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Chapter 12
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
Viola has an accent that Todd finds unusual. Todd asks her about what was inside her campfire box, but she doesn’t want to talk much and instead just keeps moving. Eventually, Todd gets her to start talking again, and she mentions that she somehow knew what Aaron’s name was even though he never said it (due to Noise). She explains that she crashed in the swamp, but she refuses to acknowledge whether the dead bodies with her were her parents.
Although Todd finds Viola’s accent unusual, it’s just as likely that he is the one with the more unusual accent, given how remote Prentisstown is. This passage highlights how what is familiar or alien to a person is all relative to their previous experiences. Viola’s opening up about her parents and her past further shows how she is beginning to trust Todd.
Themes
Viola asks why Manchee can talk. Todd explains the Noise germ and the war against the Spackle. Viola then asks if she’ll also die from the noise germ like the women in Prentisstown, but Todd says he doesn’t know the answer. His Noise says “probably.” Viola tells Todd that she saw him trying to read the journal earlier, and she saw the words Ben wrote were “You must warn them.” Just as they’re walking, someone with a gun stops them and asks what they’re doing burning down his bridge.
Despite Viola’s education and more advanced technology, she is ultimately a stranger on the New World, where Todd, despite his sheltered upbringing, is a native. Each has something that the other lacks, emphasizing what people can gain when they collaborate with each other instead of maintaining a suspicious distance like Todd and Viola did initially.
Themes
