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Chapter 22
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 can tell it’s only one horse coming, not an army, but they still run off the road. The horse rider gallops frantically, when all of a sudden, his Noise goes “Todd Hewitt?” Todd realizes it’s Mr. Prentiss Jr. Mr. Prentiss Jr. is surprised and overjoyed to see Todd is just taking the normal road. He notices that there is a silence in someone near Todd, and he gets ready to use his gun.
This passage once again captures the contradictions of Mr. Prentiss Jr. and how, due to his father’s position, he has a lot of genuine authority but also how, due to his youth and inexperience, he can’t quite live up to his position as sheriff. Here, for example, Mr. Prentiss Jr. seems surprised, as if he were expecting to fail in his search.
Themes
Todd and Viola leap up from their hiding place. They know they can’t outrun Mr. Prentiss Jr. on his horse, but they try to make it to the river. Todd falls and tells Viola to keep going while Mr. Prentiss Jr. catches up to him. Todd is still holding on to his knife, but Mr. Prentiss Jr. tells him to drop it and he reluctantly does.
Todd again shows how he’s willing to make sacrifices to protect Viola. While he does seem to be starting to genuinely care about her, Todd also remains obsessed with finding ways to prove that he is a man.
Themes
Mr. Prentiss Jr. tells Todd there’s only two things to do with women: keep the “whores” and shoot the others. He starts tying Todd up, doing his legs, but Todd manages to headbutt him. Todd gets his knife back and puts it against Mr. Prentiss Jr’s throat, asking what Mayor Prentiss wants with Todd. Mr. Prentiss Jr. refuses to talk. He gloats about killing Ben and Cillian, and Todd thinks for a second he’s going to actually kill Mr. Prentiss Jr, but again he hesitates at the last moment. Mr. Prentiss Jr. manages to get away and disarm Todd.
Mr. Prentiss Jr. is a teenager who has never left his exclusively male home settlement, so he clearly takes his ideas about women from his father and the other men in the settlement. This suggests that when Mr. Prentiss Jr. talks about killing Ben and Todd, he’s probably lying, particularly given how Cillian embarrassed him earlier. The fact that Todd falls for Mr. Prentiss Jr.’s outrageous boasts shows how Todd himself is inexperienced.
Themes
