Connection to my Life

As i left off in my last post, Todd is escaping from the swamp with Manchee, he comes across the source of the silence. There is a mute girl, who is being questioned by Aaron, who is cowering in a corner. Todd uses Cillian’s hunting knife to attack Aaron and he and the girl escape. She leads his to her spaceship, where her parents’ bodies are decomposing, and it is here where he realises that she has crash landed on New World. She cooks him food on a contraption Todd names a ‘Firebox’, and they leave the ship behind, though the girl remains mute throughout the rest of the book.

At this point, the men of Prentisstown, mostly Aaron and the Mayor's son, Prentiss Jr, have caught up with him. Not knowing what they will do to the girl, Todd takes her with him, and they reach the woods. After this, Todd shows his frustration at her lack of speech and her Quiet, which he finds disturbing as he believes she therefore must not think or feel anything. After many hours of walking and thinking, he realises that, as he is infected with the germ, he could potential transmit the virus to the girl and kill her. He then quickly realises that the girl can hear his thoughts.

She panics, running away, but soon meets Aaron nearby. Todd saves her once again, and they both set off, she keeping her distance from him. This peace is short lived as more Prentisstown men arrive, this time on horseback with rifles, and the pair is force across a long wooden bridge. The girl uses her "firebox" to burn the metal pillars, rendering the bridge useless. Todd then hears "Viola". He spins round, shocked to hear the girl repeat "My name is Viola".

This connects to my life because i know what it's like to know someone who is mute. It is frustrating but it's also sad because they can't talk even though how much you want too! Thats why i was happy when She started to talk because it just meant she was scared.