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Chapter 12
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
Only 14 letters remain, with four days left to complete Enterprise Thirty-Two. Ella writes to Mr. Lyttle (now spelled “Little”), informing him that Georgeanne has died from lead poisoning. She says her friend Tanya has also decided to take Paula with her family to the States, as Tanya feels Nollop is a wasteland” Ella writes that she feels alone and forgotten and she wonders if Lyttle is leaving as well. Lyttle responds that he will not leave and that he has joined the effort of Enterprise Thirty-Two.
It is telling that Lyttle is now joining the resistance against the very government to which he belongs, as it serves as a marker of how corrupt and oppressive the government has become, uncontrollable even by those within it. The action also highlights the necessity of this resistance movement, but it implies that it could have been much more effective if it had begun when enough people were around to help in the effort.
Themes
Ella writes to Georgeanne’s family, expressing her sympathy for her death. Tanya writes a farewell to Ella, wishing her well with Enterprise Thirty-Two and thanking her for her friendship. She also tells Ella that “H” has fallen.
Ella’s loneliness on Nollop demonstrates how much she needed the friendship and solidarity that she’d found in both Georgeanne and Tanya. Without that, Ella’s own isolation and hopelessness grows.
Themes
