Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Ella Minnow Pea, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Totalitarianism, Complacency, and Resistance
Freedom of Speech
Betrayal vs. Solidarity
Blind Faith, Reason, and Logic
Summary
Analysis
The letter “B” is banned on “Topsy Turvy, Octavia 19.” Tassie writes again to Nate, telling him that Professor Mannheim has come up with a 44-letter pangram: “six big devils from Japan quickly forgot how to walk.” She also tells him that someone is relaying death threats to the Council and that the Council in turn is putting people who are “not in league with the cult” under house arrest.
While the Council previously put out a statement on the word replacing Thursday (Thurby), they have not given any such guidance on October now that “B” has been banned, nor a replacement for the word Thurby. Thus, certain accepted terminology is replaced by the chaos of everyone using their own versions of that nomenclature, providing another example of how a mainstay of society is quickly devolving into gibberish.
Themes
Tassie explains to Nate that most of the people in Nollopville are coming to Nollopton or migrating to the States, and that people are wondering whether to abandon their homes and “renounce [their] mother soil.” Tassie finishes her letter with a confession: she wrote the threats to the Council. She acknowledges that if anyone were to learn of this, she could be executed. She closes, writing that she loves him.
Tassie’s letter to Nate gives insight into how the bonds that form societies are slowly dissolving—that is, the bonds between people are breaking down and they are forced to renounce their former patriotism. Because Nollopville is a small town, losing anyone has a large impact on the way the town can function. Additionally, the bonds that the people share as a group are hard to find in other places, which is what makes their solidarity going forward even more crucial.
Themes
Georgeanne Towgate writes to Mittie asking for her help: the school is saying that her son Timmy turned eight last month, when she and Nash believed that Timmy would turn eight on “Novemgroogy 13.” They do not have the papers to prove their claim. Georgeanne begs Mittie to go to the school to find something that proves Timmy won’t turn eight until the following month. Mittie responds saying that she searched the school but she could not find anything that would help. She writes that she is truly sorry.
Dunn illustrates the sad irony of Georgeanne Towgate’s initial mistakes of reporting Mittie, as now the rules have come back to haunt her. Georgeanne’s change of heart exemplifies the overall arc of the Nollopians. Whereas at first they were fearful of others and betrayed their neighbors, now they seek each other out in order to find support and rebuild the society that they have helped to destroy.
Themes
Gwenette writes to Mittie with horrible news, saying that the Council has Tassie in custody and that she is awaiting trial as a suspect in the anonymous threats to the Council. Gwenette writes that the Council has stated “expulsion will not constitute a legal punitive option.”
Tassie’s imprisonment, and the exceedingly harsh punishment that Gwenette thinks awaits her, illustrates the Council’s fear of resistance and their worry that others will join. Thus far, they have achieved their power due to the general complacency of Nollopians.
Themes
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Amos writes a letter to Ella and Gwenette, saying that he is about to be expelled from the island and that he cannot stand for the loss of language any longer. He writes, “the devils aren’t in Japan! The devils are here.” He begs them to forgive him for gaining a third offense and he says that they don’t have to see him off. But he asks for a small favor: if they do come, he writes, “Pack my box with five dozen liquor jugs?”
Again, Dunn shows how limitations on the freedom of speech not only threaten communication and culture, but the very relationships that people cherish. With Amos’s expulsion, Ella’s family unit has been completely upheaved, thus demonstrating the painful, far-reaching consequences of the Nollopians’ initial complacency toward the Councils’ statutes.
Themes
That same day, the Council gives another proclamation: the next day, the letter “C” will cease to exist. The Council also notes that one of the “U”s fell but that another remains intact.
The Council’s latest edict demonstrates how, in some ways, the country is past the point of resistance—even from the Council. Losing “C” will be certainly be detrimental to the Council since their very identity as a governing body begins with this letter, yet even they seem unable to stop it as they must uphold the same standard in order to remain consistent in their ruling. Thus, the totalitarianism and oppression has taken hold to the point that the government itself is negatively affected.
Themes
