The Cartographers

The final chapters of the novel also explore the final stages of every major theme and symbol in the story: Obsession, Fixation on the Past, Reality Versus Fantasy, the Agloe Map as Obsession, the Haberson Map as Control, the Compass Rose as Legacy, Photographs as Community, and Phantom Settlements as Secrets.

As Nell realizes that Tam might still be alive in Agloe, Wally’s obsession with the town reveals his inability to let go of the past and how it has festered within him over the years. His obsessive desire for control pushes him to commit an ever-worsening series of crimes as his world comes crashing down, and he goes so far as to hold Felix hostage, force Nell to do his bidding, and kill Swann. In all these interactions, the Haberson Map (in the form of a portable scanner) remains close to him, symbolizing his endless attempts to control everyone and everything around him. This obsession and failure to recognize reality also reveal how consumed he has become by his fantasies of Tam and control. Even after everything he has done, he is still deluded into believing that their friendship will survive because he has committed all of his crimes for “her sake” (357). Combined with her rejection of this assertion, the fact that she has a letter for Nell but “nothing for him” (360) serves as the final proof that their friendship is long over. Yet even now, he also refuses to take responsibility for the ruin he has caused, leading Eve to sigh, “Even after all this time, you still don’t see” (339). Thus, Wally is never able to extricate himself from the fantasies that have destroyed his life.

Although Nell was also initially fixated on the Agloe map because of the Junk Box Incident, she, unlike Wally, is gradually able to let go of her obsession and her past and look toward a more hopeful future: reuniting with Tam. The adage that maps are made “to bring people together” (49) is therefore the greatest lesson that she will learn from her mother, and the one that allows her to overcome Wally’s twisted fantasies and return everyone to reality. Her destruction of the General Drafting map of Agloe represents her decision to let go of her obsession with the phantom settlement. Although Wally tries one last time to control Tam’s map of Agloe by incorporating it into the Haberson Map, Nell resists this as well, rejecting his control by jamming the scanner and changing Agloe’s location on the map: preventing him from accessing the town ever again.

In this way, Nell also fully accepts the legacy of the Cartographers, and by journeying into Agloe, she fully accepts the agency she has over her own reality: a sharp contrast to her passive character at the novel’s beginning. Accordingly, she uses the compass-rose pen (a symbol of the Cartographers’ lessons) to change her own world for the better, locking Wally out of Agloe and revealing the existence of the phantom settlements to the world, thereby preventing another Wally from repeating past mistakes. By keeping the Haberson Map in Agloe, Nell also wrests control of reality away from Wally, but the lessons she has learned also make her a much more responsible steward of its power. Her printed invitations to the new Agloe are suggestions, not commands, and the fact that Felix receives the first one implies that this is Nell’s way to of moving forward with her life; although still prioritizes maps, she has not forgotten their romance.

Finally, the discovery of Tam’s photographs in Agloe symbolizes the importance of community. Although Tam was isolated in Agloe for decades, she never forgot her friends and the community she created. This attitude contrasts with Wally’s life of obsessive solitude and anonymity, far from the group of friends whose collective explorations had such a profound effect on his life. The photographs also remind Nell of the importance of her own support group, for she travels to Agloe with her honorary family and loved ones, and, like Tam and Swann, sacrifices herself to save the rest of the group. In this way, despite her own obsession with Agloe, Nell never fully follows Wally into madness; she realizes the danger and returns to the light.