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Chapter 17
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
Francia argues with Hildy, afraid of the rumors she’s heard about how Mayor Prentiss and his men are following Todd. Ultimately, Hildy manages to convince Francia to invite Todd and Viola to stay with her. Manchee, however, has to sleep outside.
Francia is sterner and more demanding than Hildy, perhaps helping Todd to appreciate just how kind Hildy was to them—and how not everyone they meet will be as accepting.
Themes
Hildy says she has to get back to her own farm. Francia tells Todd and Viola that everyone works in Farbranch, so they’ll have to work to earn their keep, even if they’re only staying for a day or two. Viola asks about sending a message back to her ship, but Francia informs her that because the people in town are just church settlers. They don’t even have the technology to communicate with other settlements on the New World, let alone ships in space.
Although Prentisstown and Farbranch differ culturally, each emphasizes the importance of work. This seems to be a necessity in the New World, where the comparative isolation of the various settlements requires everyone within a settlement to do their part.
Themes
With Viola’s ship still seven months away, Francia is willing to take her in if she does work, goes to school, and goes to church. She suggests Todd can stay too and do farm work. She introduces him to a man named Ivan, who is wary because he can sense Todd is from Prentisstown. Ivan has Todd work alone in the back.
Although Farbranch is less extreme than Prentisstown, it values many of the same things, including church, sending children to school, and hard work. The way that people like Francia and Ivan regard outsiders as dangerous suggests yet again how the people of Farbranch aren’t as different from Prentisstown as they might like to think.
Themes
Todd learns from Ivan that there will be a village meeting about him and Viola that evening. Hildy is going to speak in their favor. That night when Hildy arrives, she sends Todd off to be alone with Viola in Francia’s house while everyone else has the meeting. But as Todd is heading back, he hears a hint of Noise, and suddenly, Matthew appears and stops him.
One of the biggest differences between Farbranch and Prentisstown is that Farbranch has meetings (suggesting a more democratic government) whereas Prentisstown is a dictatorship. But as Todd learns, a settlement can contain a wide variety of people, and without Hildy or Francia around, Matthew seems to give in to his anger.
Themes
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