The Knife of Never Letting Go

They are desperate with thirst and finally find the river again. Viola fills some expandable water bottles she keeps in her pack. She opens the journal and reads the warning note again. It says that Todd has to warn the world about Prentisstown. Todd knows that the men in Prentisstown have a plan, and Todd’s becoming a man is crucial to its success. He remembers a fragment in Ben’s Noise, showing how a boy becomes a man, but he stops himself from thinking about it more because he doesn’t believe that the images are truthful. Todd blames himself for Ben and Cillian’s deaths and for the massacre at Farbranch.

Viola asks why they Prentisstown boys become men at 13. Todd says it is symbolic, and that Aaron called it the passage from innocence to sin. He says that a boy gets 13 cycles of 13 months before manhood. Viola tells him that in Old World, a year is 12 months. She thinks he’s already 14. The people on New World use a different calendar cycle.

They take turns sleeping. Todd wonders what Viola’s life was like. She hears his noise and answers, saying that her parents came with the others to set up a settlement. Todd remembers Ben saying that they came to New World for a simpler life. Then he waits outside so Viola can go to sleep without his Noise.

Outside, Todd falls asleep without meaning to. Viola wakes him and says she can hear Noise approaching. They spend another night running. They reach the settlement Blazing Beacons. Todd thinks that the townspeople deserve to be warned, but he’s also worried that he’ll get them all killed. They sneak through the settlement without being noticed.

Eventually, they reach another settlement. Viola says that trying to reset things to the Dark Ages hasn’t worked for the settlers. Manchee barks, and they hear Noise that none of them have heard before.

The Noise is the sound of singing, coming from creatures right in front of them. Manchee says they are giant cows. They aren’t cows, but there are thousands of the massive creatures. They are all at least 12 feet tall and resemble buffalo. They are all singing the Noise, “Here.” A man on a coach passes by and offers to give them a ride. Viola tells the man that her name is Hildy, and she gives Todd’s name as Ben.

The man who picks them up is named Wilf. Viola talks with Wilf in a Farbranch accent. Todd is impressed by her mimicry, but he doesn’t feel good about deceiving Wilf. She tells Todd that she’s just lying to keep them safe. Todd realizes that there’s really no such thing as lying in Prentisstown, since everyone lies all the time there. The town exists in a state of constant deception.

The cart enters the herd of creatures. Todd smiles at Viola, and she cries. The music moves them both. She asks about Aaron. After Todd tells her what he knows about him, Viola says the preacher on her ship, Marc, was kind and gentle. He didn’t preach of hellfire. Aaron was always saying, “If one of us falls, we all fall” (245), a phrase that has never made sense to Todd.

They cross through the herd all afternoon and then reach the settlement of Brockley Falls. They get out to make shelter. They thank Wilf and tell him to warn everyone. Wilf says that no one listens to him, but that he’ll tell his people that the army is getting bigger with each settlement it conquers. After Wilf leaves, Manchee tells them that he hears a horse.

They hide from the hoofbeats. The rider is Davy, the Mayor’s son. He can’t see them yet, but he can hear Todd’s Noise. He begs them to run so he will have an excuse to hurt them. When Todd runs, Davy throws a bolo at his legs and brings him down. Viola keeps running.

Davy says that Viola betrayed him and that Todd doesn’t understand women. Todd head-butts him under the chin when he is close enough, then jumps on top and punches him before kneeing him in the groin. Before Davy can recover, Todd screams that there is a snake, which scares the horse and makes it run away.

Todd holds the knife under Davy’s chin and asks why they’re chasing them. Davy says the Mayor wants him. He tells Todd that he’s a fighter, but not a killer. Then he asks if Todd wants to hear about Ben and Cillian before he shot them. As Todd hesitates, deciding what to do, Davy gets the knife from him.

Davy mocks Todd for losing the fight. Viola returns and tells Davy to get away. When he refuses, something hits Davy in the chest: a bulb with wires attached to it. The contraption shocks Davy and knocks him unconscious. Todd prepares to kill Davy, but Viola stops him. She says that as soon as she met him, she knew that he was different than the men from Prentisstown.

Viola says the army wants him so they can make him a killer. She says she knows boys like Davy on her ship. They are liars. She refuses to believe that age is what makes someone a man, especially not Davy, who is barely older than Todd. When she is done talking, she bandages Manchee. The device she shocked Davy with was a locator that she disassembled to use as a weapon. Now, her ship won’t know where she is, and she’ll have to find them when her people arrive months later. They tie Davy up and leave.

Despite Viola’s encouragement, Todd thinks he’s weak because he still can’t kill a man. They suddenly come to a fire. A Spackle sits by it.

He hears the Spackle’s Noise, and it is afraid. It lunges for a spear, and Todd tackles it, planning on killing it with his knife. He immediately senses that it is weaker than he. Viola tries to pull him off, but Todd plunges the knife into its chest, killing it.

After the Spackle dies, Todd vomits. Viola calls him an idiot. She says he keeps believing what he has been told, including the Spackle all being dead. He starts shaking because now he is a killer.

Aaron steps out of the woods, grabs Viola, and holds a cloth over her mouth. She falls, and Aaron hits Todd with a stick. Then, he raises the knife over Todd and brings it down.