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Chapter 23
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 feels like a coward and tells Mr. Prentiss Jr. to just kill him already. Mr. Prentiss Jr. says he can’t because he doesn’t want to disappoint Mayor Prentiss. Still, he threatens to hurt Todd with the knife. Just then, Viola appears from nearby. She warns Mr. Prentiss Jr. to step away or else. She hits him with a strange device that zaps him with electricity, and he collapses.
Viola quickly reveals how empty Mr. Prentiss Jr.’s words actually are—he claims to have killed Ben and Cillian but gets defeated by a young girl. This passage could imply that Mr. Prentiss Jr. is unable to kill, just like Todd; and that he’s lying about Mayor Prentiss needing to see Todd alive. In any case, this passage raises the question of whether Mayor Prentiss does indeed have bigger plans for Todd that he couldn’t carry out when Todd ran away.
Themes
Todd wonders if he should use his knife to kill Mr. Prentiss Jr, but Viola says Todd isn’t a killer. Viola says that, in fact, it seems like the whole reason Mayor Prentiss and everyone are chasing Todd is because Todd isn’t a killer, but they want to make him into one. She adds that Mr. Prentiss Jr. was probably lying about killing Ben and Cillian to look tough. Instead, Viola proposes just tying Mr. Prentiss Jr. up.
Viola figures out correctly that what people like Mayor Prentiss value most is control. What makes Todd valuable to Mayor Prentiss isn’t that Todd would be such a crucial addition to the army, but that Todd would represent Mayor Prentiss’s total control over the people of Prentisstown.
Themes
Viola reveals that the device she zapped Mr. Prentiss Jr. with was originally supposed to reveal her location to the settler ship. She hopes Haven will have a new way to contact them. She and Todd agree that it’s better to stay off the main road from now on. Despite what Viola said earlier, Todd is still convinced that it would be better for him to be a killer, since he could’ve stopped things by killing Aaron in the swamp or Mr. Prentiss Jr. back at the farm.
Viola reveals that she sacrificed something important to her for the sake of saving Todd. Her actions show that she cares, but they also perhaps have a practical side, as Viola recognizes that Todd’s unique knowledge about the New World will be necessary to help her get to Haven. Both Todd and Viola help each other learn new things by cooperating.
Themes
Todd and Viola keep walking while it rains. Eventually, they come to a campfire. Todd thinks he sees a man by it until, all of a sudden, he realizes it’s actually a Spackle.
The Spackle have been a mysterious presence so far in the book, and all Todd knows about them is what he learned in Prentisstown. This cliffhanger sets up another situation where Todd may have to reckon with how the things he knows about his world may be false.
Themes
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