The Last Mapmaker

Lineals are the main status symbol of Mangkon society, with each gold link representing a generation of honorable ancestry. Within the book’s examination of Social Class and the Limits of Upward Mobility, lineals symbolize a rigid class system in which an individual’s opportunities in life are defined by family history rather than their own actions. For many, this results in a lack of control over their own destiny. Citizens without a reputable ancestral line have little access to education or good jobs and become trapped in a life of poverty. Sai’s goal in the story evolves from her wish to obtain a lineal to her new goal of changing society itself by rejecting the lineal as a measurement of her worth.

Paiyoon’s eyeglass is said to be made from a dragon’s inner eyelid, which allegedly shows “the true nature of a thing” (123). For part of the story, the eyeglass serves as a symbolic archetype from the Hero’s Journey, for it arguably serves as a magic tool that the hero needs to complete her quest. Paiyoon gives Sai the eyeglass when he is forced off the ship, adding, “How can you see what you need to see without a good eyeglass?” (255).