54 pages • 1-hour read
Dragonkeeper
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Themes
Content Warning: This section contains descriptions of death, child abuse, animal cruelty, and graphic violence.
Friendship and the Meaning of Loyalty
Throughout the novel, Ping’s friendships and bonds explore the idea that loyalty is a difficult ideal to achieve. She also learns that showing loyalty to one bond may result in the betrayal of a different one, and she must ultimately accept that some friendships must be relinquished if she is to remain true to her own principles. Having been deprived of companionship throughout her childhood, Ping holds a deep desire to build true friendships, and this complex theme spans the entire book as her desire to be loved causes her to act in ways that complicate all of her relationships. Through her almost filial friendship with Danzi and her complicated bond with Liu Che, Ping learns that the meaning of friendship and the demands of loyalty to her vocation and her country will require difficult sacrifices if she is to truly grow to become the person she is meant to be.
Ping is a deeply responsible person who overcomes her own maltreatment at Lan’s hands and learns to adequately care for the dragons despite her early mistakes. Notably, her guilt over Lu Yu’s death—even though it is not her fault—motivates her to care more thoroughly for Danzi, and this dynamic helps to establish their friendship. The role of the Dragon Keeper itself is defined by loyalty, and by accepting Danzi’s offer of the dragon mirror, she binds herself to his bloodline, making a serious oath that will define her entire life.
However, Ping’s relationship with Danzi cannot be defined purely by loyalty; instead, she must also grow to love Danzi as her friend. In many ways, Lan serves as an example of what not to do. His contempt for the dragons and his gross mistreatment of them drives home the reality that a truly dedicated Dragon Keeper must develop a strong rapport with their charges in order to care for them properly. Because Lan fears the emperor, who has no respect for dragons, he emulates his ruler’s attitude and treats the dragons with contempt, doing the bare minimum to keep them alive. By contrast, Ping’s kind treatment of Danzi stems from her growing love for the dragon, and her care of him through their many trials reflects this deep friendship.
Despite the pair’s strong bond, friendship cannot exist in a vacuum, and Ping’s new relationship with Liu Che complicates her existing loyalty to Danzi. Ping does not fully understand how she is supposed to behave in front of the emperor and even sometimes treats him as an equal, and the unlikely pair’s growing rapport causes her to take actions that jeopardize Danzi’s freedom and his needs. However, she redeems herself when she ultimately chooses to betray Liu Che in order to uphold her greater loyalty to Danzi, fulfilling his desire to go to the ocean.
This decision shows the complexity of loyalty and friendship. Ping does not want to go against Liu Che, but she recognizes that his demands contradict her loyalty to Danzi and her role as Dragon Keeper. Knowing that she cannot be both the emperor’s friend and Danzi’s protector, she follows the dictates of her conscience. When she decides to remain loyal to the cosmic role of Dragon Keeper rather than the imperial version of this title, she shows her strength of character and upholds a purer definition of loyalty, even if Liu Che does not recognize or appreciate this fact.
The Complexities of Responsibility and Coming of Age
This novel functions as a bildungsroman, or a traditional coming-of-age story, given that Ping starts the novel as an unnamed enslaved girl and finds a name, a role, and a baby dragon to care for. There are two primary aspects to Ping’s coming-of-age journey: Her growing responsibility as a Dragon Keeper and her exploration of the world’s complexities beyond the boundaries of Yuangling. Both of these considerations help her to develop her identity and realize her true place in the world, and the novel therefore suggests that coming of age has little to do with Ping’s actual age and everything to do with her understanding of her own morals, capabilities, and limits.
As an enslaved girl, Ping already has too many responsibilities for her age; the adults at Huangling would rather give her their own duties than fulfill their jobs themselves. Ping has no choice but to take up Lan’s onerous duties as a caretaker of dragons, and at this stage, she only does this because she is forced to. However, as Ping starts to make choices for herself, her perception of these responsibilities changes, and she starts to care for Danzi more deeply and eventually accepts the role of Dragon Keeper.
