Good Omens Precis

"Not actually an oxymoron. It's the color past ultra-violet. The technical term for it is infra-black. It can be seen quite easily under experimental conditions. To perform the experiment, simply select a healthy brick wall with a good runup, and, lowering your head, charge.

"The color that flashes in bursts behind your eyes, behind the pain, just before you die, is infra-black." (Prachett and Gaiman, 308)

Ah, footnotes hold a very important place in literature. Whether it is to clarify something, or add more information, or simply to amuse, footnotes serve a variety of functions. In this case, Neil Gaiman has selected footnotes both to elucidate...and to amuse; primarily, the function is to amuse. The humorous little side notes add to the story, rather than detract from it, and guide the reader along. Also, it spreads the idea that "we're not taking this seriously, and neither should you. We're just here to have a good time."

The repetition serves to amuse the reader further. "The color you see behind your eyes, behind the pain..." Black hides behind everything. Black is also the last thing people see before they die or lose consciousness. It never hurts to have a healthy reminder of that. The passage flows rather smoothly, but may be impossible to read without cracking up. It's the way the words flow and how things are phrased where the true (admittedly dark) humor lies.

In a book about the Apocalypse, you wouldn't expect humor. Yet this book shows there is light in the dark, dark in the light, and everything in between. You can be funny and morbid at the same time.

It doesn't relate to the fantasy theme, however; it's more of a general jibe, contrasting greatly with some of the darker things we had to read which were devoid of humor. However, by that token, it might be seen more like Cosmicomics, where it's funny because it's so absurd, you can't help but laugh.