The Knife of Never Letting Go

The Knife of Never Letting Go

By: Patrick Ness

Conclusion

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Summary

Text Connection: Insurgent

Todd is from the town of Prentisstown. He and all of the men in the New World are infected with a germ called Noise. This means that all of their thoughts can be heard by other people. When Todd runs away from Prentisstown, he meets a girl from the Old World named Viola. They both learn that the only safe place to go, away from the Prentisstown army, is a city called Haven. After a long struggle that is full of obstacles, the pair finally arrive at Haven. They now learn that Haven is simply, New Prentisstown.

Text Connection: The Death Cure

Similarities:

• Both have a male protagonist
• conflicts are both trying to run away from their pasts
• diseases that drives the conflicts

Differences:

• Point of view
• the antagonists
• setting

Similarities:

• Running away from a group of people
• Getting help from other people on their way to where they wanted to go
• At the end of both books the main characters encounter what they are running from
• The "bad guys" were trying to find the protagonist

Differences:

• The protagonists are different genders
• The way the societies are set up in both worlds were different
• The reasons for the events that happened in each book were different

Why we choose this book

We chose The Knife of Never Letting Go because it was highly recommended. Also, when reading the synopsis, we were intrigued by the the whole concept of the Noise. We both enjoyed the complexity of the characters and the anxiety created from the text. Furthermore, the book engages the reader, and it is truly a page turner. We both enjoy books that are action packed and give the reader an exhilarating rush when reading it, and this book is described as being just that.

Literary Element: Symbolism

There is a lot of symbolism in this novel that has a major impact on the story. The two main things that have symbolism are the Noise and the knife. The Noise represents the chaotic side of humanity. When a man has Noise, all of their thoughts and emotions are revealed. Nothing is filtered and everyone knows what is going on in that person's mind. This can lead to a lot of chaos in the world. Todd describes "the Noise is a man unfiltered, and without a filter, a man is just chaos walking" (Ness 42). Secondly, the knife also has a lot of symbolism. Todd gets the knife from Ben for safety when he leaves Prentisstown. The knife symbolizes a lot of things; it represents Todd's innocence and decision making. This whole book is based around Todd letting go of his childhood, and letting go of his childhood means letting go of his innocence. The knife is something that would allow him to let go of his innocence. Once he uses the knife to kill someone, Todd has lost his innocence. The knife gives him a choice; he can either become a man or preserve his childhood. Symbolism has a major impact on the story because it shows the reader that the book has a deeper meaning.

Major Characters

Literary Element: Character Motivation

Todd Hewitt: 12 year old from Prentisstown. Also the narrator and main protagonist.

Manchee: Todd's dog and loyal companion throughout the book.

Viola: 13 year old girl from Old World, and Todd's friend.

Aaron: The preacher of Prentisstown. He goes after Todd, Manchee, and Viola. He's the antagonist and the sacrifice.

Ben and Cillian: They are Todd's caregivers. They sacrifice themselves for Todd, and they try to keep Todd innocent.

Another literary Element that had a major impact on the story is character motivation. Character motivation is something that drives the character's actions. Noise played a big part in character motivation in this story. Since women aren't affected by the Noise germ, men can start to feel bothered by their silence. Todd learns that this silence led the men in Prentisstown to kill all of the women living there, giving all of the men in Prentissstown a bad reputation even if they didn't do anything. This created a conflict between Prentisstown and the rest of the New World. Also, the Noise aspect of the book caused Todd to kill an innocent Spackle. Another motivation in the book is hope. Hope was the only reason Todd and Viola kept pushing to keep running from the Prentisstown army. The stongest motivation in this book was the hope for a better world in Haven.