Cloud Atlas

by

David Mitchell

Teachers and parents! Our Teacher Edition on Cloud Atlas makes teaching easy.

Dr. Henry Goose Character Analysis

Dr. Henry Goose is a strange Englishman who meets up with Adam Ewing while they’re both on the Chatham Isles. Henry initially tells Adam that he’s in the area to collect teeth, all as part of an elaborate revenge plot against some people in Britain who have disrespected him. Eventually, he and Adam seem to bond and become friends over chess, but Henry reveals at the end of the book that he has been poisoning Adam the whole time in order to steal his possessions. Henry’s behavior is unsettling—he pretends to be Adam’s friend for months, all so that he has a chance to kill him for a little bit of money. Henry views other humans as little more than pieces of meat, and he represents the lengths people will go to for the sake of greed.

Dr. Henry Goose Quotes in Cloud Atlas

The Cloud Atlas quotes below are all either spoken by Dr. Henry Goose or refer to Dr. Henry Goose. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Cycles of History Theme Icon
).
Chapter 1 Quotes

Beyond the Indian hamlet, upon a forlorn strand, I happened on a trail of recent footprints. Through rotting kelp, sea cocoa-nuts & bamboo, the tracks led me to their maker, a White man, his trowzers & Pea-jacket rolled up, sporting a kempt beard & an outsized Beaver, shoveling & sifting the cindery sand with a teaspoon so intently that he noticed me only after I had hailed him from ten yards away. Thus it was, I made the acquaintance of Dr. Henry Goose, surgeon to the London nobility.

Related Characters: Adam Ewing (speaker), Dr. Henry Goose
Page Number: 3
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 9 Quotes

“I ask three simple questions. How did he get that power? How is he using it? And how can it be taken off the sonofabitch?”

Related Characters: Luisa Rey (speaker), Dr. Henry Goose
Page Number: 403
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 11 Quotes

“The weak are meat the strong do eat.”

Related Characters: Dr. Henry Goose (speaker), Adam Ewing, Sonmi~451, Sonmi~451, Vyvyan Ayrs, Preacher Horrox
Page Number: 489
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire Cloud Atlas LitChart as a printable PDF.
Cloud Atlas PDF

Dr. Henry Goose Quotes in Cloud Atlas

The Cloud Atlas quotes below are all either spoken by Dr. Henry Goose or refer to Dr. Henry Goose. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Cycles of History Theme Icon
).
Chapter 1 Quotes

Beyond the Indian hamlet, upon a forlorn strand, I happened on a trail of recent footprints. Through rotting kelp, sea cocoa-nuts & bamboo, the tracks led me to their maker, a White man, his trowzers & Pea-jacket rolled up, sporting a kempt beard & an outsized Beaver, shoveling & sifting the cindery sand with a teaspoon so intently that he noticed me only after I had hailed him from ten yards away. Thus it was, I made the acquaintance of Dr. Henry Goose, surgeon to the London nobility.

Related Characters: Adam Ewing (speaker), Dr. Henry Goose
Page Number: 3
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 9 Quotes

“I ask three simple questions. How did he get that power? How is he using it? And how can it be taken off the sonofabitch?”

Related Characters: Luisa Rey (speaker), Dr. Henry Goose
Page Number: 403
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 11 Quotes

“The weak are meat the strong do eat.”

Related Characters: Dr. Henry Goose (speaker), Adam Ewing, Sonmi~451, Sonmi~451, Vyvyan Ayrs, Preacher Horrox
Page Number: 489
Explanation and Analysis: