I have seen a lot of Good Omens on my dash recently in light of the upcoming TV show and it suddenly occurred to me that my interpretation of a particular moment has probably been completely wrong for years. In my defense, I was pretty young and naive when I first read the book, which probably explains why I went with the interpretation I did, but then I never reevaluated it until now.
There is a moment in the book where Anathema is helped out by Crowley and Aziraphale, who spend the entire time bickering about it. Through this scene, she is increasingly nervous, wondering what these two guys were doing driving out at night, thinking there’s something off about the situation, and generally worrying that she might be in trouble.
Then, after they drop her off, Crowley calls Aziraphale “angel” and Anathema’s reaction is, “Oh, that explains it. I was perfectly safe.”
When I first read the book, I took this perfectly literally. After all Anathema has read the book of prophecies. She knows that angels and demons exist. I assumed that she realised she’d been helped by an actual angel and was therefore comforted.
Now, I realise that a much more likely explanation of her reaction is that’s thinking, “Oh, they’re a slightly odd gay couple. That explains everything.”
DustAndFundamentalists 