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Chapter 9
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
A man named William P., who is a sentry at the prison, writes to Ella, saying that he let a young Southern man (Nate) take Tassie away along with Mittie. He says that he was whipped for it but that he wanted to make sure Tassie could be released. He tells Ella, therefore, that she does not have to return to the prison. Tassie writes to Ella the same day, informing Ella that Nate rescued her and that she, Nate, and Mittie are on their way to the States. She says that Enterprise Thirty-two is now up to Ella.
William P.’s bravery and sacrifice serves as another way to highlight how the members of society have shifted from betraying one another to trying to help one another. The bonds between Tassie and Nate, and Tassie and her mother, also become critical in enabling her rescue as love and solidarity provide a beacon of hope within the oppressive regime.
Themes
Ella writes to “woman in pretty orange hat,” saying that she saw the woman rummaging in the Italian restaurant for food yesterday. She asks to meet the woman and invites her for dinner, saying that everyone else she knows has left. Ella also informs her that Wally, who runs a grocery store in town, is rationing food to citizens. The woman, whose name is Tanya, responds, saying that she was looking for gas for their generator, because no one remains to operate the power plant. She closes, agreeing that Wally is a humane man and saying, “We must all help one another.”
Ella likewise is discovering the need to stick with other citizens and help one another in trying times. This is particularly necessary, as Tanya points out, because there are so few people left that basic societal needs are disappearing—all as a result of the limits on language and the government’s regulations.
Themes
Two days later, Ella thanks Tanya for sharing dinner at Tanya’s home the previous night. She was happy to meet Tanya’s family, Professor Mannheim, and Manheim’s assistant Tom. At dinner, Tom informed Ella that the state operates now “only to relate the next letters to omit,” and that all the “high priests” do is pay homage to Nollop. Ella finishes her letter by asking if Tanya will join for tea the next day, and she exalts in the fact that they found a 43-letter pangram (“My girl wove six dozen plaid jackets before she quit”).
Tom’s stories emphasize how society has essentially collapsed as a result of the combination of the limitations on language and the totalitarian hold that the government has on the society. Again, Dunn shows how blind faith has pushed the Council past the point of wanting what is best for the island—now, they are simply keeping up the rules that they have laid out to maintain power.
Themes
Tom writes to Ella, informing her that he and Mannheim are the only ones left to complete Enterprise Thirty-two. He explains that all other students at the university were expelled and that all the other citizens are using their energy to simply keep themselves safe during these hard times. Tom worries over the fact that there are only 11 days left in their challenge and that “U” is now gone, the first “aeiouy” to go. Tom also comments on how pretty Ella is and he asks her to have dinner with him the next evening at the “unilearnity.”
Tom’s letter examines the harm in the citizens’ initial complacency and the way that this has hindered future attempts at resistance. Now, with so few people left, there is no way to mount any kind of resistance, particularly as people are preoccupied with simply surviving.
Themes
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