The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
In The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy there is absurdity, and unpredictable events on every page. The character’s spend their time searching for reason, and meaning behind life. “There is a theory which states that if ever anybody discovers exactly what the Universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable. There is another theory which states that this has already happened." (Adams, 82) The universe is bizarre, and inexplicable in the extreme, and this novel is a prime example of life’s erratic events.
British writer Douglas Adams was born 1952 in Cambridge, England. Adam’s illustrious career began with his many beloved comedy sketches. In 1978 he began writing radio scripts, this sparked his work on the Guide. Adam’s childhood is not well documented in any way. His most notorious works being Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, and his work on the television series Doctor Who. Adams never wanted to publish Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy as a novel but once he had it sold 15 million copies during his life, and was later adapted into a play, a TV show, a movie, and a computer game.
Adam’s spent his life as an outspoken atheist, conjuring in his mind a sentient puddle who arose one day to think, "This is an interesting world I find myself in, an interesting hole I find myself in, fits me rather neatly, doesn't it? In fact it fits me staggeringly well, must have been made to have me in it!" (Adams) demonstrating his belief that the ‘fine-tuned Universe’ argument for religion is false.
Adam’s spent a lot of his time battling environmental issues. He climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro wearing a Black Rhino suit in order to rai...
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...at could portray this story in such a way. It’s not just his stories, but the way he demonstrates them that is truly fantastic. When first looked at the novel is extremely humorous, there’s meaning under the clever exterior presented. Adam’s questions basically everything about life in this work; but he presents it in a humorous way.
To several authors, and scientists Douglas Adams was a pillar of knowledge, and ethics which deserved respect. Biologist Richard Dawkins dedicated his book The God Delusion (2006) to Adams, writing on his death that "Science has lost a friend, literature has lost a luminary, the mountain gorilla and the black rhino have lost a gallant defender.”
Conclusion
In The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy there is absurdity, and unpredictable events on every page. The character’s spend their time searching for reason, and meaning behind life.
Adam grew up in a broken household. His birthmother drowned herself in a fit of spiritual masochism, and his cold stepmother gave his father a stronger son when Adam was a toddler. Growing up as an unwelcome reminder of his father’s past, Adam was conditioned to hold his tongue. He developed a strong personality and interests, but forced his character behind layers of silence and obedience. As described by the author, “He [Adam] covered his life with a veil of vagueness, while behind his quiet eyes a rich, full life went on” (Steinbeck 20). Adam grew as a bright, inquisitive child, but did so behind walls he erected out of fear and understanding that he was unwanted. He restricted the expression of his developing soul to shield himself from hurt, hiding behind what Steinbeck described as “tunneled eyes” (20). Once Adam escaped from the influence of his father, he was given more freedom to develop. His shielded eyes became warmer and more open as he grew into adulthood. When he finally found a partner in Cathy Ames, his eyes shined with nothing but happiness, reflecting openly the pure joy present in his long-concealed soul (169). This bliss turned out to be
My introduction to The Hitchhiker’s guide to the galaxy series by Douglas Adam began with another version of the book by one of my favorite author, Eoin Colfer, his version was humorous, dramatic and have a bit action. I was curious to read the original author’s version and found it on equal ground, if not better than the other version. The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy is a new experience for those who are familiar with other science fiction novels. while most of the science fiction novels are more focus on action, drama, romance, death by robots, or dystopian futures. The Hitchhiker’s guide to the galaxy are more on comedy, irony, mistakes, politics and many other things. The pacing or the story is somewhat fast so I had to reread the
“ Some Close Encounters of a Mental Kind ” by Stephen Jay Gould is about the tendency for our minds to ‘lie’ to ourselves because of a certain key phrase that can cause people to believe certain events happened. This can be done by altering the types of question you want the victim to hear. It can be a certain modified questions or the way the question are presented to us that can cause our answers to be slightly false.
