Todd Hewitt is the protagonist of the novel. The reader experiences the story through Todd’s narration. He is 12 years old when the story begins. He is anxious about becoming a man at age 13. Todd struggles with the lack of privacy in a world where people can hear each other’s thoughts. He also dislikes being the only boy in a town of men.

Todd is illiterate and insecure about his lack of education. Todd is brave, although he believes that he is a coward. He believes that sometimes vengeance is a justifiable good, but he is unable to kill Aaron. Aaron describes him as “a fighter” but also that he is “not a killer” (258).

By the end of the novel, Todd has lost the innocence of childhood. He tells Aaron that he is already a man, refusing to let killing define manhood for him.

Viola is a settler from Old World. Her ship crashes, and her parents are killed. When she meets Todd, she is 13 years old. Viola is quick-witted, brave, and well trained in technology. She is a living corollary of the silence that Todd finds in the swamp.

Viola represents the first time Todd has been near someone in anything like a normal relationship without a mutual barrage of

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