The Graveyard Book Essay

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The Graveyard Book Theme

The theme of the text, The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman is that fate and free will are apart of life and we need to embrace them. Neil Gaiman weaves this throughout his novel by showing how Bod is destined to fight the Jacks. He somehow gets lead to the graveyard where he meets people like Mr. and Mrs. Owens that take care of him. Thousands of years ago someone predicted Bod would defeat the Jacks. While he was destined to fight the Jacks, all his choices were his.

In the beginning of the book Bod gets out of his crib and goes to graveyard. This is connected to the theme of fate and free will are apart of life and we need to embrace them. In the text it states, “He was surprised when he hit the floor, but he did not cry out: if you cried they came and put you back in your crib.” This is in chapter one. In this statement Bod gets out of the crib and goes to the graveyard of his own free will. …show more content…

It states, “You had parents. An older sister. They were killed. I believe that you were to have been killed as well, and that you were not was due to chance, and the intervention of the Owenses.” This is Silas saying that Bod survived due to chance not fate. Although Silas says Bod survived due to chance, it was predicted thousands of years ago, which seems more like fate than coincidence. It being fate makes it connect to the theme.

The theme of the text, The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman is that fate and free will are apart of life and we need to embrace them. Neil Gaiman weaves this theme throughout the book by having sings in chapters one, seven, three, six, and more. Bod is predicted to defeat the Jacks. He also learns valuable things that he uses in his battle with the Jacks. Lastly, Jack gets out of his crib, doesn’t cry, and goes to the graveyard. All these things are connected to the theme of fate and free will are apart of life and we need to embrace