Ella Minnow Pea

Tassie becomes a physical embodiment of rebellion. Initially, she is the voice of reason, foreseeing the potential complications surrounding the Council’s decision. She understands the illusion of power the Council members are swept up in. However, love and loss of communication drive her to make the ultimate rebellious move: threatening the Council and their power. Finally, she is truly imprisoned, not just in her head, but in a literal prison cell. She leaves her younger cousin to carry the burden, which can be seen as a cowardly act in the name of love and rebellion.

Amos, perhaps the most overlooked character, treats language efficiently. In the first chapter, after the loss of “z,” he finds a way to use the letter’s sound tauntingly. His focus on his business, which goes against the sense of family in the novel, is important. The jugs, and the profit he expects from them, become the source of the perfect, island-saving sentence (though he does not know it). Although surprising at first, Amos’s position as the crafter of a perfect sentence makes sense if readers re-read his simple, well-crafted letters to his family.

Tom and Nate are essentially the same character. They both play the same role to the main female characters, Ella and Tassie. Nate, although an outsider, impassions Tassie to the point of threatening the Council. Tom also introduces Ella to love. Both characters are pivotal to Enterprise 32: Nate initiating it, and Tom pushing it further. However, the difference is that Tom does not impassion Ella enough to commit an act of rebellion outside of pursuing Enterprise 32. His removal from the island is important to the success of the Enterprise. Without him, Ella reads her parents’ old letters in an effort to feel less alone, thus finding the perfect sentence.