Nothing is real, and the answer to the universe is 42. At least, according to the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams. I think it’s safe to assume that most people, at the very least, have heard about Hitchhiker’s guide and some of its more memorable jokes from word of mouth. I only just got around to listening to the radio play (the narrative’s original format) and found that I loved several parts about it.
At some point, all of the characters fall into the trope of being a “straight man” in an otherwise crazy world. Of course, when one character falls out of being the straight man to act extremely silly, another takes their place, keeping the balance of one sane character at a time. So no matter how the plot is moving forward with the quirky characters making a mess of things, their designated sheepdog keeps some amount of order.
Another thing that I absolutely love about the Hitchhiker’s Guide is its dedication to nihilism. The fact that the answer to the entire universe is the arbitrary number of 42 says a lot about the universe in which the characters have found themselves. Marvin the Paranoid Android is an extremely intelligent robot with extremely human emotions, such as knowing that there’s no point to living because everything is meaningless. The Earth itself is just a large science experiment run by mice to figure out the question to the ultimate answer of 42, ended about five minutes too early because of the construction of an interstellar bypass. By the end of the thirteenth radio broadcast, it’s even revealed that the universe they’re currently living in is completely fake; constructed to figure out who runs the actual universe. The being who runs the actual universe is a man who lives alone with his cat and doesn’t even quite believe what he sees with his eyes, not to mention the problems of the universe. But the most exemplary form of nihilism is that Arthur Dent and Ford Prefect (our protagonists) never get around to achieving their main goal: revising a new version of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.
The skewing of scale is another one of those quirky satirical things that just make the narrative work. Arthur’s home is being demolished on Earth to build a bypass minutes before the Earth is demolished to make way for an interstellar bypass, making the issue larger but still just as mundane. This skewing of scale can also work the other way, with mice being the actual conductors of experiments rather than the human scientists. Arthur throws a cup of tea at a computer and has this moment immortalized as a huge statue monument built by bird people just because he was being snarky and sarcastic.
Grains of truth, though, are what truly make this story work despite how chaotic it is. They wipe the Galactic President’s mind before they take office because they’d be too dangerous if they could remember why they wanted to be president of the galaxy in the first place. There are also frequent quips about consumerism and how the shoe industry is the reason civilizations collapse. As for the criticisms of bureaucracy, there’s too many to count. Philosophers only not wanting the ultimate answer to the universe to be known because otherwise, they’ll be out of business. Hitchhiker’s Guide’s unrelenting, scathing, honest humor is one of the reasons it’s still known today.
At some point, all of the characters fall into the trope of being a “straight man” in an otherwise crazy world. Of course, when one character falls out of being the straight man to act extremely silly, another takes their place, keeping the balance of one sane character at a time. So no matter how the plot is moving forward with the quirky characters making a mess of things, their designated sheepdog keeps some amount of order.
Another thing that I absolutely love about the Hitchhiker’s Guide is its dedication to nihilism. The fact that the answer to the entire universe is the arbitrary number of 42 says a lot about the universe in which the characters have found themselves. Marvin the Paranoid Android is an extremely intelligent robot with extremely human emotions, such as knowing that there’s no point to living because everything is meaningless. The Earth itself is just a large science experiment run by mice to figure out the question to the ultimate answer of 42, ended about five minutes too early because of the construction of an interstellar bypass. By the end of the thirteenth radio broadcast, it’s even revealed that the universe they’re currently living in is completely fake; constructed to figure out who runs the actual universe. The being who runs the actual universe is a man who lives alone with his cat and doesn’t even quite believe what he sees with his eyes, not to mention the problems of the universe. But the most exemplary form of nihilism is that Arthur Dent and Ford Prefect (our protagonists) never get around to achieving their main goal: revising a new version of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.
The skewing of scale is another one of those quirky satirical things that just make the narrative work. Arthur’s home is being demolished on Earth to build a bypass minutes before the Earth is demolished to make way for an interstellar bypass, making the issue larger but still just as mundane. This skewing of scale can also work the other way, with mice being the actual conductors of experiments rather than the human scientists. Arthur throws a cup of tea at a computer and has this moment immortalized as a huge statue monument built by bird people just because he was being snarky and sarcastic.
Grains of truth, though, are what truly make this story work despite how chaotic it is. They wipe the Galactic President’s mind before they take office because they’d be too dangerous if they could remember why they wanted to be president of the galaxy in the first place. There are also frequent quips about consumerism and how the shoe industry is the reason civilizations collapse. As for the criticisms of bureaucracy, there’s too many to count. Philosophers only not wanting the ultimate answer to the universe to be known because otherwise, they’ll be out of business. Hitchhiker’s Guide’s unrelenting, scathing, honest humor is one of the reasons it’s still known today.
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