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Below you can find text evidence about Nobody Owens.

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Below you can find text evidence about Silas.

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Below you can find text evidence about The Man Jack.

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Below you can find text evidence about Mrs. Owens.

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Below you can find text evidence about Mr. Owens.

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Nobody "Bod" Owens

Bod is the most Goth kid you'll ever meet - he lives in a graveyard and is raised by ghosts, a vampire, and a werewolf, for Pete's sake. He has Freedom of the Graveyard, which means he can communicate with the dead, move through walls, and is invisible to most humans (so long as he's in the graveyard).

For most of the story, readers know more about Bod than he knows himself. (Your teacher would call this "dramatic irony," which means that the reader understands more about what's going on than the character does.) We are there when Bod's parents and sister are killed, but Bod doesn't even know he's an orphan until he's about ten years old. Knowing what Bod doesn't know makes his life seem sadder. As with the graveyard folks, this knowledge makes us feel very protective toward Bod.

Even though we get to see many sides of Bod, his character is always mysterious. Think of it like this: Bod has to remain hidden from most of the living, and most of his companions are ghosts or supernatural creatures. Plus, Bod, because he hasn't had enough interaction with living people, hasn't had a chance to develop his character in the same way that other kids his age do. We think that a lot of his character is still in development - it will only reveal itself (to readers and to Bod) when Bod begins to live his life outside the graveyard. (Hey, Neil Gaiman! You better write that sequel you promised.)

Bod the Student

Even though Bod lives in a graveyard and is raised by ghosts, he's a student, just like a normal kid. Does that mean he's learning about spelling, long division, and the parts of a plant cell? Well, not exactly. Bod learns stuff like reading, writing, geography, and everything else in Mr. Pennyworth's Compleat Education System for Younger Gentlemen with Additional Material for Those Post-Mortem. But his most important lessons are about other things.

Like other fantasy book heroes, Bod has to learn the skills he needs to survive in his world. Harry Potter learns Defense Against the Dark Arts, Potions, and Transfiguration. Percy Jackson learns Greek mythology, sword fighting, and how to kill monsters. Tom Ward learns how to bind boggarts and catch witches with a silver chain.

What does Bod Owens learn? Let's make a quick list. (You can add more to the list yourself.)

Slipping and Fading. These skills let Bod "Slip through shadows. Fade from awareness" (4.35). They help him avoid the Jacks and anyone else who might hurt him.

The nine types of people (the living, the dead, the day-folk, the night-folk, ghouls, mist-walkers, high hunters, Hounds of God, and solitary types). Miss Lupescu's lessons on the types of "people" in the world help Bod understand the ghouls, Hounds of God (like Miss Lupescu), and solitary types (like Silas), in particular.

How to call for help in every language of the world (including Night-Gaunt). When Bod learn these languages from Miss Lupescu, he's thinks they're useless. But he's totally wrong. Knowing how to ask for help in Night-Gaunt keeps him from becoming ghoul-food. When ghouls have kidnapped Bod, he's able to call to the night-gaunts and get help.

Dreamwalk. Bod master the skilling of Dreamwalking in order to frighten Nick Farthing out of ever bullying another kid again.

Bod has always been curious, and has always asked Silas, the Owenses, and everyone else in the graveyard tons and tons of questions. But he hasn't always been a great student. You know, at first he's horribly bored by Miss Lupescu and all. Later, when he finds out that his lessons are practical (they're useful in his daily life), he becomes more interested in his studies.

Bod becomes especially interested in his education when he finds out that his family was murdered by an evil man, and that man wants Bod dead too. When Silas tell him this, Bod instantly wants revenge, and Bod's approach to revenge is to learn as much as he can. When Mrs. Owens tells him "there's nothing [he] can do" (7.31), Bod disagrees:

"I can learn everything I need to know, all I can. I learned about ghoul-gates. I learned to Dreamwalk. Miss Lupescu taught me how to watch the stars. Silas taught me silence. I can Haunt. I can Fade. I know every inch of this graveyard." (7.31)

We can't forget the importance of Silas's role in motivating Bod's thirst for knowledge, and making Bod believe that knowledge is important. For example, Silas tells Bod,
"You're alive, Bod. That means you have infinite potential. You can do anything, make anything, dream anything. If you change the world, the world will change. Potential. Once you're dead it's gone. Over." (6.39)
Wow. Maybe when he's not in the graveyard Silas secretly works as a motivational speaker.
When we get to Chapter 7, we see all of Bod's lessons coming together. When Bod fights the Jacks, everything he has learned prepares him for that moment. We get the sense that fighting the Jacks is just one (major) episode with many more heroic episodes to come. And his training has served him well. What do you think his most important educational experience is and why?

Is Bod a World Hero?

