Ella Minnow Pea by Mark Dunn

Intro/Background

• Ella Minnow Pea is an epistolary novel by Mark Dunn, copyrighted in 2001. It is a very interesting book that showcases a lot of talent and creativity as letters are continuously being taken out of the alphabet.

Explanation of the Title

• The title "Ella Minnow Pea" serves as a play on words that can be related to the contents of this book. The High Council of this country is taking away letters of the alphabet one by one. Finally, at the end of the play there are only five letters left: l, m, n, o, and p, which can sound a lot like the title of this novel, "Ella Minnow Pea."

Internet Links

• The following site provides information on what a lipogram novel consists of, which classifies what "Ella Minnow Pea" entails.
  • http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/ref/lipogram

• If you are looking for a quick overview of the book, visit the following site.
  • http://mostlyfiction.com/humor/dunn.htm#lmnop

• To read an interview with the author of "Ella Minnow Pea" this last site is the place to examine.
  • http://www.bookpage.com/0210bp/mark_dunn.html

Setting

• Ella Minnow Pea is set on the island of Nollop-an island nation "established in the 1840s by dispossessed southern Americans which is 21 miles off of the coast of South Carolina" (Dunn 1). "In the 1870’s this island declared it’s independence from the United States and since then has been devoted to education, liberal arts, and elevated language without the use of modern technology" (Dunn 1). The name of the island has changed from Utopianna to Nollop in order to honor native son Nevin Nollop who was the author of the popular pangram fox-dog sentence which contains all the letters of the alphabet.

Plot Summary

• Ella Minnow Pea is a girl the age of 18 who begins the book by writing a series of letters to her cousin Tassie, who has journeyed off-island to the Village. Her first letter explains her concern for what is happening to the cenotaph of the founder of their lofty language, Nevin Nollop. His famous sentence is tiled on the monument on the island of Nollop to exhibit its existence. As the story proceeds, various letters begin falling off the cenotaph. From there on the five High Council members decide that the aforementioned falling of the tile is a sign from Nollop that these letters should not be used any longer. They see it as a challenge to better the citizens of Nollop and anyone who is to disobey these laws will have infractions to deal with. "We slowly conclude that without language, without culture--the two are inextricably bound--existence itself is at stake" (Malin 153). Through this interpretation and other events which take place during this novel, a series of word-plays and crazy actions by citizens form this book into an entertaining piece of literature for all.

Characters

Ella Minnow Pea-The 18 year old girl who acts throughout the novel to save her friends, family, and fellow citizens from the High Council's strict elimination of letters in their language.

Amos and Gwenette Minnow Pea- Ella's parents. Play a bigger role throughout the story than readers are led to believe.

Tassie Purcy-The 19 year old cousin of Ella who is enraged by the Council's decision to remove these letters from their language and wants to act against them.

Mittie Purcy- Tassie's mother. She is a teacher in the Village and decides to house an academic scholar from the United States.

Georgeanne Towgate- Mittie Purcy's neighbor. Reports Mittie on two occasions, but eventually realizes the effects of these despicable laws.

Mr. Nate Warren- A student from the University of Georgia who has asked the Purcy family for entrance into their home while he researches Nollop and everything that is happening. He helps the Minnow Pea family fight to win back the freedom of language in Nollop.

Dr. Manneheim-A professor at the University in Nollop. Works extensively on Enterprise 32, eventually minimizing the sentence down to 37 letters, until his tragic death.

Tom- One of the last citizens present on Nollop. Becomes very close to Ella as they work on Enterprise 32.

Mr. Lyttle- One of the only High Council members who is sane. After he is proposed with Enterprise 32, he begins to realize the effects of the outrageous statues being set on citizens of Nollop.

Reactions

• "There's a whiff of a classic about "Ella Minnow Pea." It's lighter than those high-school standards "1984" or "Brave New World," but even when only LMNOP remain, it's touched by sweetness. That's truer perhaps to the alphabetic range of human nature" (Charles 19).

• "Some readers will be frustrated by the novel's slow accretion of detail and meandering plot, but those who can adjust to the pace of the protagonist's thoughtful inner life will come to know him and like him, and have a vivid and memorable experience of this world." (Menefee 260).

Deconstruction Analysis

Deconstructional critics state that language is never definite and is always unchanging. No one has exactly the same viewpoint on language, and therefore it should to be carefully interpreted, as not to base the meaning of language on certain stereotypical beliefs.

For example, in our society people often associate our language into opposites, like good/bad, master/slave, man/woman, and light/dark. However, deconstructional critics state that you should also switch these opposites around in order to see the unstablity that language represents.

• The following represents a light/dark binary that can be seen within the text of "Ella Minnow Pea".
  • Light could be associated with the law and being a good citizen for obeying the new societies rules, while dark could be seen as the citizens of Nollop being punished severely for use of illegal letters when only trying to communicate with other members of their community. (A good example of this binary is on page 48 of the novel)

• By using a priviledged/unpriviledged binary, the text of "Ella Minnow Pea" displays this representation.
  • The Island's High Council is running ppl’s lives by banning the use of everyday letters, banishing ppl from their homes, and even taking land from citizens. They could be seen as the priviledged members of society while the townspeople being punished are seen as the unpriviledged.

These opposites tend to make people think these comparisons are always right. However, when you change the circumstances of these comparisons around, one can get a very different meaning and interpretation of the binary. The following are examples of the previous binaries flipped around in order to gain a different perspective.

• When you flip the first example, you could see the good being done because the citizens could learn a valuable lesson of never taking their lofty language for granted and not rebelling because good citizens normally conform to their society

• In the second example, the townspeople could be seen as moving into that priviledged position when they are proposed with the offer to create a sentence of 32 characters that manages to use all the letters of the alphabet. This situation puts the people in a certain position of power. Their language can free them again if they come up with a new pangram.

As one can see, basing language on one belief is impossible. It's crucial to look deeper into the various meanings language represents in order to fully grasp what one is trying to interpret.

Awards and Nominations

Although "Ella Minnow Pea" is a fairly new novel, published in 2002, it has been priviledged to recieve various presitgious awards and nominations.

• "Ella Minnow Pea" became an Adult Fiction Finalist in 2002 at the Book Sense Book of the Year Awards.

• Mark Dunn also recieved an award in 2001 at the Original Voices Awards in the fiction category for his playful language in "Ella Minnow Pea".

Sources and References

• Charles, Ron. "P...Litical Satire Missing Lett..rs, but N.t Wit". Christian Science Monitor. Volume 93.Number 218. pg. 19. 2001.

• Malin, Irving. "Ella Minnow Pea: A Novel in Letters (Book). Review of Contemporary Fiction. Volume 23. Number 2. pg. 153. Summer 2003.

• Dunn, Mark. __Ella Minnow Pea__. New York: Random, 2001.

• Menefee, Christine C.. "Ella Minnow Pea (Book Review)". Library Journal. Volume 126. Number 16. pg. 260. 2001.