PLOT SUMMARY AND THEME OF THE NOVEL: The plot of The Restaurant at the End of the Universe, by Douglas Adams, commences when the diverse, disheveled, and, at least in the case of the paranoid android, depressed crew of the spaceship, The Heart of Gold, find themselves incapable of utilizing the ship’s infinite improbability drive to warp through hyperspace to escape the Vogon flagship’s attempts to exterminate the last of the human race due to the ship’s computer faculties being temporarily consumed by the simple task of figuring out to synthesize a cup of tea. After a desperate séance and a quick visit from a deceased ancestor, the flamboyantly tacky, ex-president of the universe, and captain of The Heart of Gold, Zaphod Bebblebrox, is unwillingly flung on a journey by an old friend, after the improbability drive starts working of course, to find the true ruler of the universe with his friends in tow. After witnessing the end of the universe over dinner, searching for the ultimate meaning of life, almost flying into the sun, and getting separated 2 million years in the past, the story ends with Zaphod meeting the nihilist ruler of the universe while Arthur and Ford are stranded on prehistoric earth with an excess of imbeciles and no hope of ever finding the meaning of life, the universe, and everything. The novel’s theme is that no matter how contradictory life may seem, it will always become more contrary than we could ever imagine. CHARACTERS AND POINT OF VIEW: The idiosyncratic cast of characters created by Douglas Adams drives The Restaurant at the End of the Universe through the intricate roads of plot and humor. The most eminent of all characters is the protagonist, Zaphod Beeblebrox. The two-headed, t... ... middle of paper ... ...is a story that combines science fiction and comedy into a raucous page-turner that is suited for older audiences. With badinage such as spending a year dead for tax reasons, and the Time Traveler’s Handbook of 1001Tense Formations, the humor and ideas present in this novel appeal more to adults. The zany, eccentric humor may not be for everyone. With the science fiction, futuristic background new opportunities for amusement arise. The jocose, light-hearted mood of this unique farce shows the audience that comicality can come from anywhere. Works Cited Hardy, Sarah Madsen. "What Happened to Maggie.” Short Stories for Students 5 (1999): 249- 252. Print. Morrison, Toni. “Recitatif.” Elements of literature, 5th Course. Austin: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, 2007. 154-160. Adams, Douglas. The Restaurant at the End of the Universe. New York: Wings Books, 1989.
Even though the story might seem ordinary at times, it allows you to look at the big picture, which is the most important aspect. The main character-Brent- displays characteristics that a lot of high school students can relate to; whether male or female. In his cross-country adventure through the U.S., exciting and unexpected moments never cease to amuse you. All kinds of people contribute to Brent’s change of attitude; one comment or story or facial expression at a time. And possibly the best part of it all is that you get all of this educational, amusing literature in only 133 pages.
Tom is a young man bearing the responsibility of his handicapped sister, Laura, and his suffocating mother, Amanda. He works in a factory, and uses his paycheck to provide for the family. Jim, a fellow factory worker and former high school friend, knows Tom as Shakespeare, in that Tom writes poetry, sometimes to alleviate his suppressed feelings of frustration. Poetry is one of Tom’s methods of escape from the lunacy in his home. Adventure is something Tom does not experience much of, and is angst toward his less than mediocre life is expressed in many of his arguments with Amanda.
Humans are born, but people are made. Entering the world with minds shapeless and pure, the world is the sculptor that perverts the conscience and hardens the heart. Toni Morrison’s “Recitatif” deals with just that—who we are and who we are told to be. Though the actual races of the two main characters, Twyla and Roberta, are left completely unknown, they are all but ignored. The story simmers with the wounds of stereotyping, racism, and socioeconomic divide. Morrison’s exclusion of Twyla and Roberta’s races brings forth the learned status of racism within the world of the story and the reality of the reader’s conscience.
Gates, Henry Louis and Appiah, K. A. (eds.). Toni Morrison: Critical Perspectives Past and Present. New York, Amistad, 1993.
Carver, Raymond. Cathedral. “The Norton Introduction to Literature.” New York: W.W Norton &, 2014. Print.
Ray Bradbury, the author of this novel, used irony that added effect to the story line, although the ironies are only realized to the character at the end. This story has hidden plots that can be uncovered after reading it twice or even three times.
Recitatif is a short story written by Toni Morrison about two girls, one African American and the other Caucasian, and their interactions with each other over the course of their lives. Which girl is which ethnicity is never revealed, but that only makes their interactions more relatable. Roberta and Twyla first meet in an orphanage after they are taken away from their mothers. They become fast friends, but when it comes time to leave the orphanage, the two quickly become distant. Over the years, Twyla and Roberta meet each other again many times, and each time, their relationship changes and they learn something new about each other.
Meyer, Michael. The Bedford Introduction to Literature. Ed. 8th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2008. 2189.
Toni Morrison does not use any words she doesn’t need to. She narrates the story plainly and simply, with just a touch of bleak sadness. Her language has an uncommon power because of this; her matter-of-factness makes her story seem more real. The shocking unexpectedness of the one-sentence anecdotes she includes makes the reader think about what she says. With this unusual style, Morrison’s novel has an enthralling intensity that is found in few other places
Mobley, Marilyn Sanders. “ Toni Morrison.” The Oxford Companion to African American Literature. Eds. William L. Andrews, Frances Smith, and Trudier Harris. New York: Oxford UP, 1997.508-510.
This sensational novel is an adventure novel consisting of an enterprising Englishman touring the globe. Woven within are historical facts, such as the British Empire and colonies around the globe, as well as historically accurate locations.
Morrison, Toni. "Recitatif." New World of Literature: Writing From America's Many Cultures. 2nd ed. Eds. Jerome Beaty and J. Paul Hunter. New York: Norton, 1994. 210-225.
To survive, one must depend on the acceptance and integration of what is past and what is present. In her novel Beloved, Toni Morrison carefully constructs events that parallel the way the human mind functions; this serves as a means by which the reader can understand the activity of memory. "Rememory" enables Sethe, the novel's protagonist, to reconstruct her past realities. The vividness that Sethe brings to every moment through recurring images characterizes her understanding of herself. Through rememory, Morrison is able to carry Sethe on a journey from being a woman who identifies herself only with motherhood, to a woman who begins to identify herself as a human being. Morrison glorifies the potential of language, and her faith in the power and construction of words instills trust in her readers that Sethe has claimed ownership of her freed self. The structure of Morrison's novel, which is arranged in trimesters, carries the reader on a mother's journey beginning with the recognition of a haunting "new" presence, then gradually coming to terms with one's fears and reservations, and finally giving birth to a new identity while reclaiming one's own.
Updike, John. “A&P.” The Norton Introduction to Literature. 10th ed. Eds. Alison Booth and Kelly J. Mays. New York: Norton, 2010. 409-414. Print.
Mays, Kelly J. “The Norton Introduction to Literature.” New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2013. Book. 592-638. October 27, 2013.