Bod's education allows him to defeat the Jacks, but he also seems to be fated to destroy them. We get hints that destroying the Jacks is part of Bod's destiny. We know that from what Jack Dandy says in Chapter 7:

"Long time ago, one of our people - that was back in Egypt, in pyramid days - he foresaw that one day, there would be a child born would walk the borderland of the living and the dead. That if this child grew to adulthood it would mean the end of our order and all that we stand for." (7.605)

This sure sounds like it's about Bod, right? Bod definitely is in "the borderland of the living and the dead," and he certainly seems to have ended the Jacks' organization.

Jack Dandy shares that the Jacks get their power from killing others, though it's not really clear how all that works. In the Interlude we get a peek at the meeting of the Jacks. One important thing we learn from this chapter is that the Jacks are pretending to be a group of men who focus on doing good deeds (right...). Another important thing is that there are Jacks all over the world. We can put all that together and guess that the Jacks are part of what keeps evil alive in the world. By stopping the last of the Jacks, Bod has probably helped make the world a much better place.

Of course, one of the Jacks - Jack Ketch - is still alive when Chapter 7 ends. Chapter 8, the last chapter of the novel, doesn't tell us what Silas does with him. If Jack Ketch is still alive, Bod might have to battle him in the future. What we wonder, though, is if things in the world are beginning to change now that the Jacks no longer exist. Without knowing this, it's hard to say how much Bod's actions affect the world as a whole.

Is Bod a Monster?

"You aren't a person. People don't behave like you. You're as bad as he was. You're a monster." (7.772)

This is what Scarlett says to Bod when he feeds one of the Jacks to the Sleer. He doesn't seem to understand what she's saying, but we do. Scarlett is horrified by the way Bod has treated the Jacks. Sure the Jacks are evil, but did Bod have to treat them with cruelty in return? Does that make Bod evil too?

This is where a discussion of Fate and Free Will becomes really important, so listen up. Even if Bod was intended, or fated, to destroy the Jacks, he's the one who chooses the way he gets rid of them. Granted, Bod is fighting for his life, and for Scarlett's. It's not like Bod can sit down and reason with Jacks, or call the cops, or something. So what should he have done? And was he treating the Jacks cruelly?

Come to think of it, Bod might have a bit of a mean streak that he needs to work on. Remember how he treated Maureen ("Mo") Quilling and Nick Farthing? Terrifying them in their dreams and all? Yes, like the Jacks, they're terrible bullies. Yes, like the Jacks, they can't be reasoned with. Yes, like the Jacks, they have no regard for the feelings of others. But, they're just young kids. We wonder what Bod would have found if he looked deeper into their lives. Perhaps Mo and Nick are being bullied by someone and taking it out on their peers. Yet, Bod seems to be really proud with how he deals with them.

This is a typical quality in a hero - audiences like to see the bad people get doses of their own medicine. But Scarlett asks us if this is the best way we can be. She thinks that Bod could have dealt with Jack in a way other than feeding him to the nasty Sleer. She thinks that Bod enjoyed Jack's suffering, and that revenge made his actions that much less heroic. What do you think? If you had to rewrite that section of The Graveyard Book to make things happen in a way that Scarlett would approve of, what would you write?

Bod might be relieved to know he's in good company. Many of our heroes wouldn't stand up to Scarlett's standards. Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Veronica Mars are two examples of teens who battle evil in much the same way Bod does. Like Bod, they use a combination of violence and smarts to foil their enemies. In Veronica Mars, teen-detective Veronica's father Keith prevents her from being too cruel. Other than Scarlett, no one in the graveyard has questioned Bod's methods. These types of heroes are fascinating because of how they can act on both sides of the good and bad. They're successful at what they do often because they have some quality that someone like Scarlett would consider evil.

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Nobody "Bod" Owens in The Graveyard Book

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Bod is the most Goth kid you'll ever meet - he lives in a graveyard and is raised by ghosts, a vampire, and a werewolf, for Pete's sake. He has Freedom of the Graveyard, which means he can communicate with the dead, move through walls, and is invisible to most humans (so long as he's in the graveyard).

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Silas

Silas is Bod's guardian. He takes care of all of Bod's basic needs, like food and shelter. He's also Bod's idol - the guy Bod looks up to, and will always look up to above all others. Silas isn't dead, but he isn't alive either. He's a sad, lonely figure, not fitting in with either the living or the dead, like when he is can't join in the Danse Macabre (where the dead and the living dance, for one night only). He is full of wisdom, but also full of pain. He's also a big mystery.

It's not clear exactly why Silas lives in the graveyard where Bod is raised. At the end of the novel, when Bod leaves the graveyard, Silas leaves too. It's almost as if Silas was waiting there just for Bod. We're never exactly sure how much Silas knows about the Jacks and the prophecy of their destruction before he meets Bod, or how much he learns from investigating. We're never sure if Silas would have agreed to be the guardian for just any infant that popped up in the graveyard, or whether he was especially aware of his role in fulfilling an ancient prophecy, one involving Bod in particular.

