Good omens

1. Good omens Study Guide Review

2. 11 years ago

3. 11 years ago What is the Arrangement? The Arrangement involves an agreement reached between Crowley and Aziraphale where one would cover for the other one because, well, it was likely to get done anyway. The Arrangement only deserved a capital A because it had been around so long.

4. 11 years ago How does Crowley persuade Aziraphale to help him stop Armageddon? “No more compact discs. No more Albert Hall. No more Proms. No more Glyndebourne. Just celestial harmonies all day long….No salt, no eggs. No gravlax with dill sauce. No fascinating little restaurants where they know you. No Daily Telegraph crossword. No small antique shops. No bookshops, either. No interesting old editions. No…Regency silver snuffboxes…”

5. 11 years ago How does Crowley persuade Aziraphale to help him stop Armageddon? “Crowley looked up slyly. ‘Then you can’t be certain, correct me if I’m wrong, you can’t be certain that thwarting it isn’t part of the divine plan too. I mean, you’re supposed to thwart the wiles of the Evil One at every turn, aren’t you?’”

6. 11 years ago How does Crowley persuade Aziraphale to help him stop Armageddon? In other words, Crowley knows Aziraphale too well and appeals to Aziraphale’semotionsthrough a long list of things he knows that Aziraphale has gotten attached to. He also tries to use logic to convince Aziraphale that he should help him stop Armageddon.

7. 11 years ago What types of books does Aziraphale collect? Provide specific examples. He had more than sixty books of predictions concerning developments in the last handful of centuries of the second millennium. He had a penchant for Wilde first editions. And he had a complete set of the Infamous Bibles: Unrighteous Bible, the Wicked Bible, the Discharge Bible, the Treacle Bible, the Standing Fishes Bible, the Charing Cross Bible, and even the BuggreAlle This Bible.

8. 11 years ago Who were Bilton and Scaggs? What type of book did they attempt to sell? What was the result? Publishers who wanted to sell a book of prophecies like everyone else, but it didn’t sell at all. This was one of three great publishing disasters.

9. 11 years ago How are each of the four horsemen introduced in the novel? Provide a brief explanation and include details about their characteristics. War: “She was known as Scarlett.” Female arms dealer. Famine: “Sable had black hair, a trim black beard, and he had just decided to go corporate.” Publisher of a “foodless” dieting book. Pollution: “He was almost entirely unmemorable.” Deckhand of an oil tanker headed toward Tokyo.

10. 11 years ago How are each of the four horsemen introduced in the novel? Provide a brief explanation and include details about their characteristics. AND THERE WAS ANOTHER. “He was not waiting. He was working.”

11. 11 years ago How is the antichrist lost? Explain in detail. “There’s a trick they do with one pea and three cups which is very hard to follow, and something like it, for greater stakes than a handful of loose change, is about to take place. The text will be slowed down to allow the sleight of hand to be followed.”

12. 11 years ago How is the antichrist lost? Explain in detail. Mrs. Deirdre Young is giving birth to Baby A. Mrs. Harriet Dowling is giving birth to Baby B. “Sister Mary Loquacious is currently being handed a golden-haired male baby we will call the Adversary, Destroyer of Kings, Angel of the Bottomless Pit, Great Beast that is called Dragon, Prince of This World, Father of Lies, Spawn of Satan, and Lord of Darkness.” Mrs. Deirdre Young is given the Adversary, Destroyer of Kings, Angel of the Bottomless Pit, Great Beast that is called Dragon, Prince of This World, Father of Lies, Spawn of Satan, and Lord of Darkness. [ADAM] Mrs. Harriet Dowling is given Baby A. [Warlock] Baby B was discreetly adopted and grew up to be a normal, happy, laughing child who probably wins prizes for his tropical fish. [Greasy Johnson]

13. 11 years ago How is the antichrist lost? Explain in detail. “It may help to understand human affairs to be clear that most of the great triumphs and tragedies of history are caused, not by people being fundamentally good or fundamentally bad, but by people being fundamentally people.”

14. 11 years ago How did Crowley and Aziraphale first attempt to control the upbringing of the antichrist/Warlock? They each assigned someone to assist in the upbringing of Warlock. One who was very good (the gardener) and one who was very evil (the nanny). There were also two tutors—Mr. Harrison and Mr. Cortese. “Despite their best efforts Warlock showed a regrettable tendency to be good at maths.”

