The Boy that was raised by a Ghost

Analysis of the Novel

The Graveyard Book
By: Neil Gaiman

In Partial Fulfilment
Of the Requirements for the Course
World Literature

By:
Ebrada, Sharele D.
B.S. Electrical Engineering

October 13,2014.

1. Background of the Novel (with citation, APA Style)

The graveyard book has proved to be the longest effort of any of Neil Gaimans works. It was
not a lack of inspiration; in fact , he loves the idea of a boy growing up in a graveyard so much that he
felt that he was not good enough yet to truly do the story justice. It was his young daughter, Maddy,
who finally forced him into getting some semblance of the story down. Neil Gaiman's dreams of
creation begun when he was fifteen, only a little older than many of those who pick up The
Graveyard Book. And this book has truly been one that has haunted his every word, every typed
phrase and scribbled note as his career soared from struggling journalist to internationally renowned
novelist. It was born in a little graveyard, taunted him with a story that he could not bring himself yet
to write because he did not think his skill yet good enough. But that little story grew with the help of
classics such as Rudyard Kiplings The Jungle Book and the kind efforts of far more famous
cemeteries around the world. Now, you, kind reader, hold the whole tale of its journey from a little boy
bicycling about the headstones to the lyrical novel that transcends the idea of a childrens book
The Graveyard Book is English author Neil Gaimans bestselling children's novel. It was first
published in 2008, and is packed full of awesome illustrations by Dave McKean. It won the Newbery
Medal in 2009, has been translated into a bunch of languages, and is loved by kids (and adults!) of all
ages. Gaiman is most famous for this novel and for Coraline, but hes written lots of other books that
are mostly for adults. He almost always writes science fiction and fantasy, and writes graphic novels
and comics, including The Sandman (which had 75 issues). Our point is, if you want more Gaiman,
you can definitely have more Gaiman.
The Graveyard Book is the story of Nobody Bod Owens, an orphan whos raised in a graveyard by
dead people and supernatural beings. As you might have already guessed, Gaiman admits that he
was really, really into The Jungle Book (the story of a boy raised by wolves in the jungle; you might
know it from the Disney movie) and it gave him the idea for The Graveyard Book.
We have to look into Gaimans own childhood to really understand where he got his idea for the
novel. No, Gaiman is not an orphan and he wasnt raised by wolves (or ghosts, like Nobody Owens).
His story is a lot sadder. He was raised by we can hardly say it librarians and dont panic now
books. Yes, its true. He talks about it in his Newbery Medal acceptance speech. It seems that
he would have set this story in the library, but those mean librarians did not allow him to do so:
librarians tell me never to tell this story, and especially never to paint myself as a feral child who was
raised by librarians; they tell me people will misinterpret my story and use it as an excuse to use their
libraries as free day care for their children.
All kidding aside, The Graveyard Book is a book inspired by a bunch of other books and stories. It
expresses a deep love for books and for reading, and seems to inspire the same in its readers. And it
might also hope to make us love graveyards, though we can imagine thats more of a stretch.
Gaiman didnt spend all his time in the library as a kid he also spent many a happy hour playing in a
graveyard like Nobody Owens.
But none of that is the real inspiration for the story. Well stop teasing you, then: Gaiman says
he was inspired by one image: my infant son Michael on his tricycle, pedaling through the graveyard
across the road in the sunshine. It took Neil Gaiman over twenty years to turn that idea into The
Graveyard Book, and not because he thought it was a dumb idea it just took him that long to

