The Knife of Never Letting Go characters

Appears from the start

The narrator, a boy weeks away from his thirteenth birthday and the last remaining child in Prentisstown, a rough frontier settlement on a distant colonized planet. On this world a phenomenon called the Noise makes every man's thoughts audible and visible to everyone around him, an unending broadcast no one can silence. Raised by two guardians and taught that his town is the only surviving remnant of the colony, Todd knows nothing of the wider world. Plainspoken, loyal, and quick-tempered, he narrates in his own rough voice and is on the verge of a coming-of-age his town treats as the passage into manhood.

Appears from the start

Todd's dog, a birthday gift he never especially wanted. Because of the Noise, Manchee can talk, though his thoughts are simple and doggish, full of food, walks, and devotion to Todd. Faithful, brave, and endearing, he becomes Todd's constant companion and comfort on the journey ahead.

Appears from the start

One of the two men who raised Todd after the loss of his parents, a kind and steady farmer who loves the boy like a son. Gentle where the town is harsh, Ben has done his best to shield Todd, and he holds knowledge about Prentisstown and the wider world that he has kept from the boy until the day everything changes.

Appears from the start

The other of Todd's two guardians, gruffer and sterner than his partner Ben but no less devoted to the boy they have raised together. Practical and hardworking, he often clashes with Todd's temper while quietly protecting him from the dangers of their town.

Appears from the start

The fervent, frightening preacher of Prentisstown, whose fire-and-brimstone sermons dominate the town's religious life. Fanatical and relentless, he takes an intense and menacing interest in Todd. His zeal masks a dangerous and violent purpose, and he becomes a pursuer Todd cannot seem to escape.

First appears in chapter 2

The cold, controlled leader of Prentisstown, a man who has disciplined his own Noise into an unnatural silence, unreadable where every other man is an open book. Calculating and hungry for power, he commands the town with quiet menace and harbors ambitions that reach far beyond its borders.

Also known as Mr. Prentiss Jr.

First appears in chapter 8

The Mayor's son, a swaggering, cruel young man eager to prove himself to his father. Armed and vicious, he joins the hunt for Todd, though his bluster often outruns his competence.

First appears in chapter 5

A girl Todd discovers in the swamp, remarkable because she casts no Noise at all, a pocket of complete silence in a world where Todd has never known a mind to be quiet. She is guarded, resourceful, and frightened, the survivor of a disaster that left her alone. Her very existence overturns everything Todd was taught about his world, and she becomes his companion in flight.

First appears in chapter 16

A slow-speaking, plain man driving a cart along the road, unbothered and hard to read, who offers Todd and Viola unexpected help. Beneath his simple manner he proves quietly kind and more shrewd than he first appears.