The Knife of Never Letting Go

At the start of the novel, Todd thinks, “I won’t officially become a man for thirty more days” (4), as if coming of age and passing into adulthood is nothing but a birthday. Viola asks him, “Why do you become a man here at thirteen?” (228). Todd says that he doesn’t know, but he thinks it is based on scripture.

Manhood is a difficult concept to define in The Knife of Never Letting Go. The definition changes depending on perspective: The sacrificial ritual of Prentisstown insists that a boy becomes a man when he kills another man.

However, Todd learns that being a man from Prentisstown is a crime punishable by law in other settlements, as the men there are likely murderers. Being a man from Prentisstown is not something anyone outside the town would aspire to, and therefore, their definition of manhood is decidedly different.

Todd personally defines manhood as protecting those you love, though he views his inability to kill as proof that he is a coward and a child. His inability to see the benefit of mercy and suppression of violence suggests that he has been subconsciously indoctrinated by the culture of Prentisstown, even though he doesn’t consciously ascribe to it.