become the writer he needed to be in order to write the story we have before us. . (Harper Collins,
2008. ISBN: 9780060530921).
2. Date published:
First published in the UK at the end of 2008, The Graveyard Book has won the UKs
Booktrust Prize for Teenage Fiction and the Newbery Medal, the highest honor given in US childrens
literature, as well as the Locus Young Adult Award and the Hugo Best Novel Prize. The awarding of
the 2010 UK CILIP Carnegie Medal makes Gaiman the first author ever to win both the Newbery
Medal and the Carnegie Medal with the same book. The Graveyard Book, with its illustrations by
Chris Riddell, was also shortlisted for the CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal for illustration the first time
a
book
has
made
both
Medal
shortlists
in
30
years.
Twenty-three years ago, we lived in a little Sussex town in a tall house across the lane from a
graveyard. We didnt have a garden, and our 18-month-old son loved riding a tricycle. If he tried
riding in the house he would have died because there were stairs everywhere, so every day I would
take him down our precipitous stairs, and he would ride his little tricycle round and round the
gravestones. As I watched him happily toddling I would think about how incredibly at home he looked.
I thought that I could do something like The Jungle Book with that same equation of boy, orphaned,
growing up somewhere else, but I could do it in a graveyard. I had that idea when I was 24 years old.
I sat down and tried writing it and thought, This is a really good idea, and this isnt very good writing.
Im not good enough for this yet, and I will put it off until Im better.
3. Genre: Fiction Novel
4. Any other pertinent details about the book:
a) Is the book part of a series?
It is not a series
b) Does the book have an interesting relationship to the authors?
Life or career?
It has something to do with life of Neil Gailman. Gaiman had the idea for the story in 1985,
after seeing his then-two-year-old son Mike "pedaling his BMX around a graveyard" near their home
in East Grinstead, West Sussex. Recalling how comfortable his son looked there, Gaiman thought he
"could write something a lot like The Jungle Book and set it in a graveyard." When he sat down to
write, however, Gaiman decided he was "not yet a good enough writer" and came to the same
conclusion as he revisited it every few years. He eventually published it in 2008.
Each of the eight chapters is a short story, each set two years apart as the protagonist grows
up. Some chapters have analogues to Rudyard Kipling's 1894 work; for example, the chapter "The
Hounds of God" parallels the story "Kaa's Hunting"

c) The goal the author had in writing the book

The 51-year-old British writer has lived in Minneapolis since 1992 and, with success across
comics, film, television and novels, he has become one of the signature figures in contemporary pop
culture of the fantastic. That success and the ticking of the clock on the wall have made him reflective
about the gains and losses that face an author as the decades pass.

The difference between young writers and old writers is that when youre a young writer you
may not have the craft, but youre saying everything for the first time, so everything youre saying is
new, Gaiman said. As an older writer especially if youre an older writer like me, who never
enjoys repeating himself it gets to be much more of a trade-off. On the one hand my craft and skill
is all crafty and skilly, but on the other hand Im no longer in the glorious position where everything I
say Im saying for the first time.
Gaimans creations have also reached the big screen, of course, most notably with Stardust,
Beowulf and director Henry Selicks sublime Coraline, but he (and his fans) have been frustrated
by the lurching progress toward a film adaptation of The Graveyard Book, the 2008 bestseller that
won Gaiman the Newbery Medal and the Carnegie Medal. There was plenty of fanfare when Neil
Jordan (The Crying Game, Interview With the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles)
was announced as the director of the planned film, but the financing fell apartduring an especially
grim year for Gaiman.

The true challenge for Gaiman is picking his path as he explores the spooky mansion of his
imagination. Hes created so many memorable rooms and filled them with so many memorable
characters that a good chunk of his fans want him to double back and explore them again. But like
Morpheus hes more interested in moving on to the next dream and the next dreamer.
Theres this thing Ive been promising people for a long time, including Neverwhere 2,
because there was so much more of the story and so much more of those peoples lives that I knew
and it would be a good thing at some point to go back and tell that story. But I cant imagine myself
becoming a one-novel-a-year person. And one of the things that Ive done over the years to keep
myself interested is tend to go off and do other stuff and some of it is very unlikely. Thats how Ive
learned things, too. With Neverwhere, I look at it and it was such a huge learning process for me. I
did Neverwhere and really learned how to write screenplays and how to write television; all of the
original scripts were too long, people talked too much, they talked much, much too long. It would
have made a great stage play but thats not television. I didnt have the confidence that you could do
things with a line or with a wink or a nod of the head. I was very proud a couple of days ago when my
Doctor Who episode, The Doctors Wife, was nominated and lost a British Writers Guild
award. I thought, Thats a wonderful thing, and it was Neverwhere that taught me how to do it and
do it well.