Silas the Vampire

Silas is the perfect example of mystery, secrecy, and slippery answers. Most of the other mythological or supernatural creatures we meet in The Graveyard Book are clearly identified. Part of the fun of this novel is playing "Guess What Kind of Creature Silas Is." Some of you probably figured it out pretty fast, but if you're like us, it took a little while.

OK, we'll just say it: Silas is a vampire.

The clues are blended into the story so smoothly that we barely notice them at first. We'll give you a few of our favorites.

Hint 1: Silas consumed only one food, and it was not bananas. (1.140)

OK, this doesn't mean much unless it's taken together with the other clues. The one food that Silas eats could be anything. Plus, we never actually learn what that food is. We do know most vampires eat only blood, so we suspect his one food is blood (bummer for him). In Anne's Rice's Interview With A Vampire, the vampire Louis lives off the blood of small animals to try to keep from eating people blood. In the novels, the "vegetarian" vampires, the Cullens, hunt big game so they don't have to drink human blood. So, people blood, animal blood, or something else entirely? What do you think Silas eats?

Hint 2: As twilight edged from grey to purple there was a noise in the spire, like a fluttering of heavy velvet, and Silas left his resting place and clambered head first down the spire. (4.6)

This passage lets us know that Silas is that classic vampire who can turn into a bat. Have you ever heard the phrase "bats in the belfry"? Well, bats are known for hanging out in belfries. Belfries are high towers with bells in them (like in church steeples) and, what do you know, Silas sleeps in one. Bats are also known for their habit of sleeping upside-down. In this passage, it isn't clear whether Silas changes from bat to man before or after he climbs down the spire. It's also not quite clear whether Bod understands that Silas goes back and forth from man to bat. If he does, he doesn't see anything unusual in such a thing. But why would he? He's grown up around Silas and he loves the guy/bat.

Hint 3: Something huge was flying through the air [...] something bigger and darker than the biggest bird. Something man-size that flickered and fluttered as it moved, like the strobing flight of a bat. (6.268)

OK, so maybe Silas isn't a vampire, maybe he's just Batman. We kind of like that idea - Silas as an alter-ego of Batman, who is an alter-ego of Bruce Wayne. But, when put together with the other clues, it just doesn't work. This passage helps us figure out that Silas is a vampire, but also tells us something of what he looks like when he's in bat-mode. Apparently, Silas can turn into a really big bat and fly through the air. It doesn't tell us if he can turn into a really small bat, too, or if he can turn into anything else.

Hint 4: The surface of the tabletop was almost mirrored, and, had anyone cared to look, they might have observed that the tall man had no reflection. (7.818)

Aha! This one's the clincher. Did you know that Dracula doesn't have a reflection when he looks in the mirror?

Silas the Guardian

Silas doesn't just guard Bod. He's also a member of the Honor Guard. Since Silas is extremely mysteriousness, he keeps details of the Honor Guard's activities top-secret. He doesn't even tell Bod that he's a member, or that he and some other members have been in a big old battle with the Jacks since Chapter 4.

(We know he was battling the Jacks in Chapter 3 because at the end of that chapter, Silas brings Bod a model of the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. In the Interlude, Jack Frost complains about some trouble in San Francisco a few years back.)

Bod finally learns Silas is a member of the Honor Guard when he talks to some dead people in another graveyard. The information only makes sense to him later, though, when he hears the Jacks talking about many of them recently being destroyed. When Silas breaks the bad news about Miss Lupescu's death to Silas, Bod gets him to admit that he and Miss Lupescu are indeed members of the Guard.

When Bod asks for more details on Honor Guard activities, Silas says, "We don't do enough, [...] And mostly, we guard the borderlands. We protect the borders of things" (8.60). We know Silas isn't talking about the border between countries here. He's not keeping illegal immigrants from crossing country lines. We think that in the world of The Graveyard Book, there are worlds full of evil creatures. If there's a break in the borders between those worlds and ours, the balance of good and evil in the world will shift, and evil will rule the day. We know that a mummy named Kandar and an Ifrit named Haroun are also members of the Honor Guard. This hints that one has to be a mythological creature to be a member.

Silas's place in the Honor Guard becomes even more significant, especially for Bod, when Silas reveals a little of his past to Bod. Check out what Silas says in the last chapter:

"I have not always done the right thing. When I was younger... I did worse things than Jack. Worse than any of them. I was the monster, then, Bod, and worse than any monster." (8.66)

Silas now lives, as far as Bod is concerned, an honorable life. So, Silas was able to change from someone "worse than any monster" to a member of the Honor Guard. From this, Bod might conclude that even the worst monster is capable of becoming good. (You might or might not believe this yourself, but still.)

