The Ask and the Answer characters

Appears from the start

The narrator and hero, a boy from the settlement of Prentisstown on a colonized planet where the Noise makes every man's thoughts audible. Loyal and stubborn, he has come to the city that was meant to be a refuge only to fall into the hands of the man he most feared. Separated from Viola, the girl he crossed the wild country with, he is forced into service under a ruler who uses their bond against them both.

Appears from the start

The girl who fell from the sky as the survivor of a scout ship, silent in a world of Noise and the advance party for thousands more settlers still to arrive. Resourceful and brave, she is taken from Todd and placed among the city's women and healers. Their forced separation, each held as leverage over the other, shapes the choices she must make.

Also known as President Prentiss

Appears from the start

The cold, controlled former leader of Prentisstown, now ruler of the captured city, which he governs with iron discipline. A master of his own Noise and of other men's minds, he wields power through fear, manipulation, and a talent for turning people into instruments of his will. He takes a particular, unsettling interest in Todd.

Appears from the start

The Mayor's brutish, insecure son, desperate for his father's approval. He is set to work alongside Todd on the regime's grim labors, and the uneasy, resentful partnership between the two young men grows more complicated than either expects.

First appears in chapter 2

A formidable, strong-willed healer who runs the city's house of healing and once held real influence. Fierce, principled, and dangerous in her own right, she becomes a central figure in the resistance rising against the new regime, and a leader whose methods raise hard questions of their own.

First appears in chapter 3

A young man Viola meets in the city, warm and quick to befriend her, who is drawn like her into the widening conflict. He becomes an ally and companion to Viola as events force ordinary people to take sides.

Also known as 1017

First appears in chapter 3

One of the Spackle, the planet's native people, marked by a number as the regime forces them into captivity and labor. Silent and watchful, this particular Spackle crosses paths with Todd during the grim work he is made to do, and a wordless, fraught connection forms between them.