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Chapter 10
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Knife of Never Letting Go, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
The Cost of Violence
Information vs. Knowledge
Bigotry and Misogyny
Humanity’s Connection to Nature
Summary
Analysis
Todd tries to tell the frightened girl he’s mistaken about her catching the Noise germ, but she can tell he’s lying because of his Noise. She runs away. Todd sends Manchee to follow her and also runs after her himself. Eventually, the girl stops, unsure what to do next, and Todd catches up.
Even though Todd might kill the girl with disease, she eventually stops running away from him, showing how powerful the urge can be to try to find connection with other humans.
Themes
Also unsure what to do, Todd tries to read a message Ben left in Todd’s Ma’s journal, but Todd doesn’t remember enough of Ben’s reading lessons to decipher it. He gets frustrated and tells the girl that they have no choice but to keep moving forward together while keeping a distance to prevent her from catching the germ. But the girl doesn’t budge, so eventually, Todd gets ready to take Manchee and leave without her.
Todd reveals in this section that he’s too proud to admit to the girl that he can’t read. This idea that he needs to be self-sufficient and can’t ask others for help seems to be the direct influence of the education he received in Prentisstown, where the warlike Mayor Prentiss has no tolerance for weakness or vulnerability.
Themes
Todd remembers that the girl left her bag when she ran from him, so first he goes to find that and possibly take her binoculars. He finds the bag and takes out the binoculars, just in time to see Mayor Prentiss coming out of the swamp with a group of other men on horseback.
Whether it’s Aaron or Mayor Prentiss, Todd seems to always have someone following him. This perhaps reflects how, as much as Todd wants to become a new kind of adult, his past is always chasing him.
Themes
