The Knife of Never Letting Go

Todd Hewitt is the protagonist of the novel. The reader experiences the story through Todd’s narration. He is 12 years old when the story begins. He is anxious about becoming a man at age 13. Todd struggles with the lack of privacy in a world where people can hear each other’s thoughts. He also dislikes being the only boy in a town of men.

Todd is illiterate and insecure about his lack of education. Todd is brave, although he believes that he is a coward. He believes that sometimes vengeance is a justifiable good, but he is unable to kill Aaron. Aaron describes him as “a fighter” but also that he is “not a killer” (258).

By the end of the novel, Todd has lost the innocence of childhood. He tells Aaron that he is already a man, refusing to let killing define manhood for him.

Viola is a settler from Old World. Her ship crashes, and her parents are killed. When she meets Todd, she is 13 years old. Viola is quick-witted, brave, and well trained in technology. She is a living corollary of the silence that Todd finds in the swamp.

Viola represents the first time Todd has been near someone in anything like a normal relationship without a mutual barrage of

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