#peter ellison

[ichorink]

ignore how late i am to this trend LOL but it needed a gone series one

[abcwordsurge]

what do you mean this isn't how the fayz started

[ilovegone]

Astrid: Pete, I’m worried about your screen time. Little Pete: stares blankly at screen Diana: He’s fine. That’s the healthiest relationship I’ve seen all year.

[dianaladrislovebot]

the funniest thing to me is little pete being thankful he’s left his body bc all his autism is gone (which ???????) only to end up inhabiting caines body and realising there’s just more autism

[goneseriesanalysis]

Peter Ellison

So, finally, here is my Little Pete analysis. This one was particularly hard to write because his characterisation (or should I say lack of) really really upsets me. This is now a Peter Ellison fan account because he just deserves all the love I can give him forever. That being said, I want to give a few disclaimers before I actually get into this analysis.

Firstly, I wanted to keep this analysis solely focused on Little Pete, with as little focus on other characters as possible. I’m going to be talking about the poor care that Little Pete received in this book (alongside the r-slur scene) and how this will have affected him. But, I am in no way blaming Astrid for this. Astrid was a child who loved Little Pete and who was doing her absolute best to take care of him. However, her effort does not negate the fact that Little Pete’s care was less than ideal and that this would have affected him severely. Because of this, it may seem like I’m blaming Astrid or making her out to be a bad person, but I promise I’m not. I just don’t want to be defending her every other line when I should be focusing on Little Pete. I will however be going into more detail on her side of things in a later post about their relationship.

Secondly, this analysis will not be as in-depth as my previous ones. There are two reasons for this. One being that I simply do not have the time and two being that I am not entirely sure that it is my place to do such an analysis on this character. I know that a lot of people have issues with MG’s portrayal of Little Pete and I do not want to take away from people’s concerns. That being said, I do not think that it was his intention to be ableist or to hurt anyone when he was writing this character. But intent doesn’t cancel out what he actually wrote. 

Now, onto the analysis.

Old Opinion: Honestly, I didn’t really have an opinion on Little Pete. He seemed more like a plot point to me than a character and so that’s really just how I viewed him.

New Opinion: After re-reading the first book, I unfortunately still cannot seem to care for Little Pete. I wish MG had gone into more depth and written him as an actual character. There is just so much wasted potential.

How Little Pete is Viewed by Other Characters in The Text and in The Text Itself

This is a title that I haven’t done before in any of my analyses, but I thought it was important to do this for Little Pete as a lot of the issues that people have with his character stem from how he is treated by others, and how their actions seemed to be excused by the text. This will be a much shorter analysis than any other that I have done. One because there is not as much to analyse, and two because I feel like it is not my place to do a deep dive on a character who’s experiences I do not understand.

Something that I did notice quite a lot during my re-read of Gone (and my re-read of my re-read) is that MG seems to have done a pretty good job at researching the technical aspects of autism (trigger phrases, types of therapy, possible modifications needed), but he seems to neglect the actual thoughts, feelings, and emotions of autistic people. It almost seems as if Little Pete is a walking NHS page, instead of, you know, a person. But let’s first talk about the technical aspects.

The first introduction that we get to Little Pete, is through his environment rather than through any mention or meeting of the character himself. This occurs on page 17: “But everything was put away. There was nothing out that could be broken. The tables had little plastic cushions on the corners. The electrical sockets had childproof covers. In the kitchen the knives were in a glass-front cupboard with a childproof lock on the handle. There were child proof knobs on the stove.” Now while we don’t get confirmation until a few sentences later, we can already assume that these precautions have not been made for Astrid. However, my first assumption would not be that they are for a quiet, often unresponsive child – which is who Little Pete seems to be. Rather, I would assume the opposite – that this was for an unruly and destructive child, one who likes to grab and touch and move things. Little Pete is shown to do none of those things, in fact the only time that he is seen to be destructive when using his powers, and even then, he is only destructive in very stressful situations. So, to me, it seems odd that these measures are taken for Little Pete. They don’t seem to fit with his personality at all, making it seem like this choice was made based off of stereotypes, rather than made with the character of Little Pete in mind.

This does not necessarily mean, however, that the fault is with the writing. In fact, I quite like the idea that the reason the Ellison’s are making precautions that do not seem to align with Little Pete’s needs is because they themselves are ignorant to his needs. While the plot does not allow us to see Pete’s parents interact with Little Pete, we are given the impressions that they treat him as a nuisance more than anything else and this, paired with the time within which the book is set, makes it easy for me to believe that they have little interest in their son. This impression is also given when Astrid first makes reference to Little Pete’s powers, “He seems able to do a lot of things. Mostly we’re good, the two of us. Mostly he doesn’t really notice me. But once, I was doing his therapy, working with this picture book we work on sometimes. I show him a picture and try to get him to say the word and, I don’t know, I guess I was in a bad mood that day. I guess I was too rough taking his hand and putting his finger on the picture like you’re supposed to do. He got mad. And then, I wasn’t there anymore. Once second, I was in his room, and then all of a sudden, I was in my room.” (Page 133)  

Why is Astrid doing these activities and not his parents? It seems like the parentification of Astrid began long before the FAYZ, and Little Pete’s neglect seems to be a huge part of his character. This, coupled with the fact that he himself is unable to communicate with the characters in any way that they understand, means that we unfortunately do not get as much of an in- depth characterisation as we do with others. This, of course, is something that Michael Grant had been criticised for many times. However, while it is not my place to tell people that they cannot be upset by this representation (because of course you can) I feel like I am able to bring about another perspective: that the reason Little Pete is written in this way is because this is how other characters see him. Seen as we can only see this world through their eyes, it makes sense that the impression we get of Little Pete is not one that is ideal.

