Kidnapped

David’s coming of age is tied to his ethical development. The novel charts his growth from a youth with a black-and-white view of right and wrong to a capable adult who has had firsthand experience with moral complexity. At the start of the story, he is a headstrong country boy, quick to judge and confident in his ethical and political positions, “as good a Whig” (48), as the village priest was able to make him. However, even in the early episodes of the novel, he is thoughtful and observant. As David makes his way in the world, he begins to empathize with and understand the diverse ethical positions of the people he encounters.

During the novel’s second major episode, aboard the Covenant, David comes face to face with his biases, recognizing that the crew, whom he initially thought of as “unclean beasts” (37), are men like anyone else, capable in equal parts of kindness and cruelty. As he spends time with the sailors, he comes to understand that each “class of man […] has its own fault and virtues” (38).

David’s friendship with Alan further stretches the moral intuitions of his youth. Alan is a Jacobite and deserter from the English army who carries both labels with pride. He describes his time among the redcoats, the mere site of whom had caused a swell of pride in the young David, as “a black spot upon [his] character” (62). As a Jacobite, Alan thinks little of King George and wishes he had a chance to murder the agent of the crown whose work is harming his clan. When the king’s agent is assassinated, Alan not only hides the shooter’s identity but also leads the pursuing soldiers away from the escaping murderer. To David, Alan’s morals are “tail-first” (97), yet despite disagreeing with Alan, he refers to the man as his friend. For David, Alan’s ethical system is “not the good Christianity as [he] understand[s] it, but it’s good enough” (97).

Alan epitomizes Highlander values and sense of honor. Alien as they are to David, he comes to respect them. At first, he sees nothing but fear in the people of the Highlands, but he gradually comes to recognize that they possess “self-denial that should put the like of you and me to shame” (88). David’s time with the Highlanders does not fundamentally change his moral or political convictions, but he comes to see that people can hold divergent positions and still be honorable, just, good, and virtuous. In the novel’s final scene, David and Alan, who by their titles and morals have every reason to disagree with and hate each other, part ways as dear friends.