The Moral Ambiguity in Neil Gaiman’s The Graveyard Book

Abstract

            This article aims to study Bod, the protagonist in Neil Gaiman’s The Graveyard Book, in terms of his moral ambiguity, development, and relationships with friends and enemies. His moral ambiguity is analyzed through a case of school bully and an abuse of authority. The study shows Bod’s moral ambiguity when he and his guardian are victimized. To understand his emotional development and friendship with Scarlett, David Elkind’s child development theories, Deborah Tannen’s, and Carol Gilligan’s adolescent development theories are used to examine the cause and how their conflicts are resolved. Examining Bod’s and Scarlett’s emotional development shows that Bod has higher degree of emotional development even though he is younger than Scarlett. Their problems occurring when they are young adolescents are caused by their different gender which eventually results in the end of their friendship. It can be said that the novel’s uniqueness is the presentation of the increasing moral ambiguity and the loss of friendship when entering adolescence. Implicitly, the author does not only encourages the young reader to prepare themselves for changes when entering adolescence, but also relieves the young adult reader’s tension caused by the same sufferings like the ones Bod experiences.