The germ that brought the Noise, also wiped out every girl and every woman, including his mother. Todd lives on a farm on the outskirts of town, with two men, Ben and Cillian, who took him in when his mother died. So even when mouths are shut, the cacophony of Noise that surrounds you, can send you mad. This Noise allows everyone to hear everyone else’s thoughts – even from a distance. There was a great war where the Spackle (original inhabitants of the planet where Todd lives) fought the humans then released a germ called The Noise. There are only Misters, as no girls or woman live in Prentisstown. As such he is called Todd, where everyone else is called Mister …. He’s the youngest in town, the last ‘boy’. In days he will turn 13, and in Prentisstown where he lives, 13 is the crossover from a boy to a man.
While everyone's obsessed with gender, Todd and Viola both fail to fit neatly within gender stereotypes, showing that gender isn't such a concrete thing after all.ĭespite its fascination with manhood and masculinity, ultimately this book is a feminist text.Todd Hewitt is counting down.
The thematic role of gender in the book isn't defined, per say, but there are so many ways that the issue presents itself that it's our job to do the detective work. Such as: should the guys or the girls be in charge? Also, why does the author choose for only the men to have the Noise germ, and not the women? And then there's Todd, who doesn't even see a girl until he's thirteen. Mainly this is presented by questioning gender roles. As if Noisy thoughts, animals talking, and settlers coming in from other planets wasn't enough, The Knife of Never Letting Go has some weird gender issues going on.
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