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The Bentley
Dog, the hell-hound that Hell sends to the Antichrist, represents the idea that good and evil aren’t innate, but learned. The Antichrist is supposed to receive the hell-hound on his 11th birthday to protect him and do his bidding. It’s especially important that the Antichrist name the hell-hound himself, as this will give the dog its purpose. When the hell-hound first arrives on Earth, it takes the form of a huge, terrifying dog who looks like the canine incarnation of evil. But when it finds Adam and listens to him talk about the dog he’d like—a small, scrappy mutt that’s highly intelligent and loyal—the hell-hound changes shape to become exactly the kind of dog Adam wants. And when Adam announces that he’s going to name the hell-hound Dog, an important change takes place: the name Dog begins to change the hell-hound’s very nature, making it less of an evil beast from the underworld and more of a domestic dog, like its namesake. Indeed, after receiving his name, Dog thinks that he’s always wanted to jump up on people—but now, surprisingly, he also wants to wag his tail at them.
Dog’s transformation illustrates how significant a being’s upbringing and external influences are in determining whether or not they become good or evil. It makes no difference that Dog came from Hell explicitly to be evil, when Adam just wants a dog who “[he] can have fun with.” Over the course of the novel, as Dog has more delightful and innocent experiences (like chasing rats and cats) and as he follows Adam everywhere, he gradually abandons everything that first marked him as an evil, dangerous creature. Dog thus represents the idea that everything and everyone has the capacity for good, if only they have the right influences.
Dog (The Hell-Hound) Quotes in Good Omens
The Good Omens quotes below all refer to the symbol of Dog (The Hell-Hound). 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:
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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.
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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.
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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.”
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1111. An the Great Hound sharl coom, and the Two Powers sharl watch in Vane, for it Goeth where is its Master, where they Wot Notte, and he sharl name it, True to Ittes Nature, and Hell sharl flee it.
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Dog slunk along with his tail between his legs, whining.
This wasn’t right, he was thinking. Just when I was getting the hang of rats. Just when I’d nearly sorted out that bloody German Shepherd across the road. Now He’s going to end it all and I’ll back with the ole glowin’ eyes and chasin’ lost souls. What’s the sense in that? They don’t fight back, and there’s no taste to ‘em...
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“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.
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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.”
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Sunday
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He couldn’t see why people made such a fuss about people eating their silly old fruit anyway, but life would be a lot less fun if they didn’t. And there never was an apple, in Adam’s opinion, that wasn’t worth the trouble you got into for eating it.
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Get the entire Good Omens LitChart as a printable PDF.
Dog (The Hell-Hound) Symbol Timeline in Good Omens
The timeline below shows where the symbol Dog (The Hell-Hound) appears in Good Omens. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Eleven Years Ago
...an eyebrow when Crowley sighs that Warlock will hopefully know how to act when the hell-hound arrives on his 11th birthday. Hell is sending him the biggest one they have, and...
(full context)
Wednesday
...looks toward the mountain of presents: he sees a gerbil, but no sign of a hell-hound, which should arrive any minute.
(full context)
...the dove and then turns on the Bentley’s radio to check the status of the hell-hound. A demon’s voice comes through the radio and says that the hell-hound left 10 minutes...
(full context)
Far from Central London, in Tadfield, a terrifying black dog appears in the road. It growls, slavers, and listens until it hears its master’s voice....
(full context)
The children’s conversation meanders and returns to the subject of whether the hound’s master is going to get a dog for his birthday. One girl says with authority...
(full context)
The dog’s master deliberates about what to name it, and the dog waits with bated breath—the name...
(full context)
Thursday
...Pepper’s little sister’s dress in the pond. Now, Adam slouches down the dusty lane with Dog slouching along dutifully. As Adam grumbles about his punishment, Dog thinks that he didn’t expect...
(full context)
...and Adam insists that he knows what that means. With the matter settled, Adam tells Dog to follow him inside. Dog refuses, but Adam forces him in. With this, “a little...
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Saturday
The Them sit on a gate, watching Dog roll in cowpats. Adam announces that they have it all wrong about witches—the witches have...
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...do something about the whales and the forests. Then, in a serious tone, he tells Dog that it’s people like him who are eating all the whales. Something odd is happening...
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...Adam says in an odd voice that the world should just start again. He pats Dog.
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...she can have Russia, Wensleydale can have America, and Brian can have Africa and Europe. Dog will get Australia, since he needs space to run and chase rabbits. Wensleydale shrieks that...
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...few more cards that mention a male figure dividing the world into four, a “Great Hound” arriving and being named “True to Ittes Nature” while “Two Powers” watch in vain, and...
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As Adam leads the Them into the quarry, Dog follows with his tail between his legs. He doesn’t think this is right—he just got...
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In the quarry, the Them huddle around Adam, who seems somehow bigger than normal. Dog sits and growls, thinking that he’s going to lose all the great smells that Earth...
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Thunder rumbles overhead, but the quarry is calm—aside from Dog, who’s howling “like a small dog in deep trouble.” Adam says that he has friends...
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Meanwhile, Adam pedals along on his bike as Dog runs excitedly behind. Pepper joins Adam on her own noisy bike, and Brian and Wensleydale...
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...what’s left of the Bentley, the gate starts to rise, and four bikes and a dog zip through. Shaken, Sgt. Deisenburger raises his gun. Aziraphale tells Crowley to deal with this—but...
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Sunday (The first day of the rest of their lives.)
...are waiting on the other side of the hedge. In a stern voice, he tells Dog to stay away from the hedge—if Dog went through it, Adam would have to disobey...
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Adam runs on and catches up with Dog. He looks up at the old apple tree above and climbs it quickly, pocketing as...
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