The Knife of Never Letting Go
Patrick Ness
Contributed by Carey Speaks
Chapter 29
Summary

Manchee can trace Viola’s scent and gets Todd back on the right track. Todd, however, realizes that his fever has not subsided and that he should not have taken off the rag Jane have given him. When Todd asks Manchee whether Aaron had planned his slow death, Aaron emerges from behind a tree and replies to Todd’s question with a yes. Todd continues hallucinating Aaron’s presence in different places. He walks into a burnt settlement where sees Aaron in his hallucination telling him that killing a Spackle does not count toward becoming a man.  He wakes up with Manchee licking his face and sees Aaron and Viola praying across the river.

Analysis

Todd’s relationship with Manchee has changed as he starts appreciating his dog as a companion. This shows a change in Todd compared to the beginning of the book when he was complaining about being treated like a boy and felt that being given a dog was meant to distract him.

Aaron’s voice in Todd’s hallucinations reminds him of the connection shared by all the men in Prentisstown. “Here’s yer chance, Todd Hewitt, to eat from the Tree of Knowledge” (Ness 252). Todd’s hallucination represents how Prentisstown men viewed the transition from innocence to knowledge through killing. His image of the people standing around calling him a coward shows how he feels about being able to kill Aaron and how he thinks other people perceive his actions.

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