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Chapter 25
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 wakes up in confusion with no one around but Manchee. He remembers being stabbed by Aaron and tries to find the knife, only to realize that when Aaron tried to stab Todd in the back, it went into Todd’s rucksack and stopped on his Ma’s journal. Todd figures Aaron must have left him alive for Mayor Prentiss to find or perhaps so that Todd would have to suffer knowing that Aaron has Viola.
Now, both Mr. Prentiss Jr. and Aaron have hesitated when they had a chance to kill Todd, raising the question of what Todd’s true significance to Mayor Prentiss might be. Todd thought his knife would protect him, but it ends up being turned against him, and instead the journal saves his life. This perhaps represents how knowledge can be even more important to survival than combat skills.
Themes
Todd sees that Viola left her bag behind in the struggle. He grabs a medipak and applies it to his head where Aaron hit him. He is relieved to see that because his knife is so sharp, it tore right through his Ma’s journal, meaning the damage isn’t too severe. He takes the knife with him but doesn’t want to use it again or even touch it. He fears that if he wants to find Viola, his only option is to head right back toward the Prentisstown army, but just then, Manchee gets a scent and starts running off in the approximate direction of Haven, away from the army.
Todd’s recent experiences, both of killing the Spackle and getting attacked by Aaron, lead him to reconsider how he feels about the knife. Nevertheless, as the title of the book suggests, Todd can’t let his knife go even at this moment when he fears what it can do. And so, the end of this chapter makes it clear that Todd still has things to learn about his knife, whether that means learning to use it more responsibly or whether that means ultimately finding the courage to throw it away.
Themes
