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Chapter 11
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
There are six men, including Mayor Prentiss, and they’re all practicing the mayor’s Noise thought exercises like “I AM THE CIRCLE AND THE CIRCLE IS ME.” Aaron is also with them, his head in bandages. Todd blames himself for not killing Aaron when he had the chance. They look up and seem to be looking right at Todd, although Todd thinks it should be impossible for them to see him without binoculars.
The fact that the mayor and all his men are thinking the same thing suggests that they lack the ability to self-reflect and consider complex ideas. Todd’s feeling of constantly being watched by Aaron shows how Aaron has succeeded in instilling Todd with the fear that God is always listening to his Noise. Todd seems to conflate Aaron with God, perhaps suggesting how, in his arrogance, Aaron wants to take on a godlike role for the people of Prentisstown.
Themes
Todd goes back to the girl and tells her that they have to leave immediately. They run, and Todd holds his knife, promising himself that if Aaron gets close again, Todd will kill him for real this time. Todd leads the way over steep terrain towards what he believes is the settlement on his map. He is surprised to come across a road, which he follows until it leads to a bridge that goes from one cliff edge to another, with a river about 30 or 40 yards below. It looks like the bridge is the only way forward, and Todd hears hoofbeats.
This passage once again looks at Todd’s relationship with nature. On the one hand, the treacherous terrain seems to hinder Todd by slowing him down and cutting off where he can go. At the same time, however, the cliff also offers an opportunity for Todd and the girl to get away from the riders. While Todd and the girl try to make sense of the environment around them, the men in the army just use brute force on nature, forcing their horses to keep riding forward.
Themes
Todd, the girl, and Manchee all cross the bridge. Todd gets the idea of trying to cut the bridge with his knife, but he realizes too late that the ropes have a tough resin on them that prevents him from cutting them. Todd figures Mayor Prentiss and his men are only about three minutes away. Todd curses himself and starts hitting himself. Just when he’s about to suggest that they might as well try running anyway, the girl pulls out her campfire box.
Destroying bridges is a common trope in adventure stories. This passage plays with expectations about the genre by presenting a bridge that an ordinary knife can’t cut. The girl has to get creative to destroy the bridge, illustrating how, while this novel follows some of the conventions of adventure fiction, it also intends to subvert others.
Themes
The girl smashes her box with a rock to get a fluid out of it, then throws the fluid over the ropes of the bridge. Just as the horses are beginning to cross the bridge, the girl motions for Todd to back up and throws the box at the fluid, setting off a big fireball. A man named Mr. MacInerny and his horse fall with the bridge, while Mayor Prentiss and Mr. Prentiss Jr. just barely manage to get away from the bridge before it falls. The mayor shouts angrily at Todd from across the gap. As Todd and the girl leave, she finally reveals that she can speak and that her name is Viola.
Although the girl has access to advanced technology and seemingly came to the planet on a spaceship, she ultimately destroys the bridge with one of humanity’s oldest discoveries: fire. The second part of the book ends with Viola finally revealing her name, showing how the adventures in this part have shown Viola that she can trust Todd—and that perhaps she needs to trust him to survive.
Themes
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