Anathema Device Character Analysis

Anathema is a young witch, a descendent of the 17th-century witch and prophet Agnes Nutter. She’s described as sensible and pretty. Anathema has spent her life immersed in Agnes’s book, The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch—she and her family members have all dedicated their lives to decoding Agnes’s predictions, especially as they pertain to Armageddon (the end of the world). Anathema’s role is especially important: if she can correctly interpret Agnes’s predictions, she might be able to prevent doomsday. In the weeks before Armageddon, Anathema rents a cottage in Tadfield, which Agnes predicted would be the epicenter for Armageddon. This seems unreal to Anathema, as even though her readings suggest that Armageddon is getting closer to Tadfield, she also senses an overwhelming feeling of love in the village. A few days before Armageddon, she loses Agnes’s book when she accidentally leaves it in Crowley’s Bentley after he crashes into her and gives her a ride home. The following day, she meets Adam—though she’s unable to identify him as the Antichrist. Flattered by his interest in the occult, she sends Adam home with a stack of New Aquarian Digest, a magazine that one of her friends edits. She doesn’t realize that the conspiracy theories and environmental ideals the magazine supports will become the blueprint for how Adam will start to change the world once Armageddon begins. Even without The Book, Anathema is well-prepared for Armageddon thanks to an extensive card catalogue of Agnes’s prophecies that her relatives put together. Thus, she’s ready when a witch-hunter Newt shows up to investigate strange weather in Tadfield, and she coaches him through what they must do to prevent Armageddon. The novel implies that after Armageddon is averted, Anathema and Newt will eventually get married—a package arrives the next day addressed to Mr. and Mrs. Pulsifer. It contains Agnes’s next book of prophecies, but Newt convinces Anathema to free herself and leave the book alone.