The Knife of Never Letting Go Characters Analysis
Todd Hewitt - He is the protagonist of the novel and the last boy of Prentisstown. He is raised by his foster parents, Ben and Cillian, who own a farm right outside of town. Todd’s father passes away before his birth, and his mother is killed in the purge of Prentisstown women that is intimated by Mayor Prentiss. Ben and Cillian force Todd to run away when he finds a hole in the noise while walking the swamp. They had promised to protect Todd from the terrible crimes of the Prentisstown people.
Ben - Todd’s foster parent, who seems to have been the closest to Todd. He sings to Todd the lullaby that Todd’s mother had sung for him. Ben guides Todd on the best way to leave town, on the day of his departure while Cillian attempts to stop the Prentisstown from pursuing him. Ben returns to find Cillian killed, and the farm destroyed. He hides from the army and tries to reunite with Todd. Finally, he manages to find Todd and tell him the true history of the New World. Alas, they have separated again as Ben attempts to prevent Davy Jr from pursuing Todd.
Mayor Prentiss - He plays a small role in the novel, but he drives the other characters to locate and capture Todd. Davy Jr and Aaron both dog Todd because Mayor Prentiss sees him as a symbol. He wants to take over the world with an army composed of men from Prentisstown. At the beginning of the book, we learn that Mayor Prentiss is trying to tame the chaos of the noise through mental exercises and chants. In his final appearance, Mayor Prentiss managed to gain control of Haven and somehow silenced the Noise.
Aaron - The main antagonist of the book, follows Viola and Todd throughout their journey to Haven. Aaron is severely wounded several times in his encounters with Todd, and Viola, but he always manages to survive. Todd has multiple opportunities to kill Aaron, but he can never bring himself to do it. In their final encounter, Todd begins to understand that Aaron doesn’t want to kill Viola or Todd, but rather he wants to be killed by Todd. Viola ruins his plans by killing him instead of Todd.
Viola Eade - She is a young girl from Old World, who had been sent to scout along with her parents for a place in New World where their ship can land. Viola’s transport crashes and her parents die in the accident. She suddenly finds herself in a foreign place that bombards her with Noise, and she is found by the crazed Aaron. Todd rescues her from Aaron and eventually wins her trust. She journeys with him to Haven to find a means to contact her ship and becomes a close friend to him during the journey.
