The Cartographers

The first four chapters of The Cartographers introduce the protagonist, Nell Young, and two major themes of the book: Obsession and an Inability to Let Go of the Past. They also briefly touch on the theme of Reality Versus Fantasy. In addition, this section introduces two important symbols: the Compass Rose as Legacy and the Junk Box Map as Obsession.

The protagonist, Nell, most aptly demonstrates the theme of Obsession, for she often shows a stubborn Inability to Let Go of the Past. A gifted cartographer from a line of gifted cartographers, she is devastated to lose her position at the prestigious NYPL because of an argument with Daniel over a debatably worthless box of maps (30-31). The Junk Box Incident thus becomes a pivotal event in her own personal mythology, for Daniel’s decision to fire her caused her endless humiliation and locked her out of an elite industry; she only manages to stay tangentially connected to the field of cartography through her job at Classic. Although Nell tries to move on from the disaster of her past, discovering the Junk Box map in Daniel’s possessions after his death brings back all of her unresolved emotions, and it quickly becomes apparent that despite her new job, Nell is unable to let go of her past. Instead, she constantly dreams of returning to the NYPL and leaving what she considers to be an embarrassing job at Classic. Although Humphrey also realizes that she is very overqualified for the task creating replicas of ancient maps and is supportive of her desire to seek other opportunities, Nell admits to herself that she is going nowhere fast. While she complains daily about the historical inaccuracies in her work, she is also incapable of moving beyond the frustrations in her own background. Her PhD specialization in ancient maps further emphasizes her tendency to ponder past events; indeed, she has openly dedicated her life to studying the past, with no regard for the future.

Nell’s fixation on the past (and on the Junk Box map in particular) introduces the various ways in which Obsession is depicted throughout the novel. While Nell is primarily focused only on the map’s significance to the Junk Box Incident, the fact that she secretly withholds evidence foreshadows how profoundly this ongoing obsession will come to affect her, as well as how attached she will become to the map for its own sake. Initially, her goal is to use the map to vindicate herself and regain her career after the Junk Box Incident, and it is for this reason that she vengefully logs the supposedly worthless map under Daniel’s name after his death. However, the subsequent NYPL burglary and its apparent connection to the map also indicate the lengths to which the mysterious thief will go to obtain it, and this is a form of obsession in and of itself.

While the author will make liberal use of magical realism later in the novel, even these early chapters introduce the theme of Reality Versus Fantasy. Despite Nell’s specialization in ancient maps and creative work at Classic, she constantly complains that the embellishments she adds to the replicas are “historically inaccurate” (6). This objection initially serves to indicate her inflexibly solid grounding in reality, for she clearly prioritizes accuracy and correctness over fanciful embellishment. However, the highly artistic nature of her additions to the maps and her desire to regain her former NYPL glory both indicate that her philosophy is not quite as reality-based as she would like to imagine. Despite the impossibility of these career-driven fantasies, she cannot keep herself from hoping to achieve them.

Several significant symbols and motifs also appear early in the novel, although their full significance will not be revealed for a while yet. Perhaps the most important symbol is that of the Compass Rose, a sketch of which Nell notices the Compass Rose on the mysterious Junk Box map. While she does not yet understand the importance of the symbol, that fact that it is contained in her mother’s portfolio and may have been left for her by her father associates the sigil with the idea of Legacy. Before the story truly begins, Nell initially envisioned this legacy to be working with Daniel in the NYPL Map Division. After his death, she acknowledges this legacy by logging the Junk Box map at the library under his name and by investigating the map herself before giving it to the police. In a further emphasis of the idea of legacy and heredity, Nell’s colleagues often comment on her stubborn personality as well, a characteristic that Nell attributes to her father; ironically, the mutual stubbornness of father and daughter is what ultimately led to their estrangement after the Junk Box Incident. Thus, the author uses Nell’s past issues and present goals to explore a range of key themes and ideas.