5. Any other interesting details

The Graveyard Book is an award-winning book on two continents. Neil Gaiman won the 2009
John Newbery Medal for the book from ALSC . The Newbery Medal is the highest honor awarded for
childrens literature in the United States. In 2010, the United Kingdom honored the book with the
Carnegie Medal, the UKs highest honor for outstanding childrens literature. Gaiman is the only
author to win these two honors for the same book.

II. Summary
The Graveyard Book is a mystical tale about a boy named Nobody Owens that, because of a
tragic murder, is brought up by ghosts. In order to understand Gaimans novel, it is important to look
at: character development, setting, point of view, elements of style, plot, and theme. Without all of
those aspects, The Graveyard Book would not be the chilling mystery that it is because they
make the story stand out within the realm of fantasy. Nobody Owens is the main character of the
story. The inhabitants of Potters Field gave him the Freedom of the Graveyard which impacts his

interactions with those who are living. For instance, when Bod and Scarlett first go to the Frobisher
Mausoleum, she says that she [sees]him slip through walls, like a shadow, (Gaiman, 49). Then
when she says goodbye to him she says the she does not care that he is imaginary. Bods abilities
given to him by the ghosts in the graveyard, like fading, cause him to appear more ethereal to the
living. It could also be the fact that a little girl would find it strange for a boy to live in a graveyard that
would lead her to believe he is a figment of her imagination. Another instance that demonstrates his
freedom saffect on the living is when he goes to public school for the first time. When Bod first
arrives, it is said that even the other kids forgot about him, (Gaiman, 182) and that his presence
was almost ghostly (Gaiman, 183). However, when Bod rises a little above the radar, two bullies start
harassing him, which makes Bod seek revenge. He uses his graveyard gift to dream walk into
Nicks dreams and intimidates him to change his ways. Not only did Nick change his ways, but he
stops talking to his partner in crime, Mo. Bod uses the Freedom of the Graveyard to his advantage
throughout the novel, but there is more to him than his graveyard-given abilities. Bods name has
significance and is a bit of a pun. Nobody Owens is intended to sound like the boy that nobody
owns, which is true. Nobody owns Bod since his family is dead and ghosts have taken their place. In
addition, as said before, the living barely notices Bod s existence, so to them, Bod is nobody.
Besides his name, the clothes Bod wears says something about his personality, especially when it is
contrasted with Scarlett who wears bright colors (Gaiman, Page 40) and Bod wears dowdy and
drab (Gaiman, Page 40) colors. In comparison to Scarlett, Bod s clothes are nothing special or
noticeable, but Scarlett is a beacon of light. Bod s clothes do serve a purpose in protecting him by
helping him blend in to his bleak surroundings. Similar to the dull colors Bod wears, Bod is a static
character. In comparison to Charlotte Doyle, Bod does not go through a dramatic change. Charlotte
chops off her hair and leaves her family for a life at sea, meanwhile Bod simply grows up. The only
significant realization he comes to his that he is Nobody Owens and not the baby who escaped death
in that nursery those thirteen years ago. Bod still leaves eager to see the world just as he was in
the beginning of the story. Bod is also a round character. The reader knows a lot about Bod and
his past based on what the narrator provides in the first chapter. They know who killed his family and
how it was done, how Bod survived, and that the man is still looking for him. As Nobody grows up, he
learns about who he is, not only from the Owenss, but his guardian, Silas. Silas is a character
shrouded in mystery. Even after the story is read, the reader is left with the question, what is Silas?
After much time and data collecting, the reader is able to infer that Silas is none other than a vampire.
Gaiman provides the reader with several hints as to what this pale, cloak-wearing creature might be.
For instance, the narrator points out that Silas is not able to push the minds of the dead as he [can]
the living, but he [can] use all the tools of flattery and persuasion he [possess], for the dead are not
immune to either, (Gaiman, 23). Vampire have been known to have the skill of hypnotizing the living
into doing whatever they desire or wiping their memory, like Silas does to Scarlett at the end of the
book. Another hint is that Silas only [eats] one food, and it [is] not bananas, (Gaiman, 27). Now this
food could be anything, but theway this sentence is worded suggests something dark and has an
ominous tone to it. Yet another hint is that he lives in the belfry of the dilapidated chapel. It would be
most difficult for a zombieto get up there, and the only feasible way to sleep would be hanging from
something, which bats happen to do. Then, when Bod asks Silas about Danse Macabre, he tells Bod
that you must be alive or you must be dead to dance it and [Silas] is neither, (Gaiman, 149). This
provides the hint that Silas must be the living dead. Since zombies and vampires are the only
examples of theliving dead, one must select the most likely choice. However, out of all the hints, the
one that proves to point directly at the answer is when Bod and Silas are at the diner, Silass
reflection does not show on the table. Since zombies have reflections, Silas has to be a vampire.
Silas is not only a creature of the dead, but proves to be a good guardian for Bod. One would never
think of a vampire to be something they would want to watch their kid, but Silas proves to be the
exception of the idea that all vampires are evil blood suckers. When the problem arises about how
the boy will be fed, Silas is the first to raise his hand. A most unlikely candidate, but it is not like
ghosts can fetch food for a baby. Silas shares his chapel with the baby and keeps a watchful eye on
him. Silas not only feeds and shelters him, but he helps teach him how to read. Similar to Tom Oakley
in Goodnight, Mr.Tom, Silas helps Bod learn and protects him from evil. Silas may not adopt Bod at
the end like Tom, but he does say perhaps (Gaiman, 302) when Bod asks Silas if he will see him
again and that there was kindness in his voice and something more (Gaiman, 302). The reader can
infer that this something is a fondness, an attachment to Bod, as if he were a son. In addition to

