The Graveyard Book *Some spoilers*

The Graveyard Book
By: Neil Gaiman
Terri Thampan 804

  I am currently reading "The Graveyard Book", by Neil Gaiman and I am loving it.
  The main character is this kid Bod (short for Nobody) Owens, who is raised by ghosts in a graveyard. Why is he in a graveyard? Well, it's a close call actually because he pretty much escaped from his house before he could be murdered.
   What I think is a pretty symbolic is the Gray Lady. She is like this figure of Death, but not out right saying it. I like that this figure is a woman because it seems to symbolize even more. I am being a bit feminist-ic (not a word, but I don't know how to say that any other way) because I myself like FEMALE POWER, but when things are in the form of a woman or a man, it's to take on certain qualities or traits that associated with that come with that kind of persona. I feel like the Gray Lady is supposed to be shown as wise as a mother of grandmother teaching the children how to grow, a mysterious kind of seductress, one that we will always meet, but who ultimately is kind. I feel like her white horse was sort of taken from the bible to show she is the bringer of death and moving on to a new plane of existence, like in the bible Jesus is supposed to ride in on a white horse to bring onto the humans an age full of prosperity in heaven during the end times.
   What I read during the Macabre Chapter gave the whole story some more depth. In the beginning of the book, many of the ghosts did not think that Bod should be raised in the Graveyard as he was still alive. I get that the Gray Lady made them change their minds, but I felt it was kind of fast that they accepted Bod. The Macabre chapter sort of showed the deeper part of this whole relationship Bod has with the ghosts. Even if he was raised with them, he wasn't truly one of them as he was alive and they weren't. It made me feel like though they tried to be nice to Bod, the fact that he was alive was what always stayed on their minds. He wasn't like them, and so there was a sort of segregation of living and dead. It truly shows in this chapter as not even his Mother (Mrs. Owens who adopted him) would tell him what was going on, and how he ended up at the Graveyard truly alone, and how he danced as one of the living.
     The Last person who I really want to address is Silas. I think Silas is a really cool, really mysterious character. I mean, that's how he's supposed to be portrayed, but like I think he's cool as in he has taken Bod in even though he never even knew Bod. I also think he's hiding a sadness as he is different. I think it's not that he hates himself for being different, but he's sad and wants to do things that those who are living or dead can do. This really makes me feel bad for his character and want to read more to find out about the mysterious Silas.