Little Pete and His Importance to the Plot:

Now, to say that Little Pete is a character who is neglected so much, he is one of the main plot points within the novel. In fact, I would argue that especially in the first book, he is more plot point than actual character and here is why:

One – Little Pete is the driving force behind Sam and Astrid’s relationship, Edilio’s joining of the group and Sam and Quinn’s falling out.

Two – Little Pete is the reason that Sam won.

Three – Little Pete is the reason for the FAYZ in the first place.

If you ask me, those are three pretty major plot points that all come to be because of one character, especially a character who does not get a pov (only talking about the first book here). I’m not going into how all of these things happened due to Little Pete because that would be less and analysis of the text and more me explaining the book to you, which I am sure nobody wants. But my main point by including this section is that Little Pete is an intrinsic part of the text and so is the way he is written. If Little Pete is able to freely communicate with a people in a way that they understand then the book would have ended very differently, or maybe it would not have even started at all.

Essentially what MG has done here has used Little Pete as a structural device, giving his character the means to completely change the outcome of the story without giving him almost any say in what he does. While I understand how this can be upsetting to some people, I also think that this use of character is fascinating and adds an element of mystery to the story the likes of which I haven’t really seen before. Little Pete both controls the story and is barely present in it, and while I definitely whish that we could have learnt more about him as a person, I understand that with the way this story is written, that would have resulted in changes within the book that would have changed the story completely.

 As always thank you for reading the ramblings that I have offered up to you. I am sorry that this analysis is so short, but I felt like I just needed to say what I wanted to say and not embellish. As I said before, I feel like it is not quite my place to give my full thoughts on this character, but I hope that what I have given has been enjoyable in it’s own way.

[pepsinutellaandlaptops]

Peter 'Little Pete' Ellison

Age: 4

Level: 5+

Power: Creation

Position: Nemesis

[fallout--alley--youth--zone]

Gone Characters as the Smirkes' 14

("Smirkes 14" are Entities from The Magnus Archives that serve as manifestations of human fears.)

CAINE SOREN -- The Web

The Web represents the fear of being controlled or manipulated. This fits Caine's character for obvious reasons. Throughout the series he struggles with gaining & losing control of himself, his friends, and the FAYZ at large.

SAM TEMPLE -- The Vast

The Vast represents the fear of infinity & endlessness, as well as drowning & falling. This can be representative of the constant pressure Sam faces being expected to lead the FAYZ against forces he can barely understand.

ASTRID ELLISON -- The Eye

The Eye represents the fear of being known--the fear of being watched, of having your secrets found out & brought to light. For Astrid, who spends most of the series attempting to hide her brother's nature (as well as her own) and trying to know all that she can, there is no more fitting an Entity.

DIANA LADRIS -- The Stranger

The Stranger represents the fear of the out of place, the almost known, the not quite right. Diana struggles with identity throughout the series. Even those closes to her barely know her. How could they? She barely knows herself.

DRAKE MERWIN -- The Slaughter

The Slaughter represents the fear of violence, war, & physical pain. Fitting, then, that pain is the one thing Drake fears (other than women) and the one thing he enjoys inflicting above all else.

EDILIO ESCOBAR -- The Buried

The Buried represents the fear of tight spaces & not being able to breathe. Similar to the Vast, it can manifest as an immense pressure against which there is no respite.

GAIAPHAGE -- The Dark

The Dark represents the fear of the unknown. Not just that, but also: the fear of being watched, hunted, of there being something in the dark with you. For most of the series, the Gaiaphage is this all-powerful predator the FAYZians know very little about. They only know it's there. Watching. Hungry in the dark.

QUINN GAITHER -- The Lonely

The Lonely represents the fear of being alone, isolated, and/or forgotten. To me, this is Quinn's biggest fear throughout the series: first he's afraid to be cast aside by Sam, & so later he becomes a pillar of the community to make sure he's never forgotten.

BRITTNEY DONEGAL -- The Corruption

The Corruption represents the fear of bugs, rot, and the "unclean". It often manifests as a parasitic hivemind, drawing in its victims/ followers with promises of all-consuming, unconditional love. To me, this fits Brittney very well--she is first "resurrected", then the Gaiaphage draws her in by masquerading as her little brother, and as time goes on she begins to see how it's destroying her.

LANA ARWEN LAZAR -- The Spiral

The Spiral represents the fear of madness. Lana's entire character arc revolves around her sanity--whether she can trust her own mind, where she ends & the Gaiaphage begins.

CHARLES "ORC" MERRIMAN -- The Flesh

The Flesh represents the fear of being reduced to your body, seen as nothing but flesh to be manipulated and consumed. Orc's arc revolves around dehumanization & body horror from almost the moment he steps onto the page.

ZIL SPERRY -- The Desolation

The Desolation represents the fear of destruction--not just against people (like the Slaughter), but against all you've ever known. It's also connected to fire. Given that Zil's single-minded bigotry resulted in a fire that nearly destroyed Perdido Beach, it's not that much of a stretch to connect him to this Entity.

THE COYOTES -- The Hunt

The Hunt represents the fear of being chased. Throughout the series, the coyotes are a low-level but omnipresent threat. No matter where you are, you can be sure that they're tracking you. Hunting.

PETER "LITTLE PETE" ELLISON -- The End

The End represents the fear of death. Little Pete is the creator of the FAYZ. Everything begins--and ends--with him.

Bonus:

GAIA -- The Extinction

The Extinction represents the fear of the end of humanity as well as catastrophic change. In my opinion, Gaia is a separate character from the Gaiaphage. While the latter is a mysterious, unknown threat, Gaia is more concrete. We know exactly what her goal is: to escape the FAYZ & end all human life.

[ghaoil]

I can just imagine Astrid reading little pete bed time stories every night . It would be so cute <3