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Chapter 18
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
Matthew says there’s no one around to protect Todd now. Todd tries to talk Matthew down while preparing to escape. Matthew begins to talk about his mother, Jessica, saying that Todd needs to hear her story before he dies. Matthew sends Todd something in his Noise, but Todd just calls Matthew a liar and runs away.
This passage reflects how sometimes a person reveals their true nature when there’s no one else around to watch. Without the other members of Farbranch to convince Matthew to hold back on attacking Todd, alone, he gives in to his anger.
Themes
Todd hides up in a nook in a barn, but Matthew finds him. Todd promises to just leave town, but Matthew won’t allow it. To stop Matthew, Todd cuts some ropes with his knife and some debris falls on Matthew. Todd goes down and kicks his machete away, then finds Manchee. It turns out Manchee is missing part of his tail from when Matthew was swinging his machete around and chasing him.
Manchee is an innocent victim who had nothing to do with Matthew’s grudge against Prentisstown. The severing of his tail shows the unintended costs that violence can have. Similarly, the chase ends ambiguously, with Todd unsure if he has seriously injured or even killed Matthew, showing the further cost of violence.
Themes
Just then Francia comes and warns them that Mayor Prentiss and his men are attacking Farbranch. Todd picks up Manchee and heads back to Francia’s house, where Viola is. He learns there that Hildy has already gone off to fight since Mayor Prentiss and his men reached Tam alone on the farm first. Francia vows that the people of the town will protect Todd and Viola, then goes out to fight.
Despite Matthew’s grudge with Todd and Francia’s misgivings about him, the people of the settlement ultimately come together to defend Todd and Viola, showing yet again how times of crisis can help people to show their true character.
Themes
While Viola and Todd are alone, Viola wonders if they could find Haven themselves by just following the river, since Francia told her that’s how to get there. She’s afraid of endangering the people of Farbranch anymore; plus, she wants a way to contact her settler ship. Todd wants to leave too, so they head off into the dark.
Todd’s journey so far has been a lesson in how he can benefit from trusting other people and accepting their help. But in this passage, Viola suggests that perhaps it would be best for her and Todd to go off on their own after all and prioritize their own survival.
Themes
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It’s only after they get started that Viola reveals to Todd that Haven is supposedly a couple of weeks away, according to Francia. Todd isn’t happy about this but keeps walking. As he goes, he wonders if he killed Matthew with that debris, why Mayor Prentiss is following him so far, and what the real story behind Prentisstown is. When they get to a hill, Todd sees that it’s not just a posse of men with the mayor but in fact all of Prentisstown fighting in Farbranch, an army about three times the size of their settlement.
Todd may be guilty of misunderstanding Viola, but here she reveals how she herself sometimes makes it difficult for him by concealing information. While the novel primarily focuses on Todd’s coming-of-age, presenting Viola as more mature, she has her own challenges and things to learn over the course of the story.
Themes
