Ella Minnow Pea

Despite the hope at the end of the last section of chapters, Ella’s hope diminishes. Georgeanne kills herself, and the others leave the island, leaving Ella alone to figure out Enterprise 32. The chapters begin to become more fragmented. Space is left and little is said because there are few letters with which to convey anything.

Curiously, the final letters L, M, N, O, P represent an onomatopoeia of Ella’s name, but they also represent the letters comprising Nollop’s name. The letters themselves hold some symbolism. Perhaps, as the Council speculated, Nollop is dropping the letters, leaving those that spell his name in a final act of power. Or, the final letters sound like Ella’s name precisely because she was meant to complete Enterprise 32. Or, as the lesson says at the end of the novel, no meaning should be taken from the sentence and the final letters because they are simply symbols used to convey meaning from one individual to another.

Had Ella been surrounded by supportive friends and families, she may not have read the letters stashed away in her home. Without those letters and Ella’s loneliness driving her to them, the letters are simply letters on a page. But, when she reads them, the sentences take on something more: she realizes the sentence they needed had been there all along, created by an everyday person in an everyday moment. It begs the question: do we need to be schooled in language, studied in practice, to create meaningful sentences and words shared among those we care for?