Scars are a prominent and recurrent symbol, indicating physical frailty, endurance, trauma, and the long-term consequences related to trauma.

Vis is scarred from the whippings he received from the orphanage Matron, “the deep, layered scars on [his] back” (37) reflecting the Matron’s embarrassment and anger over his refusal to cede Will at the Aurora Columnae. Vis thinks of his scars often, and later, other characters view them with varying degrees of shock, horror, and understanding.

These whip scars symbolize several things: first, they symbolize Vis’s resistance, not only to the system of Will but to the Republic as a whole. Second, in the eyes of others, they symbolize Vis’s hatred for the Catenan populace. For instance, after Vis kills Estevan to save the crowds at the naumachia, Lanistia is surprised that he would risk his life for Caten, stating that “[they] both know those scars on [his] back mean [he has] no real love for Caten” (208). Third, the scars serve as a reminder of the parts of himself he will not compromise for anyone, such as when he feels his scars “pull on [his] back” (407) when he assures Eidhin he knows what is and is not willing to do for survival.