teaching and feeding Bod, Silas helps Bod cemetery match well with the dark and mysteriousness of
both the man Jack and Silas. Thesetting is what these characters are influenced by. The man Jack
blends in well with the bleakness of Potters Field because of his murderous tendencies. Silas is also
a good fit for this atmosphere because vampires are just as gloomy as a cemetery. He blends in well
with this surrounding and adds to the question of his identity. The mood also impacts Bod. Growing
up in a cemetery with a murderer after him meant that he had to blend in with the austerity. The mood
of the cemetery is definitely reflected in the grey garb that Bod wears for a majority of his childhood.
The mood of the cemetery can also be described as sad. Like Liza, there are many unmarked graves
and people that did not deserve to die. Liza tells Bod how she wishes she had a headstone, which is
depressing. Apart from creating the mood, the graveyard is important for a couple other reasons. The
first is that it provides Bod shelter from the man Jack as a baby and through his childhood. If Potters
Field was not there, there is a good chance that Bod would have been caught and killed by Jack and
there would be no story. Then, Bod uses this environment to his advantage when he has to defeat the
Jacks. He captures one in Nehemiah Trots grave and three in the ghoul gate. If it is not for these
attributes, there is a good chance Bod would have died then and there. Also, if it the setting is not a
graveyard how would Scarlett have met Mr. Frost? He is rubbing graves when she met him and if it
took place on a farm, there would be no graves to rub. In turn, Frost would have not found Bod and if
Bod was not found, the Jacks would not have been defeated. It creates a ripple effect, but an
important one. An aspect that helps build the setting is the point of view of the story. The point of view
of The Graveyard Book is third person omniscient. This is because the reader knows more about the
characters, like Bod, than the characters themselves. Similar to the setting, if the story is told in a
different point of view, it would be less interesting. For instance, if it were told in first person, then the
reader would only know what Bod knew, which, during his childhood, is barely anything. It is
important for the reader to know what happened to Bod s family and how he got in the cemetery
because the story would not have the suspense. All the reader would know until the end is that a Bod
is raised by ghosts, Bod likes Scarlett, that Bod has the Freedom of the Graveyard and a couple of
other details. Knowing that Jack is looking for Bod builds suspense and also makes the reader
wonder when Bod will find out about his family. The point of view is pretty consistent, but switches
to second person direct address. Gaiman most likely did this to make the reader think about the
statement. For example, If it sliced you, you might not even know you had been cut, not
immediately, (Gaiman, 4). Describing the sharpness of the knife in this way makes the reader think
about a sharp knife slicing them. It adds to the danger that is the man Jack. As for reliability, this point
of view is reliable because the narrator is the only one in the story that could know all of this is
happening. The other characters in the book are pretty innocent and unaware of the goings on. Mrs.
Owens and Silas know more than Bod, but they do not know about the convocation that occurs in the
interlude or that Jack smells Bod in the fourth chapter. Point of view is only one on a long list of
stylistic choices Gaiman makes in The Graveyard Book. Gaiman s most prevalent stylistic element
is simile. There are well over twenty similes that Gaiman inserts into his story to make his world even
clearer to his audience. Comparing the Sleer to a writhing snake or the Frobisher mausoleum to a
rotten tooth, or the ghouls to squirrels, the reader is able to get a clear picture of the setting as well as
the memorable characters that this book thrives on. In addition to the picture the reader forms in their
head, Gaiman also includes quite a few illustrations to marry with the words on the page. The
illustrations are done by a gentleman named Dave McKean. Mr. McKean s illustrations are done in
blacks and grays, much like the wardrobe of Bod. The illustrations also lend a helping hand to the
visualization of The Graveyard Book. It can also be observed that each section or chapter that begins
with the man Jack, like chapter one and the interlude, the pages are completely black with just a
hand holding something. The first chapter shows a hand griping a knife, and the interlude shows a
handholding a cup of coffee. Then, the pictures of Silas are well done because they give the reader
an idea of what he looks like, but still keep the mystery of what creature he is. The illustrations just
man him look like a man in a cloak, not a creature of the night. The illustrations of the ghouls are well
done because they certainly look frightening and the same goes for the depiction of the Sleer. The
faces of both the ghouls and the Sleer are meant to be scary and I think McKean more than
succeeds. Along with an abundance of similes and well done illustrations, Gaiman also slips in some
subtle symbolism .Symbols are not easily found and require some thought. One of the more obvious
symbols that are in The Graveyard Book is that the graveyard is symbolic of a library. Since Bodonly
has a few books to learn from, Silas sends him out to learn from the gravestones. Much like a library