Exploring this responsibility also reveals more truths about Ping herself when Danzi helps her to learn her name and her heritage, revealing that she is a Dragon Keeper by blood and not just by choice. These details help Ping to “come of age” and make up for lost time, as much of her own development has been forestalled by her enslavement and her lack of personal identity. As Danzi’s recognition of Ping’s humanity helps her to grow, she breaks free of Lan’s abuse, which only served to dehumanize her. The novel makes it clear that although certain responsibilities can be forced on children, only when individuals take up specific duties out of choice can they fully develop their true passions in life. Ping must gain a sense of agency before she can come of age, and she only achieves this when she leaves Huangling and begins to explore the wider world.
Ping’s limited view of the world initially holds her back from gaining maturity. She starts the novel believing that realistic pictures of the outside world and stories of the ocean are pure fantasies, as the grim nature of her own reality prevents her from believing that the world can be as beautiful as artwork depicts it. By the end the novel, however, she has ironically shifted to overlooking the beauty of the ocean in front of her because she recognizes her greater responsibility to find a goat and feed the infant Kai. Ping’s initial lack of belief in the world’s beauty stems from her own abuse, but she eventually recognizes that the world is beautiful and accepts that she deserves a place in it.
Combating Systemic Exploitation and Cruelty
Ping and Danzi’s struggles are heavily defined by the demands of the emperor and the violence of dragon hunters like Diao, and these external conflicts suggest that the government’s exploitation outweighs its protection of its subjects. Much of the worldbuilding in the novel focuses on the concept of the imperial dragons: those who are owned and cared for by the emperors of China, who have traditionally viewed them only as status symbols. However, during the era in which the novel is set, the dragons have fallen into disfavor and have been shunted to a far-off palace, where they are treated as objects to be used rather than treasures to be cared for. This happens because the emperor, Liu Che’s father, encourages people like Diao and Lan to harm and abuse the dragons for their own gain. Only Ping stands up against these corrupt powers and recognizes that the government cannot be fully trusted, as individual emperors’ whims will change from era to era, with one ruler revoking the dragons’ protection as easily as another has offered it.
The two emperors—Liu Che and his father—represent the varying positions that governments can take in caring for their subjects and for the resources of the natural world. The first emperor, Liu Che’s father, is exploitative and cruel, selling the dragons piece by piece out of his own personal dislike. When he eats the pickled body of Lu Yu, however unknowingly, this act symbolizes his disregard for the majesty of the dragons. He also collaborates with malicious people like Diao for his own gain and interest, disregarding the effect that his actions have on the rest of the world and on his own legacy. His cruel indifference demonstrates the negative impact that corrupt governmental authority can have on the populace. Whenever cruel people are in power, the world suffers.
By contrast, Liu Che cares about preserving the resources of his country, even going as far as to set up a natural preserve for tigers and dragons alike. However, because he also views this preserve and its inhabitants as his possessions, even he cannot be fully trusted to refrain from the systemic cruelty that has characterized the reign of his predecessors. Most notably, he cannot conceptualize the idea that Danzi should have full freedom. Because Liu Che believes that the imperial dragons and the natural world belong to him, his problematic attitude leaves the dragons vulnerable because they are yet reliant on the government for their very lives. This state of affairs is risky at best, give that Liu Che’s own successor might just as easily shift back to crueler policies, risking the dragons’ lives and safety all over again.
The novel argues that the only solution to systemic cruelty is for good individuals to act decisively to oppose its practices. While villains like Diao and the necromancer see the world as something to exploit, Ping makes a marked difference in the world because she deeply loves and respects the dragons and chooses to protect them because she knows they deserve to be valued. Her choice indicates that even the lowliest individuals have a duty to protect the vulnerable and combat cruelty, just as governments do. Ping’s actions prove that well-intentioned individuals can wield as much influence as an emperor, given the right circumstances. Thus, Ping gains with a dragon under her care and defeats Diao, and although she will certainly face more challenges, she has fully realized her role as a protector of dragons and stands ready to continue in this quest.
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