The Cartographers

The theme of obsession plays a large role in shaping the plot and character development in The Cartographers, most particularly in terms of Wally and Nell, but also to a smaller extent with the Cartographers themselves during the Agloe project. Obsession is clearest in Wally’s character; in fact, it is almost built into him from the beginning. Described as a quiet perfectionist, Wally is always the most resistant to change, but becomes the most adamant support of a new idea, once he has been convinced (usually by Tam). However, Wally’s obsession with Tam leads to his obsession with secrets, and later, control. One Cartographer observes that his feelings for Tam are “like a phantom limb” (144), secret even from himself although he could still feel them.

This is why he doesn’t want to share the secret of Agloe with the others. In his mind, because he and Tam found the map and discovered Agloe, it should remain their secret, but once the other Cartographers are brought in, Wally’s obsession with keeping Agloe secret spirals out of control. Ironically, because Wally is powerless to prevent Tam’s choices, he becomes obsessed with controlling everything else. This mindset is first portrayed through Wally’s robberies and inquiries about other copies of the 1930 General Drafting New York road map on which Agloe is depicted; his collection and subsequent destruction of the maps indicates the extent of his desire for control and implies just how far he might go to maintain it. Although Wally initially defends his actions as “protect[ing] the town” (264), in reality, Wally seeks the power he lost within the Cartographers, his past relationship with Tam, and the trust lost with each perceived “betrayal” by the other Cartographers.

This paranoia grows worse after Tam’s supposed death. Because she is the center of his world, Wally’s grief for her—and his lack of social support—cause him to turn to his obsession as a primary focus in life. Although he claims that his creation of the Haberson Map—meant to be the perfect map capable of changing the world—was all done for Tam, she responds, “I didn’t want you to do any of this” (357), thereby rejecting Wally’s overtures of love and his twisted desire for power. Nell also observes that as the years passed, Wally’s obsession festered; while locating Agloe was initially a means to find Tam, Agloe eventually supersedes Tam in Wally’s eyes, becoming both the means and the end. By the final confrontation in Agloe, Wally has learned to exist without Tam, but he can no longer live without Agloe—after losing it, he is a broken man, abandoned by his loved ones because of his choices.

While Nell faces a similar dilemma, she escapes Wally’s fate because of the support she both receives and relies on. Nell’s obsession with the 1930 map of Agloe is less about the town itself and more about seeking knowledge and being vindicated. A genius cartographer raised by genius Cartographers, Nell knows that she is gifted, even if she doesn’t always believe it. She is also aware that her stubbornness is a family trait, and like her family, she doesn’t back down when she wants to prove herself. The first culmination of this is the Junk Box Incident—which reveals another layer of stubbornness with each reflection: first, her insistence that the Junk Box maps are valuable; then, her rejection of her father’s rejection without listening to his reasons; and finally, the excommunication of not just her but also Felix from the field, a disaster for both their careers.

This “excommunication” is Nell’s version of the fire in Agloe—her chance to calm down, reflect, and recalibrate. Like Wally, Nell doesn’t know the full truth about Agloe, the maps, or her mother; like Wally, this leads her to obsess over the perceived injustices of the consequences of her actions. Unlike Wally, however, Nell has supporters to help her: Bear, who gives her a job, and Swann, who maintains contact and becomes more of a father figure to her than Daniel is. Due to this support, Nell does not remain dependent on her ex to survive, the way Wally obsesses over Tam, and this allows her to slowly begin to consider a new relationship with Felix after the Junk Box Incident has settled.

However, Nell’s struggle centers around her desire for answers and her inability to move on. Felix, frustrated, feels that Nell chooses the Agloe map over her future. Nell’s obsession with uncovering the truth about Agloe and her mother takes precedence again and again, preventing her from moving on in her life, even when her loved ones are threatened. For example, after Swann is killed and Felix is held hostage, Nell still chooses to go to Agloe to find Tam and see the town, rather than simply giving the map to Wally. Though Nell does eventually save Felix and Tam from Wally, she remains in Agloe despite her love for the people around her; for Nell, maps win every time. Although Nell gives in to her obsession, she does so in a less destructive way than Wally does, sharing the knowledge of Agloe with the world and embracing the Cartographers’ goals rather than rejecting them in favor of solitary secrecy.

The other Cartographers deal with obsessions too, but to a far lesser extent than Nell and Wally do. Eve and Francis’s obsession with each other leads to their affair, while Romi’s obsession with sensing secrets leads her to discover everything her friends are hiding, breaking the group apart. Tam is drawn to understanding Agloe as a place, while Daniel becomes fixated on protecting Nell from Wally. Bear, though left solitary like Wally, is obsessed with holding the group together rather than isolating himself from it, to the point that he will ruin himself financially to support the others.

In this way, each major character in the novel either faces or succumbs to their individual obsessions. While Nell and Wally’s obsessions have the widest reaching consequences, Peng Shepherd observes that no one is immune to the dangers of these feelings; the choices one makes determine the outcome, not the feelings themselves.