Education

One of the first themes that is stressed during the story is how important Education is. Todd first shows this theme when he’s still living in Prentisstown. He talks about how once the Mayor took over, he essentially outlawed education. There was never a replacement for the school teacher, and the Mayor ordered for all of the books to be burned. That’s one of the reasons Todd is so surprised when Ben gives him his mother’s journal. Todd later learns that one of the reasons why the Mayor took these extremes is because he knew it would be easier to control the uneducated masses.

The theme is shown again through the character of Viola. Viola is frequently using her intelligence to outsmart her pursuers. Viola is able to use her limited equipment recovered from her ship, creating a weapon that incapacitates Jr. when...