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Chapter 20
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
As Todd and Viola travel, Todd complains that it’s rude for Viola to always be reading his Noise, but she says it’s impossible not to. Eventually, Viola says that she doesn’t want to offend Todd, but she needs to see Ben’s note that Todd can’t read. Viola reads it aloud. In the note, Ben warns Todd that Prentisstown has been planning for years to make a move after the last boy (Todd) became a man. He promises Todd that his Ma’s journal will explain even more. The note ends with Ben saying Todd must warn the people of Farbranch about Prentisstown.
This passage is a crucial turning point for Todd as he learns the dangers of trying to do things himself and refusing to ask for help. Although Todd himself has managed to get away from the army for the moment, it’s possible that many innocent people will die—all because Todd was too proud to ask Viola for help with reading the journal. In order to learn more, Todd has to be honest about his current limitations.
Themes
Todd realizes that it’s his fault that the people of Farbranch weren’t prepared for Prentisstown’s army. Viola tries to reassure Todd, but he just wants to get moving to stay ahead of the army. As they walk, Viola asks why the whole town had to wait for Todd to become a man. Todd says Aaron believed there was a scriptural reason, and that the day a boy became a man was like when he ate from the Tree of Knowledge and lost his innocence. But as they discuss ages, Viola is surprised to learn Todd believes a year has 13 months, when she knows there are only 12. She wonders if Todd is already 14, not just about to turn 13.
The Tree of Knowledge comes from the Biblical story of Adam and Eve in the book of Genesis. This passage seems to reveal that perhaps Aaron is drastically misinterpreting the story, at least compared to most real-world religions. Traditionally, the story is about temptation, with the Tree of Knowledge representing giving in to temptation rather than an initiation ceremony. This passage shows how religious texts can twisted to support different, even contradictory ideas.
Themes
Viola describes the plans her parents had to get ready for the settler ship in the New World. Todd says church settlers did things differently, not having communicators between settlements. Mayor Prentiss was so against technology that he wanted to get rid of the fission generators, which might have killed the whole settlement.
Mayor Prentiss’s desire to get rid of his community’s generator shows how, while his ideology may be effective for keeping himself in power, it also has a self-destructive element to it.
Themes
Viola and Todd sleep briefly before Viola wakes Todd up saying she hears Noise. They run in the dark and come to a settlement similar to Farbranch. Todd wonders briefly if they should have stopped to warn the people of that settlement, but they continue on. The next morning, Viola tells Todd she’s surprised that the settlement seemed so far off the schedule of a successful settlement she learned in school. Todd says real life isn’t like school, but Viola is sure her own settlement will do a better job. Suddenly, they both hear a sound.
Viola may be better educated than Todd, but this passage shows how just as Noise isn’t knowledge, education doesn’t necessarily translate into knowledge either. Despite the gaps in his formal education due to the schools in Prentisstown, Todd nevertheless has acquired a lot of practical knowledge, which helps him to understand why running a colony might not follow the exact same timeline as what a textbook suggests.
Themes
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