The Graveyard Book

by

Neil Gaiman

Barrow Term Analysis

Barrows are underground burial sites. Like the barrow grave in the novel, most barrows feature an underground room of sorts that was originally created within a man-made hill. Barrows first became common in Britain around 3600 BCE. The barrow grave in The Graveyard Book houses the Sleer and a few treasures.

Barrow Quotes in The Graveyard Book

The The Graveyard Book quotes below are all either spoken by Barrow or refer to Barrow. For each quote, you can also see the other terms and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Community, Identity, and Coming of Age Theme Icon
).
Chapter 7 Quotes

“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.”

Related Characters: Nobody “Bod” Owens (speaker), Jack Frost (speaker), Scarlett Amber Perkins, Silas, Mrs. Owens, Mrs. Owens
Page Number: 282
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.”

Related Characters: Nobody “Bod” Owens (speaker), Scarlett Amber Perkins (speaker), Jack Frost, The Sleer
Page Number: 287
Explanation and Analysis:

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.”

Related Characters: Nobody “Bod” Owens (speaker), Scarlett Amber Perkins, Silas, Jack Frost
Related Symbols: Freedom of the Graveyard
Page Number: 289
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire The Graveyard Book LitChart as a printable PDF.
The Graveyard Book PDF

Barrow Term Timeline in The Graveyard Book

The timeline below shows where the term Barrow appears in The Graveyard Book. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 2
Community, Identity, and Coming of Age Theme Icon
Life and Death Theme Icon
Good, Evil, and Assumptions Theme Icon
...the people before the Romans buried their dead underground with treasure. The graves are called barrows. Bod nods and asks if Scarlett wants to see a barrow. Though Scarlett is nervous,... (full context)
Community, Identity, and Coming of Age Theme Icon
Parents and Guardians Theme Icon
Life and Death Theme Icon
Good, Evil, and Assumptions Theme Icon
...the master. Bod shakes his head, which feels fuzzy, and leads Scarlett out of the barrow and the mausoleum. Then, they hear many people shouting for Scarlett. A police officer descends... (full context)
Community, Identity, and Coming of Age Theme Icon
...his fault that Scarlett is in trouble. He tells Silas that they went into the barrow grave, but they only found “a Sleer who scares people.” Three weeks later, Scarlett and... (full context)
Chapter 4
Parents and Guardians Theme Icon
Life and Death Theme Icon
Good, Evil, and Assumptions Theme Icon
...arrives, Abanazer lets him in and brandishes the brooch, explaining that it’s from a pagan barrow grave. Tom says it might be worth it to go about this deal legally; a... (full context)
Community, Identity, and Coming of Age Theme Icon
Parents and Guardians Theme Icon
...punish Bod. He then disappears to dispose of the card. Bod runs up to the barrow grave and returns the brooch. The Sleer says, “it always comes back.” (full context)
Chapter 7
Life and Death Theme Icon
...that Bod was her imaginary friend from childhood, Bod mentions that they went into the barrow grave, saw the Indigo Man, and met the Sleer. At this, Scarlett remembers everything and... (full context)
Community, Identity, and Coming of Age Theme Icon
Parents and Guardians Theme Icon
...bring her friend to learn the rest. A bit later, Bod walks down into the barrow grave for the first time in six years. The Sleer doesn’t speak until Bod touches... (full context)
Community, Identity, and Coming of Age Theme Icon
Parents and Guardians Theme Icon
Good, Evil, and Assumptions Theme Icon
...the men. Caius Pompeius rises from his grave and suggests that Scarlett hide in the barrow grave. Bod leads Scarlett to the barrow, talking to ghosts along the way. Once Scarlett... (full context)