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Old 05-16-2019, 12:48 AM   #16
gmw
cacoethes scribendi
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Why pick on Jack Frost? Why not Jack Tar, Jack Ketch, or Jack Dandy, or Jack Nimble (Jack be nimble, I'm assuming). Of all those names, only Jack Ketch comes with appropriately macabre connotations, but then that was not what Gaiman was looking for with these characters (macabre/macabray is played with separately). Come to think of it, Jack of all Trades is also quite corny/traditional/old/obvious/childish/perfect-fit-for-the-story, pick one depending on your preferences.

The early Jack foresaw "there would be a child born" - it did not tell them it was this particular baby. "We had people casting nativities before London was a village, we had your family in our sights before New Amsterdam became New York.", so the horoscopes directed them the family, not the child. Kill the children and not the parents and the parents may well have another child. And, on top of all that, one gets the impression that Jack enjoyed his work enough to be thorough for the sake of it.

There is a great deal left unexplained in The Graveyard Book, as there is in several other Gaiman stories. He hints at things and gives the impression of much larger settings and backgrounds than you ever get clearly defined. This works for me with Gaiman in the way I would likely have trouble accepting from many others.
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