The Knife of Never Letting Go

Todd tells himself who he is, a calming technique Ben, his father figure, taught him, reciting his age, name, and location. He tells himself that silence doesn’t exist.

There have not been schools since before Todd was born. As Mayor Prentiss rose to power, he ordered that they burn all the books. Since then, the under-thirteen boys all gather in one noisy classroom. Shortly after the book burnings, the teacher, Mr. Royal, killed himself.

Ben taught Todd survival skills; Todd knows how to hunt, craft survival items, light fires, and more. As Todd walks through the small town, he describes its few buildings and some of the residents he sees. There are 147 people in Prentisstown, a shop, a church, and little else: “146 men and one almost-man” (19).

Ben says there were other settlements in New World before the war with the Spackle, but they are destroyed and abandoned now. Prentisstown is the last inhabited place.

Todd describes the Noise of the men with a jumble of illustrated words. He can hear their thoughts in images as well. Many of the men think of women, either the women they have known, or ones they have seen in videos. Most of the images are lewd, because “Noise is what men want to be true” (22). Todd has never seen a woman in person.

Todd greets Mr. Phelps, the storeowner. Todd tries to disguise his thoughts about the silence in the swamp, but he doesn’t know why he’s hiding the knowledge of what he found.

The pub is the worst place with the most intense noise: “Noise is like a drunk man: ‘blurry and boring and dangerous’” (25). The music is always turned up loud to drown out the Noise, but it does the opposite, amplifying the men’s sorrow.

The mayor of the town, Mayor Prentiss, has the worst Noise. He believes that order can be imposed on noise. His men do constant exercises for their attention and thinking. They chant religious mantras and circular mathematical formulas to control their thoughts and give them structure. Davy Prentiss, son of Mayor Prentiss, is the sheriff. He is a violent bully who is only a couple of years older than Todd.

Cillian wants to know where Todd has been. He hears Manchee think the word “quiet” and asks what he means. Todd doesn’t tell him what they found. He tends to the sheep, his responsibility on the farm that he shares with Ben and Cillian, his “more or less parents” (33). Todd’s mother and Ben were friends.

Ben is the only truly kind man that Todd knows. He tells Todd to stay away from Aaron. Ben thinks “One Month” (37), but he hides it from Todd quickly. Todd lets him hear his thoughts about the hole in the swamp. Ben’s demeanor instantly changes. He says they must get Todd out of there immediately.

Cillian hears some of their Noise and runs over. Ben tells them both, “Don’t think it!” (39). Ben says Todd has to leave town, and then he tells Cillian that it won’t change the plan. Ben says Todd must control his thoughts until he is so far away that no one can hear his Noise.

As they pack, Todd can’t understand how he hasn’t heard their thoughts about whatever is happening. They have hidden this Noise so thoroughly that he never got a hint of it. Ben and Cillian lift the floorboards and remove a rucksack. There is a book on top.

Davy Prentiss knocks on the door. The Noise alerted him. He wants to talk to Todd because he heard something strange coming from him. Ben hits Davy, and Cillian takes his gun. From the floor, Davy tells Todd they have plans for him, but Todd leaves.

Ben takes Todd across the fields to the river and orders him to follow it until he reaches the swamps. He says Todd isn’t coming back. Ben shows him the book and says it is Todd’s mother’s journal. He can’t tell Todd more because “knowledge is dangerous” (51), especially when thoughts are hard to conceal. However, there are secrets in the book that Todd can read when he is safe. The book also contains a map with arrows pointing to his next destination.

Ben opens his noise, and Todd sees and hears glimpses of what happens to boys when they become men. What he sees shocks Todd, but he doesn’t reveal what he sees to the reader. He sees that Ben and Cillian have always planned to send him away; it’s why they taught Todd survival skills.

Todd hears a loud bang back at the farm. Ben gives Todd a knife and makes him leave. Todd runs towards the swamps, and Ben goes back to help Cillian.

Todd hears shooting as he runs. The bangs are probably Cillian blowing up the generators. Todd goes to the rushes, where beasts he calls crocs live. He hears the thoughts of the crocs; they’re hungry. One jumps on him, and he thrusts the knife through its head. Aaron appears and punches Todd again. He says he helped the others hear Todd’s noise because Todd brought danger to town.

A croc attacks Aaron, and Todd escapes. He and Manchee reach the Spackle buildings and feel the hole in the Noise again. They chase the silence and run into what Manchee calls a Spackle at first sight, but it’s actually a girl.