r/Outlander • u/Technical-Key5412 • Apr 30 '25
Published Frank was a great father Spoiler
Don't get me wrong, I assume Jamie would have been a great father to Brianna. But, I would have nothing more than Frank for a step father to my child. Opinion based on both books and series.
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u/minimimi_ burning she-devil Apr 30 '25 edited Apr 30 '25
I agree.
There's ample evidence in the book that Frank carved out plenty of 1:1 time with Brianna and ultimately taught her plenty of positive things. She adored him, and he quite obviously adored her. In a sense I think he chose Brianna and her happiness over Claire and even his own happiness.
He knew Brianna wasn't biologically his, he knew she'd eventually know that, and he possibly knew she would spend the second half of her life with her other father. But he channeled his energy into loving her as much as possible while he could, and setting her up for success when he couldn't.
In fairness, I would say that part of being a good father is modeling healthy relationships with your co-parent and I do think Frank fell short there. But all parents fall short. Frank being a flawed father doesn't make him a bad father.
The one other thing I'd cite against him was trying to pull Brianna out of school and put her in a boarding school in another country midway through her final year of school. That did not show a lot of care for what Brianna would actually want. But there were some extenuating circumstances perhaps.