In class we briefly mentioned the quote in the beginning section of Good Omens that described the hell-hound given to the anti-christ on his birthday. The passage that stuck out in my mind was,

 "Deep in it's 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 it 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 expectations it wanted to wag its tail at the same time." (pg 84) 

I immediately thought of this passage as a parallel to Eve in "Paradise Lost". I figured this 

based on the clear obedience to the master. Both the hell-hound and Eve were completely obedient to their respective masters. This was clear in "Paradise Lost" as we see Eve relies on Adam to inform her of everything. This has reminded me of the quote from "Paradise Lost" that says, " He for God only, she for God in Him" (4.299). Eve was expected to live accordingly to Adam's desires and saw herself only in terms of Adam. I thought of this especially after I noticed that Eve after eating from the tree thinks not of the effects that eating the forbidden fruit will have on her but how it will impact Adam and their relationship. She sees the consequences in terms of Adam, just as she sees every aspect of her life.  This held such relevance to the part of the passage that said, ". . . sudden love of it's Master overcame all misgivings. Who was it to say what size it should be anyways?" (pg 85). This is similar to the criticism that I read that argued Eve oppression by Adam and by God. To reference my post on this article go to http://writerslost.blogspot.com/2008/10/from-eve-first-reflection.html . 

This author had said that there was no way for Eve to know overcome the oppression as long as she was under the influence and control of God and Adam. (Walker, Julia. M "From Eve. . ." pg 519). I believe that this is true for the hell-hound. As long as it is under the control of the Anti-christ and the other demons of hell it was bound to do as it is told.

It again was clear to me that the hell-hound could be a metaphor for Eve because of the way that it begins with "deep within it's diabolical canine brain"(pg 85). I connected that to the way that Eve had first thought of eating from the tree of knowledge deep within her brain, through the dream. Also the passage exemplified how the dog had these inner desires to wag it's tail; something that also stems from its brain. I found this part to be interesting because so far it seemed to be a metaphor, the hell-hound for Eve but here I was confused as to what Gaiman and Pratchett were saying about Eve. The hell-hound was of an evil nature but had secret desires to go against it's purpose and be friendly or do good. Eve was thought to be good and had these desires to do bad but I have to wonder whether they were really desires or was she just deceived into following Satan. Did they think that truly she was an predestined to do evil but she appeared to be fair and beautiful to Adam? Or do the authors draw a connection to Eve through the hell-hounds just not one that is direct?

What do you think?