15. 11 years ago What is the purpose of the hell-hound, according to Crowley? How and when will it appear? The hell-hound is to stay by the antichrist’s side and guard him from all harm. Once the antichrist names the dog, he’ll have all of his powers and then there’s no hope to stop Armageddon. It will appear on the antichrist’s 11th birthday at 3:00 in the afternoon and it will “sort of home in on him.”

16. WEDNESDAY

17. WEDNESDAY Describe Aziraphale’s magical skills. How did he put them to use at Warlock’s birthday party? “Behind the buffet Crowley, in his white waiter’s coat, cringed with contact embarrassment.” His magical skills come from the 1870s and are woefully unimpressive. He uses language common from that era, which only confuses the kids and encourages them to make fun of him.

18. WEDNESDAY Describe the hell-hound as it first appeared. How is this different from its appearance and demeanor after Adam names it? “There was a sound like a thousand metal voices shouting ‘Hail!’ cut off abruptly. And there was a black dog in the road. It had to be a dog. It was dog-shaped. It was already growling, and the growl was a low rumbling snarl of spring-coiled menace, the sort of growl that starts in the back of one throat and ends up in someone else’s. Saliva dripped from its jaws and sizzled on the tar.”

19. WEDNESDAY Describe the hell-hound as it first appeared. How is this different from its appearance and demeanor after Adam names it? A small, intelligent dog with one funny ear. A proper mongrel. “’And I’ll call him…’ said his Master’s voice. ‘I’ll call him…’ The hound waited. This was the moment. The Naming. This would give it its purpose…its eyes glowed a dull red… ‘I’ll call him Dog,’ said his Master, positively.”

20. WEDNESDAY What was The Pit? What the local adults called the area where the children liked to hangout. It was an ancient chalk quarry, now half overgrown with thorn trees and vines. If you were a child, it was paradise.

21. WEDNESDAY What is Crowley’s view of the Satanists? They make him uncomfortable, not just because of what they did, but what they said. They would blame things on Hell when Hell had nothing to do with it. He describes them as being “depressingly enthusiastic” and taking things a bit too far.

22. WEDNESDAY What is the plan to locate the true antichrist? Go back to the Manor and try to find information on the third baby that must have been there.

23. WEDNESDAY Who do they run into? (Literally.) Anathema. What does Aziraphale do that makes Anathema so suspicious? He fixes up her bike, but goes a bit overboard and adds on a bunch of bells and whistles that her bike didn’t have originally. “Oh lord, heal this bike…”

24. WEDNESDAY Briefly explain how Mary Hodges had changed the Manor after the fire. She changes it into a place where businessmen can go on a retreat/conference of sorts. They just shoot each other with paint.

25. WEDNESDAY What does Crowley do at the Manor that isn’t all that surprising for a demon? What does he then do that is? Unsurprising, for a demon, Crowley changes the paintball guns to real guns. Surprisingly, for a demon, he assures Aziraphale that they’ll all miraculously miss one another and nobody will actually die. “’You know, Crowley,’ he said, beaming, ‘I’ve always said that, deep down inside, you’re really quite a—’” ‘All right, all right,” Crowley snapped. ‘Tell the whole blessed world, why don’t you?’”

26. WEDNESDAY Why have Aziraphale and Crowley gone to the Manor? Are they successful? They want to see if they can find information on the third child that must have been there 11 years ago. They are not successful as the Manor and the files burned…11 years ago.

27. WEDNESDAY What has Anathema lost that Aziraphale now has? Her book of prophecies! Aziraphale is very excited to have this, though. If the occult/ethereal can’t locate the antichrist, who might be able to and why? They’ll need to ask humans for help tracking another human since the antichrist will evade the occult/ethereal. Crowley is not convinced it’ll work, but they have no other plan.

28. WEDNESDAY Who did Carmine “Red” Zuigiber work for and what did she do? She was a war correspondent for National World Weekly. What was happening on the small Mediterranean island? Why was this so unusual? A deep religio-political divide had created an all out war zone. The island makes its money from the tourist trade and is presumably a happy and safe island under normal circumstances.

29. WEDNESDAY What did the International Express delivery man bring Red and what was her reaction? A sword. “It had an indefinable aura of hatred and menace.” “’Awwwwright!”