Good Omens

by

Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett

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Themes and Colors
Good and Evil Theme Icon
Human Nature Theme Icon
Destiny vs. Free Will Theme Icon
Humor and Absurdity Theme Icon
Friendship  Theme Icon
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Good Omens, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Friendship  Theme Icon

At its heart, Good Omens is a story about friendship. It portrays close, affectionate bonds between the demon Crowley and the angel Aziraphale, as well as between the Antichrist Adam Young and his gang of mortal human friends, known around their village as the “Them.” Through its exploration of these strong relationships between individuals whom readers might not expect to be close friends, Good Omens suggests that friendship isn’t only available to individuals with similar backgrounds or upbringings. Rather, a shared sense of loyalty or purpose can often bring people together in unlikely pairings. Furthermore, the novel makes the case that these strong friendships are worth fighting for, as the support they provide helps people better understand who they are and what they believe in.

Sometimes, it’s possible for unlikely friendships to arise out of a lack of other options. For instance, as a demon and an angel, respectively, Crowley and Aziraphale aren’t beings whom one might expect be great friends. But they’re seemingly the only divine beings who have spent the last 6,000 years on Earth exclusively (other angels and demons seem to have appeared on Earth for certain events, but don’t stay). As a result, the two eventually discover that they have more in common than not—perhaps most importantly, they both love much of what the mortal world has to offer. For Aziraphale, the Earth offers him access to his beloved collection of misprinted Bibles and delightful sushi restaurants, while Earth offers Crowley good alcohol and the ability to drive his 1926 Bentley. Their interests differ, but they both agree that the modern world contains all manner of delights. Thus, when they learn that Armageddon will take place in 11 years’ time, they decide that for the sake of their friendship and the world they both love, they must work together to prevent it.

With this, the novel shows that friendship is more important than doing one’s job—or indeed, than following one’s destiny. This becomes most apparent in the case of Adam. As the Antichrist, Adam has the power to bring about Armageddon and is prophesied to do so in the days after his 11th birthday. But as he becomes aware of his powers and begins to contemplate ending the world and building it anew, his three friends, Pepper, Wensleydale, and Brian, express skepticism. Like Crowley and Aziraphale, Pepper, Wensleydale, and Brian like the world as it is—and it frightens them when Adam threatens to use his powers to force them to go along with his destruction. Ultimately, Adam is distraught when he realizes how badly he’s frightening his friends, and this causes him to choose to abandon his role as the Antichrist. It’s more important to him, in the long run, to show his friends love and support than it is to follow his destiny to bring about the end of the world.

Friendship not only has the power to encourage Adam to literally change his destiny—it also helps Adam come to a better understanding of who he is, aside from being the Antichrist. When he realizes how important his friends are to him, he discovers a new version of himself, one who prioritizes fairness and considering others’ opinions over his own selfish desires. Similarly, in making the choice to stand up to their bosses in Heaven and Hell, Aziraphale and Crowley discover new things about themselves—namely, that they’re not as wholly good or evil as they’ve spent their lives believing. Indeed, in the moments before they suspect that they’re going to die saving the world, Aziraphale remarks that it’s clear from Crowley’s actions that he’s not so bad—while Crowley quips that he’s learned Aziraphale is “just enough of a bastard to be worth liking.” Friendship, Good Omens shows, has the unique power to give people the strength and support to understand who they are, make difficult decisions, and do what they think is right—and to make those choices worth the trouble or sacrifice.

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Friendship ThemeTracker

The ThemeTracker below shows where, and to what degree, the theme of Friendship appears in each chapter of Good Omens. Click or tap on any chapter to read its Summary & Analysis.
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Friendship Quotes in Good Omens

Below you will find the important quotes in Good Omens related to the theme of Friendship .
Eleven Years Ago Quotes

As they drove past an astonished traffic warden his notebook spontaneously combusted, to Crowley’s amazement.

“I’m pretty certain I didn’t mean to do that,” he said.

Aziraphale blushed.

“That was me,” he said. “I had always thought that your people invented them.”

“Did you? We thought they were yours.”