has books from numerous decades, so does Potters Field. Bod cannot only learn from headstones,
but from the ghosts those headstones belong to. Bod learns about the Romans from Caius
Pompeius, witches from Liza Hempstock, and poetry from Nehemiah Trot. Also, Bod is able to find all
the letters of the alphabet among the graves. This is where Bod learns to read and learn in general,
much like he would in a normal library. Greed is another symbol that finds itself in a couple instances
in the book. The first instance is how greed affects Alabanzer Bolger when he sees the brooch
and learns about the treasure. Greed consumes him so much that he attempts to kill his friend Tom!
The desire to attain wealth is something that can make people do outrageous things and can cloud
their judgment. The other example is the Sleer and the Frobisher Mausoleum. People have gone into
the mausoleum in search of wealth only to never come back. People were willing to get themselves
killed if it meant treasure. At the end of the book, when Jack wants to perform a ceremony to gain
ultimate power, he claims himself as the Sleer s new master. He is under the impression he will
be able to have the treasure and become the master Jack of All Trades, however, in his greed, he
finds death. His desire to have complete control cost him his life, much like others who tried to have
the treasure to themselves. Each of these elements of style are important in constructing the
dramatic plot of the story. The plot is certainly different from the complex construction of Goodnight,
Mr. Tom, where the reader would have to guess when certain events happen, but is similar to The
Little House in the Big Woods. This is because both Little House and Graveyard Book are told in an
episodic manner. This means that each chapter has the ability to stand on its own as a short story.
Each chapter has its own minor conflict. For instance, if Bod will escape the clutches of the ghouls or
if Bod will get out of Bolgers shop without being killed or what the Danse Macabre is. All of these
smaller conflicts help add to the major conflict. The difference between the major and minor conflicts
in this book is that the minor conflicts are all solved by the end of the chapter, but the major conflict
does not get resolved until the second to last chapter. Even though the minor conflicts are what make
the chapters suspenseful, the major conflict is mentioned in almost every chapter. When Bod asks
Silas if he can venture outside the graveyard in chapter two, Silas tells Bod that the outside world
would not be safe for [him]. Not yet, (Gaiman, 37). The man Jack may not be explicitly mentioned
here, but the reader knows why the outside world is not safe because of chapter one. Then, when
Bod is escaping from Bolgers shop, Liza tells him to take the black edged card that has Jack
written on it. Bolger is debating on calling the man Jack and telling him he found the boy he is looking
for. This is the first specific reference to Jack since the first chapter. Then later in the chapter, Jack
says that he can smell something very tasty (Gaiman, 138) of course referring to Bod. Jack is
unable to detect him as long as Bod stays in the cemetery, but since he ventured outside those walls,
Jack is aware he is still alive. Along with his conflict with the man Jack, Bod faces other conflicts
within himself and with other people. Bod s conflict with himself is trying to find out what happened
to his family. This is why he insists that Mr. Dandy tell him why they killed his family. Bod is desperate
to find out why he is who he is and if he is meant to be Nobody Owens or someone else. This inner
conflicts resolution comes with the resolution of the major conflict. The major person vs. person
conflict is between Bod and Jack (or even all the Jacks). Bod is resourceful in ending the
conflict between him and the Jack of All Trades. The Jacks try to kill Bod as well as Scarlett. Bod
must defeat the Jacks to save himself and Scarlett. The Honor Guard helps defeat a number of the
Jacks prior to the encounter at Potters Field. Bod takes care of three with a ghoul gate and one falls
into a hidden grave. The last Jack, the man responsible for Bod being an orphan, is holding Scarlett
hostage in Frobishers Mausoleum. Bod cleverly uses the Sleer to his advantage and rids the world
of the final Jack of All Trades. This is the resolution of the major person vs. Person conflict. Some
other person vs. person conflicts Bod encounters include: Bod vs., the ghouls, Bod vs. Alabanzer
Bolger, and Bod vs. Nick and Mo. Each of these minor conflicts comes to a close through some
assistance of Bods friends. Mrs. Lupescu helps him escape the ghouls, Lizahelps him escape
Bolgers shop, and the Persson family suggests Bod tries dream walking to get the best of Nick and
Mo. Bod also has the challenge of trying to fit in with the outside world, or better known as person vs.
society conflict. Bods desire to become a part of society is obvious from chapter two on.
Bod constantly asks Silas if he can travel outside the graveyard walls and is more often than not,
turned down. Even when Bod goes out into the world for the first time, he wears clothes that are too
big for him that have been in a shed for who knows how long. He also does not know that a
headstone costs a pretty penny. Since he has been out of touch with the world, he is unsure of a lot
of things. A key example of him trying to become a member of society is when he tries to go to public