In Bod's section, we talk about Scarlett accusing Bod of being a monster because she considers his treatment of Jack Frost cruel. If Silas is able to change from someone worse than Jack Frost into such a great guy, isn't that potential there in Jack too? By helping to arrange for Jack's permanent residency in the Sleer's lair, is Bod robbing Jack of his chance to change into someone as good as Silas? What would Silas say?

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Silas is Bod's guardian. He takes care of all of Bod's basic needs, like food and shelter. He's also Bod's idol - the guy Bod looks up to, and will always look up to above all others. Silas isn't dead, but he isn't alive either.

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Jack Frost and the Jacks of All Trade

Jack Frost is The Graveyard Book 's arch-villain. He's the guy who butchers Bod's family with a sharp knife, and he wants to do the same to Bod. He also, it seems, lives with his grandma.

Who, or What, are the Jacks?

As we learn part way through the book, the Jack that killed Bod's family isn't the only evil Jack out there. The Jacks of All Trades are a top-secret group. They've been around for thousands of years. It's an organization called brotherhood, or fraternal order. In other words, no girls allowed.

We don't know if they had other names before they became Jacks, or if they were born Jacks. They definitely don't seem like the storybook Jacks some of them are named after. Jack Frost of storybooks is the guy who brings winter, not the guy who kills babies. Their nursery-rhyme-sounding names add to their spooky, mysterious quality.

Speaking of mystery, we aren't quite sure what kind of creatures the Jacks are. They're definitely people of some sort, but the novel identifies all the characters as people. They're not dead people, for sure. They don't seem to have any super-human physical abilities, other than maybe a sharp sense of smell. They use weapons to kill and have to climb over stuff just to get into the graveyard, just like the rest of us. We don't know for sure if they can be killed or die in the same ways you and I can.

More importantly, it's not at all clear who their other victims are, or what their crimes are (other than killing Bod's family). In the Interlude, we see that the Jack do lots of good deeds, or at least pretend to, probably to cover up their evil activities. We also see that they have the appearance of being respectable gentlemen, meaning they wear expensive suits and have nice haircuts. They seem wealthy. But, mostly they remain mysterious. And we think that's just fine - part of the fun of The Graveyard Book is that many things simply aren't explained. We get to guess and try to dig around for clues.

The End of the Jacks

Silas and the Honor Guard seem to have been fighting the Jacks for a while, but it's Bod who ends the group for good. In Chapter 7 we find out from Jack Dandy that thousands of years ago, someone predicted that Bod (or someone a lot like Bod) would destroy the Jacks:

"Long time ago, one of our people - that was back in Egypt, in pyramid days - he foresaw that one day, there would be a child born would walk the borderland of the living and the dead. That if this child grew to adulthood it would mean the end of our order and all that we stand for." (7.605)

When Bod fights the Jacks in the graveyard at the end of the book, he finishes them off.

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Jack Frost and the Jacks of All Trade in The Graveyard Book

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JavaScript seems to be disabled in your browser. For the best experience on our site, be sure to turn on Javascript in your browser. Jack Frost is The Graveyard Book 's arch-villain. He's the guy who butchers Bod's family with a sharp knife, and he wants to do the same to Bod.

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Mr. Owens and Mrs. Owens

Mr. and Mrs. Owens are Bod's graveyard parents. Including the time they've been in the graveyard, they've been married 250 years. Their one regret is that they never had kids. Good thing Bod wandered into the graveyard so they could become parents. They seem to be very nice people and pretty good parents, but they aren't involved in any of Bod's adventures.

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Mr. Owens and Mrs. Owens in The Graveyard Book

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JavaScript seems to be disabled in your browser. For the best experience on our site, be sure to turn on Javascript in your browser. Mr. and Mrs. Owens are Bod's graveyard parents. Including the time they've been in the graveyard, they've been married 250 years. Their one regret is that they never had kids.

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JavaScript seems to be disabled in your browser. For the best experience on our site, be sure to turn on Javascript in your browser.

Mr. Owens and Mrs. Owens

Mr. and Mrs. Owens are Bod's graveyard parents. Including the time they've been in the graveyard, they've been married 250 years. Their one regret is that they never had kids. Good thing Bod wandered into the graveyard so they could become parents. They seem to be very nice people and pretty good parents, but they aren't involved in any of Bod's adventures.

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Mr. Owens and Mrs. Owens in The Graveyard Book

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JavaScript seems to be disabled in your browser. For the best experience on our site, be sure to turn on Javascript in your browser. Mr. and Mrs. Owens are Bod's graveyard parents. Including the time they've been in the graveyard, they've been married 250 years. Their one regret is that they never had kids.