Related Characters: Aziraphale (speaker), Crowley/Crawly (speaker)
Related Symbols: The Bentley
Page Number: 43
Explanation and Analysis:
Wednesday Quotes

“I’ll call him Dog,” said his master, positively. “It saves a lot of trouble, a name like that.”

The hell-hound paused. Deep in its diabolical canine brain it knew that something was wrong, but it was nothing if not obedient and its great sudden love of its master overcame all misgivings. Who was to say what size it should be, anyway?

It trotted down the slope to meet its destiny.

Strange, though. It had always wanted to jump up at people but, now, it realized that against all expectation it wanted to wag its tail at the same time.

Related Characters: Adam Young/The Antichrist (speaker), Agnes Nutter, Wensleydale, Pepper, Brian
Related Symbols: Dog (The Hell-Hound)
Page Number: 75
Explanation and Analysis:
Thursday Quotes

This wasn’t, insofar as the hell-hound had any expectations, what he had imagined life would be like in the last days before Armageddon, but despite himself, he was beginning to enjoy it.

[...]

Form shapes nature. There are certain ways of behavior appropriate to small scruffy dogs which are in fact welded into the genes. You can’t just become small-dog-shaped and hope to stay the same person; a certain intrinsic small-dogness begins to permeate your very Being.

He’d already chased a rat. It had been the most enjoyable experience of his life.

Related Characters: Adam Young/The Antichrist
Related Symbols: Dog (The Hell-Hound)
Page Number: 128
Explanation and Analysis:
Saturday Quotes

“You don’t have to be so lit’ral about everything,” he said. “That’s the trouble these days. Grass materialism. ‘S people like you who go round choppin’ down rain forests and makin’ holes in the ozone layer. There’s a great big hole in the ozone layer ‘cos of grass materialism people like you.”

Related Characters: Adam Young/The Antichrist (speaker), Wensleydale, Pepper, Brian
Related Symbols: Dog (The Hell-Hound)
Page Number: 190
Explanation and Analysis:

“Oh, if that’s all that’s worryin’ you, don’t you worry,” said Adam airily, “’cos I could make you all just do whatever I wanted—”

He stopped, his ears listening in horror to the words his mouth was speaking. The Them were backing away.

[...]

“No,” he said hoarsely. “No. Come back! I command you!”

They froze in mid-dash.

Adam stared.

“No, I dint mean it—” he began. “You’re my friends—”

[...]

Adam opened his mouth and screamed. It was a sound that a merely mortal throat should not have been able to utter [...]

Whatever had been standing in the old quarry before, Adam Young was standing there now. A more knowledgeable Adam Young, but Adam Young nevertheless. Possibly more of Adam Young than there had ever been before.

Related Characters: Adam Young/The Antichrist (speaker), Wensleydale, Pepper, Brian
Related Symbols: Dog (The Hell-Hound)
Page Number: 286-87
Explanation and Analysis:

“What you’re all sayin’,” he summed up, [...] “is that it wouldn’t be any good at all if the Greasy Johnsonites beat the Them or the other way round?”

“That’s right,” said Pepper. [...] “Everyone needs a Greasy Johnson.”

“Yeah,” said Adam. “That’s what I thought. It’s no good anyone winning.”

Related Characters: Adam Young/The Antichrist (speaker), Pepper (speaker), Aziraphale, Crowley/Crawly, Wensleydale, Brian, Greasy Johnson
Page Number: 292
Explanation and Analysis:

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: Adam Young/The Antichrist (speaker), Death (speaker), War/Red/Scarlett, Famine/Black/Sable, Pollution/White
Related Symbols: Dog (The Hell-Hound)
Page Number: 326
Explanation and Analysis:

“I’d just like to say,” he said, “if we don’t get out of this, that...I’ll have known, deep down inside, that there was a spark of goodness in you.”

“That’s right,” said Crowley bitterly. “Make my day.”

Aziraphale held out his hand.

“Nice knowing you,” he said.

Crowley took it.

“Here’s to the next time,” he said. “And...Aziraphale?”

“Yes.”

“Just remember I’ll have known that, deep down inside, you were just enough of a bastard to be worth liking.”

Related Characters: Aziraphale (speaker), Crowley/Crawly (speaker), Adam Young/The Antichrist, Satan
Page Number: 342
Explanation and Analysis: