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Noise
The Spackle are a species of aliens that are indigenous to the New World. Mayor Prentiss instigates a war against the Spackle, blaming them for the problems in his settlement, but Todd learns later that the Spackle seem peaceful and perhaps even shy. The Spackle seem to be intelligent, although only a small fragment of their writing survives.
Spackle Quotes in The Knife of Never Letting Go
The The Knife of Never Letting Go quotes below are all either spoken by Spackle or refer to Spackle. For each quote, you can also see the other terms and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Chapter 6
Quotes
It’s a girl.
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Chapter 22
Quotes
“’Em big thangs,” Wilf says, not turning round. “Jus thangs, thass all.”
Chapter 25
Quotes
And (no no no no no) I see the fear that was coming from his Noise–
(No no no, please no.)
And there’s nothing left for me to throw up but I heave anyway–
And I’m a killer–
I’m a killer–
I’m a killer–
(Oh, please no) I’m a killer.”
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Chapter 26
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There’s a knife-shaped hole all the way thru and out the other side. The knife is so sharp and Aaron must be so strong that it’s hardly ruined the book at all. The pages have a slit running thru them all the way thru the book, my blood and Spackle blood staining the edges just a little, but it’s still readable.
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Chapter 29
Quotes
And I raise the knife higher–
And I aim it at his heart–
And he’s still smiling–
And I bring the knife down–
And stab it right into Viola’s chest.
“No!” I say, in the second that it’s too late.
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Chapter 30
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“It won’t work,” says the boy, still outta sight.
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Spackle Term Timeline in The Knife of Never Letting Go
The timeline below shows where the term Spackle appears in The Knife of Never Letting Go. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 1
...only dislike the swamp because they remember how it used to be: full of dead Spackles (an alien race, also called “spacks”). Todd himself doesn’t remember a world before Noise. His...
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Todd knows Noise should be everywhere. The Spackle released the Noise germ in a war against the humans, killing half the men and...
(full context)
Chapter 2
...place called the New World, and there used to be other settlements around, but the Spackle and their germs wiped out most of the other settlements. Mayor Prentiss claims that Prentisstown...
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Chapter 3
...tells Ben about the Noise hole in the swamp. Todd asks if this means the Spackle are back or if there’ll be another war, but Ben is stunned and just says...
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Chapter 5
...it. There’s another bang from the farm. Todd says he doesn’t know how to fight Spackle, but Ben just urges him to take the knife and go, so at last, Todd...
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Chapter 6
...again. He holds on to his knife, believing he’s going to have to kill a Spackle. All of a sudden, they stop as Todd sees a figure under a tree. Manchee...
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Chapter 13
...asks why Manchee can talk. Todd explains the Noise germ and the war against the Spackle. Viola then asks if she’ll also die from the noise germ like the women in...
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Chapter 24
...sees a man by it until, all of a sudden, he realizes it’s actually a Spackle.
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Chapter 25
Todd is shocked because he thought all the Spackle died in the war. The Spackle is clearly an alien, with big ear flaps and...
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Todd and the Spackle both leap, with Todd brandishing his knife. Todd wants to prove that he can kill....
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Todd tries to defend what he did by saying the Spackle killed his Ma and lots of other people on the New World, but Viola shouts...
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Chapter 27
...to kill it and eat it with his knife, but he keeps thinking of the Spackle and can’t do it. Todd keeps walking on, feeling weaker and weaker. Eventually, he collapses...
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Chapter 29
...Viola and she’s afraid. As Todd walks, he wonders if Aaron knew the knife had Spackle blood on it and if the Spackle blood will be poisonous to Todd’s system. All...
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Todd tells Aaron he’s already killed, but Aaron says a Spackle doesn’t count. He taunts Todd about how it took Viola a long time to die....
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Chapter 34
...Ben know about everything that happened on his journey, including Farbranch, Wilf, and killing the Spackle.
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Chapter 36
Ben reveals that the Noise germ wasn’t part of Spackle warfare—it was always present on the New World. Shortly after arriving, the settler men’s thoughts...
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Todd can tell from Ben’s Noise that the war didn’t stop with the Spackle. The men of Prentisstown couldn’t stand the way all the women were silent without Noise....
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Chapter 38
...things the preacher Aaron is saying. All the New World settlers are shocked to find Spackle, which none of the scouts detected, but which seem to be innocent and intelligent creatures,...
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