I have thoughts too, and YES I agree, Jamie gives himself over, entire, and we love that idea. And we love that they're both independent enough on their own, but so much the stronger when they're together. We love that he's vulnerable, and that he loves her for being so strong and stubborn. It really is another example of the way he's inhabiting a role that's more often coded female, I think.
And that's why the second book was so hard for me to read, because they're each other's hearts, the life and breath that animates the other. Claire had to live with being widowed, despite having Brianna to give her purpose. Jamie only had the hope that they were alive; he didn't actually KNOW that she'd made it back safe and survived childbirth, he just couldn't let himself believe anything else. I think he merely survived. He went through the motions. As long as he had a purpose, someone to provide for (Lallybroch, his family and tenants), someone to protect (as Mac Dubh in Ardsmuir Prison), then he could put the one foot in front of the other. But when he didn't have that, when he was paroled and had to leave Willie, THEN he had no heart to keep him going. He became a harder and more reckless man; it didn't matter so much if he was caught printing sedition, it didn't matter so much if he was caught smuggling; he was willing to push the limits in ways that were beyond the bounds of safety, because it didn't matter, Claire and the child were lost to him. If he died or was caught it would just be what should have happened at Culloden, only come 20 years late.
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And that's why the second book was so hard for me to read, because they're each other's hearts, the life and breath that animates the other. Claire had to live with being widowed, despite having Brianna to give her purpose. Jamie only had the hope that they were alive; he didn't actually KNOW that she'd made it back safe and survived childbirth, he just couldn't let himself believe anything else. I think he merely survived. He went through the motions. As long as he had a purpose, someone to provide for (Lallybroch, his family and tenants), someone to protect (as Mac Dubh in Ardsmuir Prison), then he could put the one foot in front of the other. But when he didn't have that, when he was paroled and had to leave Willie, THEN he had no heart to keep him going. He became a harder and more reckless man; it didn't matter so much if he was caught printing sedition, it didn't matter so much if he was caught smuggling; he was willing to push the limits in ways that were beyond the bounds of safety, because it didn't matter, Claire and the child were lost to him. If he died or was caught it would just be what should have happened at Culloden, only come 20 years late.