school. Bod wishes to read more than a ghosts copy of Robinson Crusoe, so, after much begging,
Silas allows him to. Even then, however, Silas tells Bod to make sure he stays invisible and to not
bring too much attention to himself. Bod starts his school days doing just that and most teachers do
not realize he is there. Bod gets himself into trouble with bullies, which is something that some
children do face in the real world. It is understandable that Silas does not want Jack to hear about
Bod being in school or outside the graveyard and vulnerable. However ,it is experiences like these
that Bod needs in order to become a member of society. He needs more interactions with people his
age, like Scarlett, to learn about human nature. Once the major conflict comes to an end, Bod is
finally able to travel without danger lurking in the shadows. He tells Silas before he leaves that he
wants to see life (Gaiman, 304) and hold it in [his] hands (Gaiman, 304). It is at this point in
time Bod will become a part of society like he always wanted. He may face his bullies here and there,
but that is a part of life. This idea of change and exploring new places are a part of the conflicts within
the plot, but are also themes that seen throughout the book. The thematic weight of The Graveyard
Book would be about three out of five stars. However, the thematic richness is around four to four and
a half out of five starts. This book is over flowing with explicit and implicit themes. Some examples if
explicit themes include: If you [dont] keep your eyes on your children every second you [cannot]
imagine what awful things they [will] be plunged into, (Gaiman, 58), Youre always you, and
that dont change, and youre always changing, and there s nothing you can do about it, (Gaiman,
298), If you dare nothing, then when the day is over, nothing is all you will have gained, (Gaiman,
233), andthe world is a bigger place than a little graveyard on a hill; and there would be dangers in
it and mysteries, new friends to make, old friends to rediscover, mistakes to be made and many paths
to be walked, (Gaiman, 307). Each of these themes relate back to Bod in some way, shape or
form. The first is relevant because Bod does get into quite a bit of trouble throughout this childhood
from ghouls to Bugler. The second is reflective of Bod being a static character since he never
changes in the book, only grow up. The third reflects Bod s outgoing attitude. Despite Silas and
others wishes, he dares to go against their word and some of the time he gains something. For
instance, when he went to Bolgers shop, he becomes the owner of the black edged card. If he had
listened to Silas, he probably never would have found the card and had the feelings he did towards it.
Also, Jack probably would have not smelled him since he would not have left the graveyard in the
first place. This example shows not only Bods curious and outgoing nature, but how this particular
theme helps drive the plot along. The last explicit theme occurs at the end of the book and
demonstrates the many things that Bod will face in this new world he is about to enter. The world is a
large place and Bod has been eager to take it on his whole life. The Graveyard Book also has quite a
few implicit themes that also come back to Bod. Some of the implicit themes are more important
than others and there are much more explicit than implicit, but they are there all the same. Some
examples of implicit themes in the book include: children grow up and leave the nest eventually, a
home is not a house, but a place where you are surrounded by people that love and care about you,
and it takes a village to raise a child. Children do leave their nest eventually, whether it is going to
college, or in Bods case, leaving the cemetery to become a member of society. Bod s home is
taken away from him by the man Jack in the beginning of the story, but ends up finding his true home
shortly after. Even though Potters Field is not filled with the living, it is filled with beings that truly care
for him. The Owenss are the first ones to show Bod affection in the cemetery, but they are not the
ones that care about Bod the most. Based on the fact that Silas is more in the picture and plays
a larger role in the up bringing of Bod, it is fair to say he is the one in the cemetery that cares for
Bodwith all his undead heart. Why else would he get hit by a car? Or get him food? Or shelter him?
Or look out for his safety? Silas and the ghosts of the graveyard are his home because they love and
care about him. That is what makes his home. The final implicit theme is certainly true. There are
several creatures involved in raising Bod: the Owenss adopt him, Silas is his guardian and brings
him food, Mr. Pennyworth teaches him how to fade and dream walk, Mrs. Lupescu teaches him about
the different walks of life or, in their case, lifeless, Nehemiah Trot teaches Bod about love and
revenge, and Liza teaches Bod about friendship. Without all of these individuals, Bod would not be
the boy he becomes and it is quite possible he would also be dead. Gaiman is able to take his reader
into the world of Nobody Owens with the use of the six elements of character development, setting,
point of view, style, plot and theme. The suspense, the riddles, and the unforgettable characters
make this book a fantastic read for people of all ages. It is no mystery as to why it has a Newbury

