Ellen DeGeneres Character Analysis in It Ends with Us

Ellen DeGeneres is a real-life comedian and television personality. As a teenager, Lily watched her talk show, Ellen, every day after school. Lily and Atlas bond over watching the show together. Lily addressed her childhood journal entries to DeGeneres because she saw the comedian as a safe person and friend, though she never actually sent her any letters. Journaling helped young Lily process both the violent environment of her home and her childhood romance with Atlas. In adulthood, re-reading these entries allows Lily to revisit these difficult memories, which informs her decisions about her own abusive relationship with Ryle and her rekindled friendship with Atlas. One of DeGeneres’s quotes from Finding Nemo is “just keep swimming.” The quote is particularly significant to Atlas and Lily, as they repeat it to each other in difficult moments.

Ellen DeGeneres Quotes in It Ends with Us

The It Ends with Us quotes below are all either spoken by Ellen DeGeneres or refer to Ellen DeGeneres. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:

I open the shoebox on my lap and pull out the contents. On the very top is a small wooden, hollow heart. I run my fingers over it and remember the night I was given this heart. As soon as the memory begins to sink in, I set it aside. Nostalgia is a funny thing.

I move a few old letters and newspaper clippings aside. Beneath all of it, I find what I was hoping was inside these boxes. And also sort of hoping wasn’t.

My Ellen Diaries.

Related Characters: Lily Bloom (speaker), Ellen DeGeneres, Atlas Corrigan, Lily’s father

Related Symbols: Open Heart

Page Number and Citation: 29

Explanation and Analysis:

I don’t even know where to start. I know you don’t know anything about my current life or my husband, Ryle. But there’s this thing we do where one of us says “naked truth,” and then we’re forced to be brutally honest and say what we’re really thinking.

So…naked truth.

Brace yourself.

I am in love with a man who physically hurts me. Of all people, I have no idea how I let myself get to this point.

There were many times growing up I wondered what was going through my mother’s head in the days after my father had hurt her […]

I hate that I can empathize with her now.

Related Characters: Lily Bloom (speaker), Ryle Kincaid, Lily’s Mother, Lily’s father, Ellen DeGeneres

Page Number and Citation: 281

Explanation and Analysis:

People on the outside of situations like these often wonder why the woman goes back to the abuser. I read somewhere once that 85 percent of women return to abusive situations. That was before I realized I was in one, and when I heard that statistic, I thought it was because the women were stupid.

[…] I love my husband, Ellen […] Preventing your heart from forgiving someone you love is actually a hell of a lot harder than simply forgiving them [...]

The things I’ve thought about women like me are now what others would think of me if they knew my current situation […]

I’m sad that those are the first thoughts that run through our minds when someone is abused. Shouldn’t there be more distaste in our mouths for abusers than for those who continue to love their abusers?

Related Characters: Lily Bloom (speaker), Ryle Kincaid, Lily’s Mother, Lily’s father, Ellen DeGeneres

Page Number and Citation: 283

Explanation and Analysis:

Ellen DeGeneres Character Timeline in It Ends with Us

The timeline below shows where the character Ellen DeGeneres appears in It Ends with Us. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

...Next, she finds her diaries, all of which are filled with entries written to comedian Ellen DeGeneres. Lily used to watch her talk show every day after school. She never sent... (full context)

The first letter to Ellen explains the night Lily met Atlas. While shuffling cards in bed, which Lily used to... (full context)

In the first entry, Lily told Ellen that she had gotten Atlas hooked on watching Ellen’s show, too: the day after Lily... (full context)

...her in the garden whenever she needed. Lily asked him if he wanted to watch Ellen’s show after school with her instead, and he agreed to join her. When they got... (full context)

In another entry, Lily writes that she and Atlas came to regularly watch Ellen’s show together. Lily felt that Atlas liked Ellen as much as she did, but she... (full context)

Lily’s next letter to Ellen describes how she and Atlas had dug up the garden in anticipation of the coming... (full context)

...Lily moves on to the next entry in her diary. In it, she recounted for Ellen an altercation that happened between her parents earlier that day. Her mother parked in her... (full context)

Later in bed, Lily realizes that she’s nearing the end of her diary entries to Ellen. She hesitates to finish them, but she wonders if doing so after seeing Atlas will... (full context)

...on the shoulder in thanks. Together they watched Finding Nemo, and they held hands when Ellen’s character said they had to continue swimming forward. Lily felt like he was telling her... (full context)

...following Atlas and Lily’s kiss is dated a week later. In it, she explains to Ellen that lately after school, Atlas would shower, then they would make out until her parents... (full context)

Lily’s next letter to Ellen isn’t about Boston; instead, she recounts her father’s most recent abuse of her mother. Lily... (full context)

...is from the day that Atlas left for Boston. She explains in the letter to Ellen that their last night had been fraught. Atlas had been hesitant to leave Lily alone... (full context)

...After he leaves, Lily opens the present. In the bag, she finds a copy of Ellen DeGeneres’s autobiography. On the inside cover, she sees a personalized signature from Ellen to Lily... (full context)

Lily wrote to Ellen that her birthday was the best and then the worst day of her life. She... (full context)

...for saving Lily from a homeless guy. At the end of her letter, Lily told Ellen that she needed to stop writing for a while because she reminds Lily too much... (full context)

There is no follow up in the journal after this letter—Lily never wrote to Ellen again. Atlas never spoke to her after that night, either, though she knew he’d survived... (full context)

...leaving her journals strewn about their room. Lily realizes that Ryle must have read her Ellen diaries. Ryle comes up behind her and grabs her by the waist and then the... (full context)

To process the events of last night, Lily decides to write a letter to Ellen for the first time in years. At first, she apologizes to Ellen for not writing... (full context)

After what happened between her mother and father, Lily tells Ellen that she never thought she’d end up in the same place. Now, she has more... (full context)

Unlike her mother, Lily tells Ellen that she knows she has options. She has her own money, access to resources, and... (full context)

Lily admits to Ellen that she used to judge other women in abusive relationships. She thought they stayed out... (full context)

...the shows recorded to his television. She finds and puts on an episode of The Ellen DeGeneres Show. Together, she and Atlas watch Ellen for hours, just like they used to,... (full context)

...Emmy’s middle name: Dory. Atlas breaks into a smile when he realizes she’s named after Ellen DeGeneres’s character in Finding Nemo. (full context)

Ellen DeGeneres Character Analysis

Ellen DeGeneres Quotes in It Ends with Us

Chapter 2 Quotes

Chapter 25 Quotes

Ellen DeGeneres Character Timeline in It Ends with Us