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Chapter 5
Themes
and Colors
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Graveyard Book, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Community, Identity, and Coming of Age
Parents and Guardians
Life and Death
Good, Evil, and Assumptions
Summary
Analysis
One of the ballrooms at a swanky hotel is hosting a private function. The 100 attendees are all men and all wear black suits, but they hail from all over the globe. A cheery man stands in front of the others and announces “Good Deeds Done.” Jack sits at a table at the front, talking with a man with silver hair. The silver-haired man reminds Jack that time is passing and that Jack failed. Jack was supposed to “take care of” the baby. A waiter pours coffee for the entire table. The other men at the table pay close attention to the speaker and ignore Jack and the silver-haired man.
Jack and the silver-haired man are presumably discussing Bod. This conversation reminds readers that Bod and Jack aren’t done with each other yet—Jack’s associates clearly need him to murder Bod for some reason. It’s possible that the other men at the table ignore Jack and the silver-haired man in deference to the other man, as he seems to be more powerful than Jack.
Active
Themes
Jack insists that he has a lead that’s connected to the “trouble” he had in San Francisco. The silver-haired man, Mr. Dandy, asks if Jack ran this by the secretary, but Jack explains the secretary isn’t interested; he just wants results. Mr. Dandy says they all want results. The other men at the table nod in agreement.
Active
Themes
