Suspending Disbelief for Bod

One thing I really like about the character Bod is how relatable of a character he is, even though he has the most unrealistic life. Ok... you might be thinking "You wouldn't be suspending disbelief about Bod because he is human... just like the rest of us... which makes him believable in itself". Okay yes... if you're thinking this, you are right. Bod is a normal human-being (as far as we know) and that does make him a believable character, expect that his situation, environment, home, and community are SO unbelievable. To start off, he is the only person that escaped being murdered in his family as an infant by simply, "totter[ing] up the hill"(Gaiman 12) and away from his house and murderer. No way anyone thinks that's believable without suspending their disbelief at least a little bit in order to fully enjoy the story. So now that we've established how Bod is kind of an unbelievable character to begin with, let's look at some of the ways I thought Gaiman was able to still make him feel relatable and realistic. One part of the story that I thought made Bod super relatable (especially for kids) and made me laugh was when Miss Lupescu brought Bod a salad and he thought it was the grosses thing ever. He told Miss Lupescu that he couldn't eat it and then persisted to say, "I'll be sick"(Gaiman 69). I thought this experience made Bod feel more real because I think many children can relate to having similar situations with salads or vegetables where an adult told them they needed to eat it and they hated it. This situation grounds Bod and makes him seem normal and believable. Another place in the story that I thought made Bod feel more real was when he was being chased by the beast (that was actually Miss Lupescu) and said, "it's going to eat me"(Gaiman 92). I think Bod's concern and reaction is super relatable for many children because kids would often fear and think that a beast would eat them too. This makes Bod seem like he is normal just like every other child even though it is apparent that he is not. All in all, I think throughout the book Gaiman uses different strategies that make Bod seem realistic and normal which allows readers to suspend their disbelief and fully dive into The Graveyard.