Honor Award. Hopefully the suspense will be just as good, the riddle of Silas just as curious and the
characters just as unforgettable when it comes to the big screen.
III. Analysis
Thesis Statement : The idea of the afterlife ,Memory and the Past
We love to see the dead and the living hanging out together. It just doesnt happen often
enough. But, there are all these tricky borders between the living and the dead that keep getting in
the way. Bod is a special case. He, and only he, can walk the border between the living and the dead.
Bod can see and talk to the dead, and through his story, so can we.
In The Graveyard Book, there is definitely a kind of afterlife. People exist as ghosts in the
graveyard where they were buried. They aren't haunting the graveyard, though. It's nothing that
scary. They're just hanging out and minding their own business. Neil Gaiman actually makes death
seem kind of nice you get to be reunited with all of your dead friends and family members, and exist
happily with them. Not too bad, right? At the same time, everyone in the graveyard thinks that life is
special. They all want Bod to get a chance to experience life among the living before he passes on
himself.
A graveyard is a way for the living to remember the dead, right? In The Graveyard Book, Neil
Gaiman flips the script and says that maybe the dead need (and want) to be remembered as much
as the living need to remember them. On top of this, the novel raises some troubling issues about
memory. For example, Silas can play around with the minds of living people and make them forget
whole chunks of their lives, as he does with Bods childhood friend Scarlett.
Another form of the past explored here is through history. The dead characters Bod spends his
childhood with give us a solid look into British history. The people of the graveyard lived during
different times, from when the Romans conquered the Celts, to witch trials in the 1500s, and on. We
get to learn bits about history and science from these time periods through the ghosts. And through
the mysterious Sleer, were given a glimpse of Britains prehistoric past, thousands of years ago.