Ella Minnow Pea: Chapter 5 Summary & Analysis

“D” is now banned. Tassie writes to Ella four days later (on “Toes”), informing her of Nate’s arrival. She tells Ella that he is in his mid-twenties, very attractive, and single. She is giddy with a crush on him. She tells Ella that Nate will stay in Nollopville for a week before they travel together to Nollopton to meet with Mr. Lyttle.

Tassie tells Ella that she has had quite a bit of wine, and that as the night wore on, she and Nate each made a mistake and spoke an illicit letter. She writes, however, that they were lucky in that “there were no ears pressing themselves against the portals or fenesters to overhear.” She closes by saying she is glad that her letter will not be intercepted because of Nollop’s dying words: “Love one another, push the perimeter of this glorious language. Lastly, please show proper courtesy; open not your neighbor’s mail.”

Mittie writes to Gwenette saying that she cannot teach without “that grammatical unifier” (the word “and”). She states that she will have to resign the next day. Gwenette responds that in their city, 18 families have been sent away. She writes that everyone is fumbling for ways to express themselves. She says they feel “utterly, wholly diminished.” At the use of this word, she writes that she is happy to enlist in the “first offense club.”

The Office of the High Council writes to Gwenette, informing her that all letters are being scanned for illicit letters of the alphabet by a man who does not speak English. They add that she has earned not one offense, but two, for the use of two “D”s in the word “diminished.” She will have to choose between “cephalo-stock or public flogging.” They note that the letters are not being scanned for content, only for the alphabet. They maintain that they still have a “free, open society,” without “censures or prosecutions for exercising one’s free speech.”

Two days later, Gwenette writes to Mittie that they should use a different mail service in order to evade the attention of the postal inspectors. She thinks that they have now entered “an official police state.” Gwenette says that she chose “cephalo-stock” for her punishment but that it wasn’t too bad. She writes that some men who were also taken in for second offenses chose lashes instead. These men, she notes, believe that they should overuse the fallen letters, not omit them.

Tassie writes to Ella the next day, saying that she woke up screaming from a nightmare in which the letter “I” fell from the statue. Mittie and Nate tried to comfort her, and Mittie offered the sentiment that if Nollop exists, she hopes that the fallen tiles serve some positive purpose. She posits that perhaps these events will ultimately put an end to the “insanity” from the Council.

Nate counters, saying that Nollop’s life and importance is a construct by the Council, which uses Nollop to satiate its lust for power. He concludes, “Nollop has become your Baal.” Nate says that the only reason Nollop is worshipped is because of the pangram, and that given a few weeks, they could come up with a shorter sentence than Nollop. He concludes that this may be their salvation.

Ella responds to Tassie the next day, informing her that one of the “O”s has fallen from the statue but that there are still three remaining “O”s. The Council goes into emergency session to try to figure out what meaning Nollop might be trying to impart.

Agnes writes to Mittie, saying that she cannot write or speak anymore without “the fourth letter”—it takes too much mental energy. She is so exhausted that she cannot even bake. Agnes says that she has already slipped up twice and so she has chosen to stop talking because “banishment for me would mean my very extermination.” The next day, the Council sends her a note informing her that she’s been banished for the offence found in the final sentence bearing the word “would.” She is given two days to pack. 

Gwenette writes to Mittie, saying that the Council has determined that they can continue to use the letter “O” until all of the tiles bearing “O” fall. But they demand that people use the letter 25 percent less. She also writes that Tassie has safely arrived, but that Amos has gotten a second offense. He slipped up at his poker game, and his friend Morton offered to ignore the offense in return for “clearance of a rather large financial obligation.” Amos refused.

The same day, Tassie writes to Mittie that she has arrived and that Nate is preparing for his meeting with Mr. Lyttle. She also informs her mother that the letter “K” has fallen—one they “can easily spare,” and the Council’s ban will go into effect in two days’ time. She also tells her mother that she is falling in love with Nate and she hopes that “V” holds out so that she can continue to write the word “love.”

Mittie responds to Tassie, saying that she recently had coffee with Rory Cummels and she was impressed by his ease with language even without the four letters. Through him, she writes, she also gains a sense of ease. Mittie tells Tassie that Rory’s wife left him and she took his daughters to the States. Mittie says that she believes Rory likes her, and that she in turn wants to continue to see him—"a bright ray in all the murk.”

Tassie responds to Mittie, saying that she is very happy that Mittie is enjoying Rory’s company. She is glad that someone will look out for Mittie. Tassie then relates the results of Nate’s meeting with Mr. Lyttle: Nate provided the chemists’ analyses on the glue, but Lyttle countered, “might not Nollop be working through the science?” Nate was dumbfounded by this argument, unsure of how to counteract it.

Nate then got an idea: he posited that if someone could come up with a shorter pangram than Nollop’s famous one, then Nollop would no longer be worthy of worship. Lyttle agreed that if Nate can find a 32-letter pangram before November 16 (Nollop’s “birth anniversary”), which is in six weeks’ time, then the statutes would be lifted. Tassie closes her letter on this hopeful note and she reminds Mittie to throw out the Special K.