How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
“Mrs. Owens and her husband have taken the child under their protection. It will take more than just a couple of good hearted souls to raise this child. It will,” said Silas, “take a graveyard.” (1.108)
This is a play on the saying that it takes a whole village to raise a child. That just means that it's not only parents who raise kids, but everyone in a community – the aunts, uncles, grandparents, neighbors, teachers…everyone in a community. Does it take the whole graveyard to raise Bod? What do you think?
Quote #2
That Silas had volunteered to be the boy’s guardian had weight – Silas was regarded with a certain awe by the graveyard folk, existing as he did on the borderland between their world and the world they had left. (1.153)
Silas is a member of the Honor Guard and, as Bod finds out when he visits a smaller graveyard, Silas is respected outside his own graveyard. He’s a figure who commands respect all throughout the whole dead community.
Quote #3
“You aren’t allowed out of the graveyard […] because it’s only in the graveyard that we can keep you safe. This is where you live and where those who love you can be found. Outside would not be safe for you. Not yet.” (2.4)
Bod wants to experience what people are like outside the graveyard. Even though this feeling never goes away, he learns to be happy at home and to really appreciate all that his little graveyard family has to offer.