The Knife of Never Letting Go

Part 1, Chapters 1-6

Reading Check

1. A noise germ from an alien race (Part 1, Chapter 1)

2. The swamp (Part 1, Chapter 1)

3. 13 (Part 1, Chapter 1)

4. Ben and Cillian (Part 1, Chapter 3)

5. A book (Part 1, Chapter 5)

6. A croc attacks Aaron. (Part 1, Chapter 6)

Short Answer

1. The pub turns up music to drown out the sound, and the mayor believes that people can control their Noise by chanting mantras and mathematical formulas. The men change their thoughts to attempt to hide their Noise. (Part 1, Chapter 2)

2. Aaron may believe that a world without Noise would be amoral because thoughts would belong to the people who have them rather than be something everyone can assess. (Part 1, Various chapters)

Part 2, Chapters 7-12

Reading Check

1. As a sacrifice (Part 2, Chapter 8)

2. The body of a man and woman (Part 2, Chapter 9)

3. Fire/Her firebox (Part 2, Chapter 12)

Short Answer

1. Todd believes the girl wants him to kill Aaron and knows he will be safer if he does, but he can’t do it. (Part 2, Chapter 8)

2. Todd cannot hear the girl’s Noise. Todd reveals that if the girl catches the germ, she will die. (Part 2, Chapter 10)

3. The mayor rarely ever appears in town, and Todd doesn’t know why he is important enough to follow. (Part 2, Chapter 12)

4. Todd is communicating with the girl with his Noise. He is in a high-pressure situation, and his thoughts scream; he hits himself in the head because he does not want to scream at her. (Part 2, Chapter 12)

Part 3, Chapters 13-19

Reading Check

1. “You must warn them.” (Part 3, Chapter 13)

2. Mathilde/Hildy (Part 3, Chapter 14)

3. A swan (Part 3, Chapter 15)

4. 64 years (Part 3, Chapter 16)

Short Answer

1. Hildy believes the book is telling Todd to go to Farbranch to warn them.

2. Todd thinks that Prentisstown’s mysterious past makes others dislike people from there. (Part 3, Chapter 16)

3. The men of Prentisstown attack Farbranch. (Part 3, Chapter 17)

Part 4, Chapters 20-25

Reading Check

1. 14 (Part 4, Chapter 21)

2. Blazing Beacons (Part 4, Chapter 21)

3. Wilf (Part 4, Chapter 22)

4. Shot them (Part 4, Chapter 23)

5. A Spackle (Part 4, Chapter 25)

Short Answer

1. Her parents decided to come to New World to live a simpler life. Her parents wanted to set up a settlement. (Part 4, Chapter 21)

2. Viola describes Marc as kind, gentle, and someone who doesn’t preach hellfire like Aaron. (Part 4, Chapter 22)

Part 5, Chapters 26-31

Reading Check

1. The journal (Part 5, Chapter 26)

2. Prentisstown (Part 5, Chapter 27)

3. Wilf (Part 5, Chapter 28)

4. She has been drugged. (Part 5, Chapter 31)

Short Answer

1. He must choose between saving Manchee or Viola, and he picks Viola. (Part 5, Chapter 31)

2. Todd is stabbed by the knife that he used to kill the Spackle. He wonders if he is hallucinating because the Spackle’s blood is still on the blade, or if he has a fever from being stabbed. (Part 5, Various chapters)

Part 6, Chapters 32-42

Reading Check

1. Carbonel Downs (Part 6, Chapter 32)

2. A waterfall (Part 6, Chapter 39)

3. To become a martyred saint (Part 6, Chapter 41)

4. Viola (Part 6, Chapter 41)

Short Answer

1. Jacob is the first child Todd has ever seen. (Part 6, Chapter 33)

2. They believe Todd and Ben are Prentisstown spies. (Part 6, Chapter 35)

3. Ben reveals that the Spackle did not infect anyone and that the Spackle did not kill women. The Spackle were already equipped to deal with the Noise because the planet’s ecosystem creates it. The men in Prentisstown killed the women because they could not handle their silence. (Part 6, Chapter 36)