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Scarlett Amber Perkins

Scarlett only appears in two of the novel's eight chapters, but she sure has an impact. Scarlett doesn't seem to have any supernatural powers, but she can see Bod - even though Freedom of the Graveyard keeps him hidden from other humans when he's in the graveyard. It could be that her ability to see Bod is just an example of the kind of connection they have.

After all, they meet in each other's dreams. How much more romantic can you get? Yet, any romantic feelings they might have for each other aren't allowed to grow. In "Characters: Nobody Owens" and in "Narrator Point of View," we talk about Scarlett's reaction when Bod feeds Jack Frost to the Sleer. We argue that Scarlett points out that Bod might enjoy his revenge a little too much, which Scarlett doesn't like at all. She says to Bod, "You aren't a person. People don't behave like you. You're as bad as he was. You're a monster" (7.772). Well, there's a lot more to talk about...

Scarlett's Memory (Loss)

First of all, we don't know if Scarlett's comment really represents her value system. Scarlett has just gone through a horrible experience. She's had a knife held to her throat by the man she thought was her bud. And she's just watched that same man being tortured by a supernatural creature she can't even see. It's dark. It's cold. She's in a graveyard with a really weird kid who might have just killed four men. In short, she's shocked and overwhelmed. Maybe, just maybe, Bod would have looked different to her in the morning light. Maybe, just maybe, they could have had a conversation about it, even an argument, and in the process both learned something.

But, just like the first time Bod and Scarlett go visit the Sleer, they don't get a chance to talk about it afterwards. Bod, at least, gets to deal with the experience over time. Not so with Scarlett. The first time, her parents convince her the experience was imaginary. But at least that time, she returned to the graveyard to tell Bod that he was brave and that she believed in him. The first time, she keeps Bod in her memory.

The second time, though, Silas erases her memory before she can think through the experience. We think Silas did this because if Scarlett decided to go to the police or something and tell her story it might: a) cause trouble for Bod at the graveyard, or b) cause people to think Scarlett's insane. Still, does anybody else find this disturbing?

We know Silas can manipulate the minds of humans, even Jack Frost, but does he use this power for good in this instance? We really don't like the idea that vampires or other supernatural critters could go around erasing our memories. Sure, we forget all sorts of events from our lives, but that's different from somebody else actively messing with our minds, changing the way we remember our experiences. Do you think Silas was had a right to do what he did? Do you think Scarlett will feel strange, like she's missing something? Do you think there's a chance that Bod and Scarlett will find each other in the future? Do you think they should?

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Scarlett Amber Perkins in The Graveyard Book

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JavaScript seems to be disabled in your browser. For the best experience on our site, be sure to turn on Javascript in your browser. Scarlett only appears in two of the novel's eight chapters, but she sure has an impact.

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Bod starts off the story as a toddler whose family has been murdered. He lives in a graveyard and was raised by all the ghosts in a cemetery along with his guardian Silas, who is neither a ghost or a living person. We gradually see him grow up as we read on through the book and by the end of the book, he is fifteen. Here is a list of words that I would describe Bod as.
Bod is a quiet and curious kid who asks a lot of questions. It's a weird combination but it kind of works. He keeps to himself most of the time but as he gets older, he learns to interact with more ghosts in the graveyard. He is kind and brave because when the man who had killed his family found him, Bod tricked him into going in this underground room and that was how the man got trapped there.

She was Bod's first living friend. They met when she was five and he was four. She would always come by the graveyard and go on little adventures with Bod. Unfortunately, she had to move away to Scotland but that was not the last of her. She moved back when she was 15 and reunited with Bod. I would describe Scarlett as stubborn because whenever she does not get what she wants, she will argue or plead until she gets it.

Silas is the guardian of Bod Owens and since he is not dead or alive, he can leave the graveyard, unlike the other people buried there. Since he can leave the graveyard, he can get food, clothing, books, etc., for Bod. He is also a member of the Honor Guard and he goes on missions tracking down the man Jack and other supernatural things.

is a top secret organization that has been around for years. The man who killed Bod's family was called Jack Frost. He also has another name; Jay Frost. He pretended to be friends with Scarlett so she could lead him to Bod. He wasn't the only Jack though. There were a lot more. Anyone who was in that organization was called Jack. We do not know that much about them besides the fact that they were evil and that Bod finished them off at the end of the book.
Jack Frost and the Jack of All Trade

Mr. and Mrs. Owens adopted Bod when he was just a toddler and raised him up to be a polite young man. If it hadn't been for them, Bod would have probably been killed by the man Jack. Mr. and Mrs. Owens were very supportive and always offered advice to Bod.

Liza is a witch who was burned to death 500 years ago and is now buried just outside the graveyard. She becomes friends with Bod and helps him out a lot when times are tough. Just because she is a witch, doesn't mean she's evil. She's actually a really goodhearted person. She also develops a crush on Bod and is very sad when he leaves the graveyard.

There are many characters in this book but the one that is most like me, personality wise, is Scarlett. She is awfully stubborn and so am I. I think we are equally stubborn but maybe I am a tiny bit more than her. I can never admit I am wrong and I always try to win an argument and it is pretty embarrassing now that I think back to all the arguments I had in the past.

Scarlett also likes to go on a lot of adventures. When she was five, she and Bod explored all around the graveyard. I love going on adventures and one of my biggest dreams is to travel the world one day. She is also kind. She helped out Jay Frost (even though he turned out to be a bad guy in the end) and she even volunteered to do some research on Bod's family for him. Believe it or not, I can also be kind. Whenever someone asks me for help, I try to help them as best as I can. I help out my parents when they don't ask me to and I always try to cheer someone up when they are feeling sad. Scarlett and I both have some negative and positive character traits, but then again, so does everyone right?

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Bod starts off the story as a toddler whose family has been murdered. He lives in a graveyard and was raised by all the ghosts in a cemetery along with his guardian Silas, who is neither a ghost or a living person.

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Bod in chapter 2 (young Bod)

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Nobody "Bod" Owens as a "Toddler" (1-3 years old)

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Nobody "Bod" Owens as a "Toddler" (1-3 years old)

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Nobody Owens is the main character in the book. Thorughout the book you see Bod's age increase from a young boy, to a young man. After his parents died he was taken in by ghosts. He was taught everything they know by his mentor, Silas, with no connections to the real world except one little girl named Scarlett. Scarlett tells him all about the world outside of the graveyard because he is not aloud to leave. He is a solitary and behaved child because of this who has no friends except for Silas and Scarlett. Bod also enjoys reading.

The Owenes' are a family of ghosts that that took Bod in after his family was killed by The Man Jack. Even though they do not teach him like his teacher, Silas, they give him words of inspiration . They are an enthusiastic couple that cares for and treats Bod just like he was one of them even though he is living.

Silas is one of the ghosts Nobody meets in the graveyard. He's the most solemn and intelligent of the ghosts we have met thus far. He is also Nobody's teacher, guardian and mentor. He teaches Nobody the alphabet, but is forced to leave in chapter three because he needs to find answers. This leads Nobody to a new teacher, Miss Lepescu. It is not 100% clear what Silas is because he is human nor ghost. It is revealed that he made several mistakes when he was living, but he has now made up for it by teaching Bod. When Silas isn' teaching Bod he is out looking for the Jack's.

The man Jack is the antagonist in The Graveyard Book. In the beginning he is searching for Nobody with a knife at hand, but all he got was the stuffing from a teddy bear! He also kills Nobody's parents who gave him to the ghosts in the graveyard after they were being chased by The man Jack. He continues to look for Nobody throughout the book. He is also the member of an origination called The Jacks of all trades. These ruthless killer's are out looking for Bod so the power of the order can skyrocket, giving the Jacks loads of power and wealth.

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Nobody Owens is the main character in the book. Thorughout the book you see Bod's age increase from a young boy, to a young man. After his parents died he was taken in by ghosts. He was taught everything they know by his mentor, Silas, with no connections to the real world except one little girl named Scarlett.

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More Description of the characters and of Mrs. Owens

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More Description of the characters and of Mrs. Owens

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nobody Owens was once a normal child. everything changed the night his family was murdered in their beds. nobody was a curious baby. by pure chance he crawled out of his crib and to a graveyard before he too, could be murdered BY THE MAN JACK. TWO GHOSTS FROM THE GRAVEYARD DECIDED TO ADOPT NOBODY AS THEIR OWN. THEY GAVE HIM THE freedom of the graveyard, and so, he was no longer normal. bod grew, never knowing his biological family, raised by ghosts and SILAS. THE OLDER HE GOT THE MORE CURIOUS HE GOT ABOUT THE WOULD OUTSIDE THE GRAVEYARD. THE ONLY PROBLEM WAS THAT IT WASN'T SAFE TO GO INTO THE OUTSIDE WORLD. HIS FAMILIES MURDERER WAS STILL LOOKING FOR HIM.
-protagonist

The man jack is a murderer. One night in an innocent household the man jack entered with his knife and murdered all but one member of a poor unsuspecting family. the baby wasn't in his crib when the man jack approached it with his knife in hand. jack thought he had all the time in the world to find that baby. twelve years past and the time was drawing near. suddenly the man jack had very little time to find the child. Members of his cult were pressuring him with the time, reminding him what would happen if he didn't find the child, baby no more.
-antagonist

scarlett is a normal girl who just happened to be visiting the graveyard with her mother. she becomes great friends with nobody as a little girl. her and bod go on many adventures in the graveyard, like meeting the sleer and crawling into the oldest grave in the graveyard. she tells her parents that she has a friend named nobody who lives in the graveyard and plays with her. typically her parents think that she has invented a imaginary friend and that it is nothing to concern themselves about. scarlett is very bold and speaks her mind.
-minor character

when silas has to leave the graveyard he appoints a worthy teacher for nobody. at first bod cant stand miss lupesce, she gives him boring lessons and feeds him repugnant food. she is extremely strict and orders him to pay close attention and learn every word she says. she teaches him about all kinds of people in the outside world like ghouls and hounds of god. what she teaches him ends up being very important for the events that transpire in the future. -GUIDE/MENTOR

