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Chapter 19
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 and Viola use her binoculars to look closer at the Prentisstown men attacking Farbranch. Todd is shocked to see even storekeepers and farmers from Prentisstown acting like a trained army. He notices that Ben and Cillian aren’t there and feels sad but is glad at least that they aren’t shooting people. Todd also doesn’t see Aaron anywhere.
Like Viola with her parents, Todd hasn’t fully processed the loss of Ben and Cillian. When Todd sees the full Prentisstown army, he begins to finally grasp how central violence was to life in that settlement. This passage leaves it deliberately ambiguous as to whether Mayor Prentiss has some special power over the men of the village (perhaps through Noise) or whether he is simply using the same tricks that all charismatic dictators throughout history have used.
Themes
At the top of the hill, Viola and Todd reach a fork in the road. Viola thinks the one on the right is in the direction of the river, but Todd thinks the one on the left looks like it gets more use. They need to make a decision quickly, so Todd agrees to go right. Francia told Viola about a settlement coming up, but as Viola thinks about it, she decides that maybe they should avoid any other settlements before Haven, to avoid drawing the Prentisstown army to them. Todd agrees.
Forks in a road often represent the different choices a person can make in their life, and this passage seems to reference the famous poem “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost, which also features a narrator choosing a path based on which looks like it gets more use. This passage in particular embodies how, due to his lack of experience in the wider world, Todd often has to make decisions without having much information and without knowing what the consequences will be.
Themes
