Pollution/White Character Analysis in Good Omens

Pollution is one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse; he took over after Pestilence’s retirement, following the invention of penicillin. As Pollution moves through the world, he leaves a trail of garbage, oil, and other dangerous refuse. He most often takes the form of a young man with long, white-blond hair and a gaunt, chalky complexion. During his time posing as a human on Earth, Pollution has had a hand in inventing the gas engine and plastics, and he’s worked in various nuclear power plants that have experienced major disasters, such as Chernobyl. In the hours before Armageddon (the end of the world) begins, Pollution receives a silver crown that tarnishes as soon as he places it on his head. In the moment that Armageddon is supposed to begin, Adam coaches Brian—the “Them” gang’s equivalent of Pollution—through vanquishing the Horseman using a makeshift crown made of grass.

Pollution/White Quotes in Good Omens

The Good Omens quotes below are all either spoken by Pollution/White or refer to Pollution/White . 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:

And then it was Pigbog’s turn.

“I, uh...I think I’ll be them answer phones. They’re pretty bad,” he said.

“You can’t be ansaphones. What kind of a Biker of the Repocalypse is ansaphones? That’s stupid, that is.”

“S’not!” said Pigbog, nettled. “It’s like War, and Famine, and that. It’s a problem of life, isn’t it? Answer phones. I hate bloody answer phones.”

“I hate ansaphones, too,” said Cruelty to Animals.

Related Characters: Pigbog (speaker), Big Ted, Skuzz, Greaser, Famine/Black/Sable, War/Red/Scarlett, Death, Pollution/White

Page Number and Citation: 261

Explanation and Analysis:

As four bikers ride behind the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, they come up with new names. While some of them, like Cruelty to Animals in this passage, take names that don’t make much sense, Pigbog tries to choose a name that best encapsulates the failings he recognizes in the modern world. This passage is intentionally humorous—it’s one of many times that Good Omens encourages readers to consider the modern world and all the ways in which it’s actually absurd. Two of the characters in this passage hate ansaphones (early answering machines) and perhaps other seemingly normal technology that makes Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque o

I DO NOT UNDERSTAND, he said. SURELY YOUR VERY EXISTENCE REQUIRES THE ENDING OF THE WORLD. IT IS WRITTEN.

“I dunt see why anyone has to go an’ write things like that,” said Adam calmly. “The world is full of all sorts of brilliant stuff and I haven’t found out all about it yet, so I don’t want anyone messing it about or endin’ it before I’ve had a chance to find out about it. So you can all just go away.”

Related Characters: Death (speaker), Adam Young/The Antichrist (speaker), War/Red/Scarlett, Famine/Black/Sable, Pollution/White

Related Symbols: Dog (The Hell-Hound)

Page Number and Citation: 326

Explanation and Analysis:

When Adam confronts Death and the other Horsemen of the Apocalypse, he refuses to lead them into starting Armageddon (the end of the world). For Death (who speaks in all capital letters with no quotation marks), this is confusing—it’s “written,” after all, that as the Antichrist, Adam is going to lead the Four Horsemen and bring about the end of the world. For Adam, though, what’s been written is essentially just a matter of opinion. He doesn’t like what’s been written about what he’s supposed to do—so he goes into this with the understanding that he can change it and Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Si

Pollution/White Character Timeline in Good Omens

The timeline below shows where the character Pollution/White appears in Good Omens. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

Another man known as White tends to escape people’s notice. Unlike his colleagues, who can hold down jobs for a... (full context)

Now, the available categories are War, Famine, Pollution, and Pop Trivia. The tall biker refuses to press any of the buttons that the... (full context)

...Ansaphones, even if ansaphones are problems of modern life. They follow Death, Famine, War, and Pollution toward Tadfield. (full context)

...tall, quiet man says that he understands. As the bikers climb back onto their bikes, Pollution drops a chip bag. Tyler scolds him for this, but Pollution says that he wishes... (full context)

...they’ll go in, do the job, and let human nature take its course. War and Pollution note that this isn’t what they thought it would be like, and War asks if... (full context)

...them says that they’re here for a surprise inspection, and after some haggling, Famine and Pollution talk Sergeant Deisenburger into letting them in. No one stops the four generals as they... (full context)

Inside, War looks around. She, Pollution, and Famine know what computers are, but Death doesn’t. She thinks that there might one... (full context)

...the building on the air base, Death straightens up and says that he’s here. War, Pollution, and Famine now seem to have “ill-fitting bodies.” Only Death hasn’t changed. As the Four... (full context)

...human. Adam tells his friends that they’re not real, they’re just nightmares. Brian points to Pollution and notes that he’s melting, but Adam says this means it’s not real. The Four... (full context)

...Antichrist out to Shadwell, sounding uncertain. War tells Adam that he’s part of them, while Pollution says that they’re making the world anew. Famine says that Adam is supposed to lead... (full context)

...scales falling. Then, Brian pulls a circle of grass from his head and flings it. Pollution disappears in a cloud of smoke, his crown falling to the ground. (full context)

Wensleydale asks where War, Pollution, and Famine went, and Death says that they’ve gone where they belong—back into people’s minds.... (full context)

Pollution/White Character Analysis

Pollution/White Quotes in Good Omens

Saturday Quotes

Pollution/White Character Timeline in Good Omens