Mr. and Mrs. owens are ghosts in the graveyard. they had been married for 250 years but they had always wished they could have had children before it was too late. one night the ghost of a mother comes begging them to save her son. Mr. and Mrs. owens decide to adopt the baby as their own and name him nobody owens. they call the lady on the grey to give him the freedom of the graveyard. they are very compassionate and loving people, or, should i say ghosts.
-minor characters

Silas is bods guardian. he protects bod from the evil things that exist in the outside world. he is very secretive and mysterious, he hardly ever clearly answers any questions. he investigates the man jack and reasons for why he would want to murder bod. silas is the only one who can leave the graveyard, therefore, he brings bod food. silas only eats blood and has no reflection. silas is a member of the honor guard, but he doesn't tell anybody.
-GUIDE/MENTOR

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nobody Owens was once a normal child. everything changed the night his family was murdered in their beds. nobody was a curious baby. by pure chance he crawled out of his crib and to a graveyard before he too, could be murdered BY THE MAN JACK.

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More Pictures of Mrs. Owens (dressed in her period clothes when she died)

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More Pictures of Mrs. Owens (dressed in her period clothes when she died)

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nobody Owens was once a normal child. everything changed the night his family was murdered in their beds. nobody was a curious baby. by pure chance he crawled out of his crib and to a graveyard before he too, could be murdered BY THE MAN JACK. TWO GHOSTS FROM THE GRAVEYARD DECIDED TO ADOPT NOBODY AS THEIR OWN. THEY GAVE HIM THE freedom of the graveyard, and so, he was no longer normal. bod grew, never knowing his biological family, raised by ghosts and SILAS. THE OLDER HE GOT THE MORE CURIOUS HE GOT ABOUT THE WOULD OUTSIDE THE GRAVEYARD. THE ONLY PROBLEM WAS THAT IT WASN'T SAFE TO GO INTO THE OUTSIDE WORLD. HIS FAMILIES MURDERER WAS STILL LOOKING FOR HIM.
-protagonist

The man jack is a murderer. One night in an innocent household the man jack entered with his knife and murdered all but one member of a poor unsuspecting family. the baby wasn't in his crib when the man jack approached it with his knife in hand. jack thought he had all the time in the world to find that baby. twelve years past and the time was drawing near. suddenly the man jack had very little time to find the child. Members of his cult were pressuring him with the time, reminding him what would happen if he didn't find the child, baby no more.
-antagonist

scarlett is a normal girl who just happened to be visiting the graveyard with her mother. she becomes great friends with nobody as a little girl. her and bod go on many adventures in the graveyard, like meeting the sleer and crawling into the oldest grave in the graveyard. she tells her parents that she has a friend named nobody who lives in the graveyard and plays with her. typically her parents think that she has invented a imaginary friend and that it is nothing to concern themselves about. scarlett is very bold and speaks her mind.
-minor character

when silas has to leave the graveyard he appoints a worthy teacher for nobody. at first bod cant stand miss lupesce, she gives him boring lessons and feeds him repugnant food. she is extremely strict and orders him to pay close attention and learn every word she says. she teaches him about all kinds of people in the outside world like ghouls and hounds of god. what she teaches him ends up being very important for the events that transpire in the future. -GUIDE/MENTOR

Mr. and Mrs. owens are ghosts in the graveyard. they had been married for 250 years but they had always wished they could have had children before it was too late. one night the ghost of a mother comes begging them to save her son. Mr. and Mrs. owens decide to adopt the baby as their own and name him nobody owens. they call the lady on the grey to give him the freedom of the graveyard. they are very compassionate and loving people, or, should i say ghosts.
-minor characters

Silas is bods guardian. he protects bod from the evil things that exist in the outside world. he is very secretive and mysterious, he hardly ever clearly answers any questions. he investigates the man jack and reasons for why he would want to murder bod. silas is the only one who can leave the graveyard, therefore, he brings bod food. silas only eats blood and has no reflection. silas is a member of the honor guard, but he doesn't tell anybody.
-GUIDE/MENTOR

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nobody Owens was once a normal child. everything changed the night his family was murdered in their beds. nobody was a curious baby. by pure chance he crawled out of his crib and to a graveyard before he too, could be murdered BY THE MAN JACK.

