Lina Mayfleet

Lina Mayfleet is one of the two main characters in Jeanne DuPrau's Ember books.

Background

At the beginning of The City of Ember, Lina is twelve years old, and is described as being a "slender girl with long dark hair.". She lives in Quillium Square. Lina, and her sister Poppy, are orphans, and live with their grandmother. Her mother died during childbirth; her father died during an outbreak of "Coughing Sickness." Lina's great-great grandfather was the seventh mayor of Ember, and was responsible for the loss of the box containing the Instructions for Egress.

Lina's extended family includes her friend Doon Harrow and his father, and Mrs. Murdo, who becomes her guardian. She also spends a considerable amount of time with Clary, the manager of the Ember greenhouse and a former colleague of her father. In the past, her best friend had been Lizzie Bisco, whom she had spent almost all of her time with, playing tag, hide and go seek, and sifting through the trash in the dump.

Lina's closest ally is Doon. The two were childhood friends, but broke off contact after a schoolyard dispute. After they arranged to trade their unwanted jobs after Assignment Day in the first Ember book, they started to renew their friendship.

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Personality

As a child, she had been a cheerful girl at most times, and almost never discouraged. Lina laughed very much and loved to run. Even young, she was curious about things and wished to learn.

Lina is depicted as being high-spirited. She cherishes her job, as a Messenger, because it gives her an opportunity to run and explore the city. She is also portrayed as a responsible figure, caring for both her grandmother and sister throughout the books.

Lina is also a talented artist, and constantly draws pictures of things she has neither seen nor learned about in Ember, such as cities with skyscrapers and blue skies. This talent is never explained clearly, but Lina said in one book that it was in the human memory.

Role in the Ember books

Lina is in both The City of Ember and The People of Sparks. In the former book, she is the one who discovers the lost Instructions for Egress, and with Doon, pieces them together and discovers a way out of the city.

Together, they find out of the Mayor's cache of extra food and supplies, which he had been sneaking off to at times. They decide that this was a high form of crime, and decided to tell the Guards, which are second in authority to the mayor. Unfortunately, the plan backfires, leaving Lina and Doon as criminals in Ember's eyes.

Also, Lina had found out that her friend Lizzie and Lizzie's boyfriend Looper had been robbing mini-marts while the mini-marts are running short of supplies. In The People of Sparks, Lina continues to use her mediation and riddle-solving skills by discovering that the people of Ember are the "hidden treasure" of an oft-repeated rhyme. She is also the only Emberite to leave the city of Sparks, heading out into the countryside to discover the "shining city" she has dreamt about and drawn.