# data[].attributes.body
Scarlett is a young girl. She is 5 years old when she first meets Bod. Scarlett has a wild imagination.

Scarlett moves to Glasglow.

Read below to discover more information regarding Scarlett's changes.

# data[].attributes.headline
Chapter 2: Scarlett's First Encounter with Bod 

# data[].attributes.subject
Chapter 2: Scarlett's First Encounter with Bod 

# data[].attributes.headline
Chapter 2: Scarlett's Second Encounter with Bod 

# data[].attributes.subject
Chapter 2: Scarlett's Second Encounter with Bod 

# data[].attributes.body
Scarlett's moved back to London with her mother. She has no dad in her life at the moment and she has no friends.

# data[].attributes.headline
Physical Description of Bod in Chapter 2 

# data[].attributes.subject
Physical Description of Bod in Chapter 2 

# data[].attributes.headline
Physical Description of Bod in Chapter 7 

# data[].attributes.subject
Physical Description of Bod in Chapter 7 

# data[].attributes.headline
Scarlett’s Physical Description in Chapter 2

# data[].attributes.subject
Scarlett’s Physical Description in Chapter 2

# data[].attributes.headline
Scarlett’s Thoughts, Actions, and Sayings in Chapter 2 

# data[].attributes.subject
Scarlett’s Thoughts, Actions, and Sayings in Chapter 2 

# data[].attributes.headline
Scarlett’s Thoughts, Actions, and Sayings in Chapter 7 

# data[].attributes.subject
Scarlett’s Thoughts, Actions, and Sayings in Chapter 7 

# data[].attributes.body
At the beginning of Chapter 2, we learn that Nobody Owens is an obedient and quiet child.

Silas is teaching Bod how to read and he is willing to listen to his guardian.

# data[].attributes.body
In chapter 3, Silas is leaving Bod. He brings another person to care for Bod while he is gone.

This person is Miss Lepesccu. She is stern. She does not let Bod get away with a lot.

During this time Nobody feels unloved and unappreciated. He then leaves to go with the Ghouls.

At the end of the chapter, Bod learns to trust other people who care for him.

# data[].attributes.body
In chapter 6, Nobody Owens is a young teenage boy.

He argues with Silas at the beginning of the chapter and pleads to go to school.

Nobody eventually goes to school and is involved in a conflict with Mo and Nick.

The chapter ends with Bod forgiving Silas.

# data[].attributes.body
Silas is gone.
Scarlett returns to town and discovers Bod again and they become friends once again.
Mr. Frost tries to kill Bod again.
The Jacks attempt to kill both Bod and Scarlett in the graveyard.

# data[].attributes.body
Scarlett meets Bod and they become friends.
Her parents believe Bod is an imaginary friend, so she's not sure if he's real or not.
Her father has a job that causes him to move the family often, so Scarlett has to move away.

# data[].attributes.body
Scarlett's parents divorced.
She and her mother move back to town.
She missed her friends.
After catching the wrong bus, Scarlett ends up meeting Mr. Frost in the graveyard and they become friends.

# data[].attributes.body
Bod could not see the dead as often as before.
Silas tells Bod he cannot stay in the graveyard.
Bod wants to see the world and "an awful lot of people".
He has a passport and money and walks out into the world.

# data[].attributes.headline
Bod’s Conversation with Silas at the End of Chapter 5

# data[].attributes.subject
Bod’s Conversation with Silas at the End of Chapter 5

# data[].attributes.headline
Bod’s Conversation with Silas at the End of Chapter 5 Cont. 

# data[].attributes.subject
Bod’s Conversation with Silas at the End of Chapter 5 Cont. 

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
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.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Nobody "Bod" Owens in The Graveyard Book

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
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).

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
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 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?

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Scarlett Amber Perkins in The Graveyard Book

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
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.