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Silas
Often referred to as “the man Jack,” Jack is the novel’s antagonist and the murderer who killed Bod’s family and is intent on hunting down Bod. He’s a member of the mysterious organization the Jacks of All Trades, an ancient fraternity that harnesses magic by killing people. An ancient Jack foretold that a boy would walk between the living and the dead and that if the boy survives to adulthood, it will mean the end of the Jacks. The Jacks decide that this boy is Bod and so send this Jack, one of their most accomplished killers, to murder Bod and his family to prevent the prophecy from coming true. Though Jack succeeds in murdering Bod’s biological parents and older sister, he loses track of Bod, who at the time is an elusive, curious toddler. Jack tracks his victims using scent, but after Silas tampers with Jack’s memories to throw him off the trail, Jack struggles to find Bod. But 13 years later, Jack returns to the village where he lost Bod’s trail and rents the house that Bod’s family once occupied. He assumes the persona of Mr. Jay Frost, a nervous, bumbling historian who’s conducting research into the residents of Bod’s graveyard. As Mr. Frost, Jack befriends Scarlett’s mother and uses Scarlett to get close to Bod. However, once Jack comes face to face with Bod, his affable Mr. Frost persona quickly falls away. Bod knows that Jack’s weakness is his desire for glory and power, so he tricks Jack into agreeing to be the Sleer’s new master in the treasure-filled barrow grave. Though Jack thinks that this will allow him to still kill Bod and start his own organization, the Sleer imprisons Jack in the barrow grave.
Jack Frost Quotes in The Graveyard Book
The The Graveyard Book quotes below are all either spoken by Jack Frost or refer to Jack Frost. 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:
).
Chapter 1
Quotes
Mrs. Owens bent down to the baby and extended her arms. “Come now,” she said, warmly. “Come to Mama.”
To the man Jack, walking through the graveyard towards them on a path, his knife already in his hand, it seemed as if a swirl of mist had curled around the child, in the moonlight, and that the boy was no longer there: just damp mist and moonlight and swaying grass.
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Silas said, “Out there, the man who killed your family is, I believe, still looking for you, still intends to kill you.”
Bod shrugged. “So?” he said. “It’s only death. I mean, all of my best friends are dead.”
“Yes.” Silas hesitated. “They are. And they are, for the most part, done with the world. You are not. 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.”
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Chapter 6
Quotes
“And the teachers here have taught me lots of things, but I need more. If I’m going to survive out there, one day.”
Silas seemed unimpressed. “Out of the question. Here we can keep you safe. How could we keep you safe, out there? Outside, anything could happen.”
“Yes,” agreed Bod. “That’s the potential thing you were talking about.”
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“He’s out here, somewhere, and he wants you dead,” she said. “Him as killed your family. Us in the graveyard, we wants you to stay alive. We wants you to surprise us and disappoint us and impress us and amaze us. Come home, Bod.”
“I think...I said things to Silas. He’ll be angry.”
“If he didn’t care about you, you couldn’t upset him,” was all she said.
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Chapter 7
Quotes
Mrs. Owens reached out a hand, touched her son’s shoulder. “One day,” she said...and then she hesitated. One day she would not be able to touch him. One day, he would leave them. One day.
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“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.”
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“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.”
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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.”
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Chapter 8
Quotes
“But you did the right thing. I mean, stopping the Jacks. They were terrible. They were monsters.”
[...]
“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.”
[...]
“But you aren’t that any longer, are you?”
Silas said, “People can change,” and then fell silent.
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Get the entire The Graveyard Book LitChart as a printable PDF.
Jack Frost Quotes in The Graveyard Book
The The Graveyard Book quotes below are all either spoken by Jack Frost or refer to Jack Frost. 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:
).
Chapter 1
Quotes
Mrs. Owens bent down to the baby and extended her arms. “Come now,” she said, warmly. “Come to Mama.”
To the man Jack, walking through the graveyard towards them on a path, his knife already in his hand, it seemed as if a swirl of mist had curled around the child, in the moonlight, and that the boy was no longer there: just damp mist and moonlight and swaying grass.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Silas said, “Out there, the man who killed your family is, I believe, still looking for you, still intends to kill you.”
Bod shrugged. “So?” he said. “It’s only death. I mean, all of my best friends are dead.”
“Yes.” Silas hesitated. “They are. And they are, for the most part, done with the world. You are not. 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.”
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Chapter 6
Quotes
“And the teachers here have taught me lots of things, but I need more. If I’m going to survive out there, one day.”
Silas seemed unimpressed. “Out of the question. Here we can keep you safe. How could we keep you safe, out there? Outside, anything could happen.”
“Yes,” agreed Bod. “That’s the potential thing you were talking about.”
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Page Number and Citation:
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“He’s out here, somewhere, and he wants you dead,” she said. “Him as killed your family. Us in the graveyard, we wants you to stay alive. We wants you to surprise us and disappoint us and impress us and amaze us. Come home, Bod.”
“I think...I said things to Silas. He’ll be angry.”
“If he didn’t care about you, you couldn’t upset him,” was all she said.
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Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 7
Quotes
Mrs. Owens reached out a hand, touched her son’s shoulder. “One day,” she said...and then she hesitated. One day she would not be able to touch him. One day, he would leave them. One day.
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“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.”
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Explanation and Analysis:
“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.”
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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.”
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Chapter 8
Quotes
“But you did the right thing. I mean, stopping the Jacks. They were terrible. They were monsters.”
[...]
“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.”
[...]
“But you aren’t that any longer, are you?”
Silas said, “People can change,” and then fell silent.
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