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Description link of Scarlett Amber Perkins

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Description link of Scarlett Amber Perkins

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Scarlett is Bod's only living friend throughout his childhood. Five-year-old Scarlett meets Bod when her parents take her to play in the graveyard, but her parents believe that Bod is just Scarlett's imaginary friend. (Given the improbability of a little boy living alone in a graveyard, Scarlett eventually goes along with this and believes that Bod was a figment of her imagination.) Like Bod, Scarlett is bright and fearless. She longs to experience the graveyard as Bod does, but since she doesn't have the Freedom of the Graveyard, she can't slip through walls or see ghosts. When she encounters the Sleer, for instance, she can't hear his voice and only perceives a frightening hissing noise. Around this time, Scarlett and her family move away, though she returns 10 years later. Her parents have just divorced, and Scarlett resents them for it and for uprooting her life yet again. But Scarlett's anger and unhappiness begins to soften when she reconnects with Bod and meets Mr. Frost, a nice historian who claims to be conducting research in the graveyard. With Mr. Frost's help, Scarlett takes on the task of investigating the murders of Bod's biological parents and sister. She's caught off guard when Mr. Frost turns out to be Jack, the murderer. When Jack threatens to kill Scarlett, Bod rescues her by imprisoning Jack in the barrow grave. But even though Bod saved her life, Scarlett thinks Bod is a monster for knowingly imprisoning Jack. After this, Silas wipes Scarlett's memory and convinces Scarlett's mother to take Scarlett back to Glasgow. Even though this event marked the end of Bod's and Scarlett's friendship, it nevertheless taught him a lot about selflessly looking out for one's friends and thus aided him in his coming-of-age journey.

Scarlett Amber Perkins Quotes in The Graveyard Book

The The Graveyard Book quotes below are all either spoken by Scarlett Amber Perkins or refer to Scarlett Amber Perkins. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:

). Note: all page numbers and citation info for the quotes below refer to the HarperCollins edition of The Graveyard Book published in 2010.

"What are you doing now?"

"ABCs," said Bod. "From the stones. I have to write them down."

"Can I do it with you?"

For a moment, Bod felt protective-the gravestones were his, weren't they?-and then he realized how foolish he was being, and he thought that there were things that might be more fun done in the sunlight with a friend. He said, "Yes."

Explanation and Analysis:

"But you aren't dead, are you, Nobody Owens?"

"'Course not."

"Well, you can't stay here all your life. Can you? One day you'll grow up and then you will have to go and live in the world outside."

He shook his head. "It's not safe for me out there."

"You want to know your name, boy, before I spill your blood on the stone?"

Bod felt the cold of the knife at his neck. And in that moment, Bod understood. Everything slowed. Everything came into focus. "I know my name," he said. "I'm Nobody Owens. That's who I am."

"Look, it's okay. I dealt with them."

Scarlett took a step away from him. She said, "You aren't a person. People don't behave like you. You're as bad as he was. You're a monster."

Bod said, "She was scared of me."

"Yes."

"But why? I saved her life. I'm not a bad person. And I'm just like her. I'm alive too."

Scarlett Amber Perkins Character Timeline in The Graveyard Book

The timeline below shows where the character Scarlett Amber Perkins appears in The Graveyard Book. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

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Scarlett is Bod's only living friend throughout his childhood. Five-year-old Scarlett meets Bod when her parents take her to play in the graveyard, but her parents believe that Bod is just Scarlett's imaginary friend. (Given the improbability of a little boy living alone in a graveyard, Scarlett eventually goes along with this and believes that Bod was a figment of her imagination.)

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Another Character Description link to Scarlett

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Another Character Description link to Scarlett

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, and he is a curious boy that grows in knowledge and stature throughout the book. At the beginning of the story, Bod is a helpless baby that wanders into the graveyard by accident. When the ghosts agree to raise him, Mrs. And Mr. Owens step forward to be the parents, but Silas ultimately functions as Bod's guardian. In this same agreement, he is given the Freedom of the Graveyard, which makes him invisible to most humans while there, and also more safe. Bod always wants to learn more about the world. The ghosts teach him about the living world as well as the world of the dead. Although he is taught inside the graveyard, Bod still insists on going to school with the living because of his interest in learning. This desire to learn with the living is hindered by danger of the man Jack. Bod's stifled curiosity leads to his adventures in the graveyard
Bod is the main character of The Graveyard Book

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and he is a curious boy that grows in knowledge and stature throughout the book. At the beginning of the story, Bod is a helpless baby that wanders into the graveyard by accident. When the ghosts agree to raise him, Mrs. And Mr. Owens step forward to be the parents, but Silas ultimately functions as Bod's guardian.

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Another Picture of Scarlett and Bod Owens

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Another Picture of Scarlett and Bod Owens

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Another Picture of Scarlett and Bod Owens

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Another Picture of Scarlett and Bod Owens