must also watch over Frank. Jamie owes Frank a debt of honor for the protection and love he gave to Claire and Brianna for all of those years and vice versa. Could these two men also potentially be linked by both sacrificing their lives to protect their family?

So what final conclusions can we make? I believe that Frank Randall is as central to the story as the love between Jamie and Claire. The shape of Outlander is often described as three overlapping triangles. The shape of a triangle is significant to the overall theme of the book, specifically the love triangle between Frank, Claire, and Jamie. But, just as Claire is bound to both Frank and Jamie. Frank and Jamie are also bound to each other.

As I have asserted from the beginning, Frank is an honorable man. I want to reiterate that both Claire and Brianna, the two characters that knew him best, believed that he was honorable. In Drums of Autumn, Chapter 47 Claire is talking to Jamie about whether he would raise a child of hers that was the product of rape.

“Would you do it?” I said at last. “If it were me?” He glanced at me sharply, and opened his mouth as though to speak. Then he closed it and looked at me, searching my face, his brows knotted with troubled thought. “I meant to say ‘Aye, of course!’ ” he said slowly, at last. “But I did promise ye honesty once, did I not?” “You did,” I said, and felt my heart sink beneath its guilty burden. How could I force him to honesty when I couldn’t give it him back? And yet he had asked. He struck the fencepost a light blow with his fist. “Ifrinn! Yes, damn it—I would. You would be mine, even if the child was not. And if you—yes. I would,” he repeated firmly. “I should take you, and the child with ye, and damn the whole world!” “And never think about it afterward?” I asked. “Never let it come into your mind when you came to my bed? Never see the father when you looked at the child? Never throw it back at me or let it make a difference between us?” He opened his mouth to reply, but closed it without speaking. Then I saw a change come over his features, a sudden shock of sick realization. “Oh, Christ,” he said. “Frank. Not me. It’s Frank ye mean.” I nodded, and he gripped my shoulders. “What did he do to ye?” he demanded. “What? Tell me, Claire!” “He stood by me,” I said, sounding choked even to my own ears. “I tried to make him go, but he wouldn’t. And when the baby—when Brianna came—he loved her, Jamie. He wasn’t sure, he didn’t think he could—neither did I—but he truly did. I’m sorry,” I added. He took a deep breath and let go of my shoulders. “Dinna be sorry for that, Sassenach,” he said gruffly. “Never.” He rubbed a hand across his face, and I could hear the faint rasp of his evening stubble. “And what about you, Sassenach?” he said. “What ye said—when he came to your bed. Did he think—” He broke off abruptly, leaving all the questions hanging in the air between us, unstated, but asked nonetheless. “It might have been me—my fault, I mean,” I said at last, into the silence. “I couldn’t forget, you see. If I could … it might have been different.” I should have stopped there, but I couldn’t; the words that had been dammed up all evening rushed out in a flood. “It might have been easier—better—for him if it had been rape. That’s what they told him, you know—the doctors; that I had been raped and abused, and was having delusions. That’s what everyone believed, but I kept saying to him, no it wasn’t that way, I insisted on telling him the truth. And after a time—he believed me, at least halfway. And that was the trouble; not that I’d had another man’s child—but that I’d loved you. And I wouldn’t stop. I couldn’t,” I added, in a softer tone. “He was better than me, Frank was. He could put the past away, at least for Bree’s sake. But for me—” The words caught in my throat and I stopped.

Claire admits that Frank was better than her. He could put the past away. Frank dedicated his life and worked to the best of his ability to love and protect his women, just like Jamie. In Voyager, Chapter 7, Claire is talking of Frank to Roger “So far as he ever felt he had a destiny-something he was really meant to do-he felt that Brianna was it.”

Was Frank’s destiny to give his life to save Brianna’s? Is Jamie perhaps doomed to the same fate? How will Diana Gabaldon wrap up this amazing story? There are so many questions still unanswered, but I sincerely hope that I have at least changed your perception of Frank Randall. If you are still not convinced, I strongly urge you to reread the books. View Frank through a new lens, you might be surprised by what you find.