HitchhikerS Guide To The Galaxy By Douglas

Adams Essay, Research Paper

James Dacanay

E.L.

In the book, The Hitchhiker?s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams, the Earth evaporates. That?s how it all started. Arthur Dent is now the last earthling in the universe due to the untimely evaporation of the Earth. His long time friend, Ford Perfect, who saved him, is an alien. He is thrown into a series of events, which throw his whole life off course. He eventually reaches the planet Magrathea, the most improbable planet in the universe, along with his odd crew of three aliens, two mice, and a depressed robot.

Arthur Dent is in no doubt a protagonist with a feckless hero type image. In multiple occasions, he has shown this type of attitude and behavior seen in a more humorous way than seen before in books. Despite the fact that his planet has been destroyed, he has kept his relatively lively attitude towards others, even though changed from a lively yet rational man, to just a lively man. One odd moment in his life, was when Ford Perfect told him what The Hitchhiker?s Guide to the Galaxy said about earthlings: mostly harmless. Whenever the book gets to a dull and pointless part in the book, Arthur Dent always seems to lighten the mood, whether it is a joke, or an inhumane act, which shows his current lack of sanity or brainpower for the moment. There was one mind-blowing event, in which the book described the aftershock of Arthur Dent as ?temporary amnesia of sanity.? This information which has causes such a shock, was that mice were hyper intelligent beings that are actually using the human scientists as test subjects. Arthur Dent is, despite his small mental instability due to the evaporation of his planet, a hero in the book. For instance, he managed to turn two homicidal nuclear missiles, into a sperm whale, and a pot of flowers. Depending on a person?s point of view, Arthur Dent is a hero. In my opinion, he is a hero because of his lively attitude, optimism, and the ability to stay calm in dangerous situations. Event though he is the last species, he is still retains the very elements which make him a hero.

Douglas Adams is a fabulous writer and all of his books bring laughter to all readers. The Hitchhiker?s Guide to the Galaxy is not a book to be missed, nor its sequels.

Bibliography

Frank Herbert’s “Hitchiker’s guide to the galaxy”