There are different viewpoints on the question “what is the universe made of?” I think that both science and religion offer their own explanation to this topic and they sometimes overlap, which creates contradictions. Therefore, I do not agree with Stephen Jay Gould’s non-overlapping magisterial, which claims that there is a fine line separating science from religion. That being said, I think the conflict between science and religion is only in the study of evolution. It is possible for a scientist to be religious if he is not studying evolution, because science is very broad and it has various studies. In this essay, I will talk about the conflict between religion and science by comparing the arguments from Stephen Jay Gould and Richard Dawkins. I argue that science and religion do overlap but only in some area concerning evolution and the cosmic design. Furthermore, when these overlaps are present it means that there are conflicts and one must choose between science and religion.
In The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, space is a pretty messed up place. Visiting planets like Magrathea, the richest planet of all time; nearly being killed by the Vogons, and finding the answer to the universe are all some of the crazy adventures the group goes on. Adams really thinks outside of the box for this book, it is filled with chaos and lunacy, but also some romance. It is evident in this novel that the theme is love, which can be shown through the ridiculous adventures Arthur and Trillian journey on.
In today’s culture, the idea of there is perfect and divine designer that made the earth and everything that entails with it, really pushes people away. Not only has this idea been conflicted about in today’s culture. It has been especially trivial in past decades, an example of this is seen by H.J. McCloskey. McCloskey wrote an article about it called “On Being an Atheist”, which attempts to defeat the notion that there is a God. McCloskey first addresses the reader of the article and says these arguments he is about to address are only “proofs”, which should not be trusted by any theist. He then goes and unpacks the two arguments that he believes can actually be addressed, the cosmological and teleological argument. McCloskey also addresses the problem of evil, free will, and why atheism is more comforting than theism.
Adams, Douglas. The hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy. New York: Harmony Books, 1980. 1979. Print.
Dawkins, Richard. "Quotes About Religion or Atheism." Quotes About Religion or Atheism. Atheists of Silicon Valley, n.d. Web. 05 Feb. 2014. .
The author, Douglas Adams, had been largely inspired by Monty Python's Flying Circus, a very old BBC comedy, where a world of new creations is formed, which gave him an idea to create his own world. He had once been hitchhiking around Europe, and was lying drunk and dazed in a field in Innsbruck, Austria, with a book called, The Hitchhiker's Guide to Europe. He had been staring up at the sky and had wondered, pondered and decided that there ought to be a guide for hitchhiking through the galaxy as well, mostly because he believed Innsbruck was very dull and lifeless. This is what set him off to write the novel under such a name.
The tale became a somewhat personal thing for the reader, “it is also as though Douglas Adams is speaking to you personally, gently, as he guides you through a perplexing world, assuring you ‘Don’t panic’” (Scribbler para. 3). By immersing oneself into the universe, one enjoys themselves for a minute but also taking the advice in the story and comparing it to real life, which is what most think is what Adams intended for his books. “As Stephen Fry, one of the series' most noted fans, told the South Bank Show, he was first attracted to Hitchhiker's because, in contrast to most science fiction, ‘it was absolutely on a human scale’” (O’Dair para. 6). This story not only appealed to fans of science fiction but to people who have never even dwelled in this genre because it was essentially a asocial commentary of life at the time and even today. Many of its fans and readers said that “The Hitchiker’s Guide to the Galaxy”, “was an early but vital instruction in how the English language could be made to do amazing things and defy all rules while still making hilarious sense” (Scribbler para. 10). Many of the witty phrases and uses of the English language appealed to the fans, but also the general message made them think about life and how humans work. Fans of this series contributed greatly to its success, and what makes this book so significant.
Adam is not religious. He doesn’t believe in God and hasn’t mentioned much about religion. He likes to make the joke that his last name “DeVine” is ironic because he doesn’t believe in that kind of stuff.
“The Hitchhiker,” by Lucille Fletcher, narrates the unusual happenings Ronald Adams, the protagonist, experiences, while driving along the deserted and densely populated roads of the United States. Adams continually observes a hitchhiker, whom he first saw, having almost hit him, on the Brooklyn Bridge, and apprehends traveling on the highways, for fear this phantasmal man shall reappear. Struggling to grasp reality once receiving news of his mother’s breakdown after the death of her son, Ronald Adams, he reverts his attention to the hitchhiker, the realization of never having been who he thought he was, and being alone without protection from the traveler, both wrench his mind in two. Lucille Fletcher uses suspense to build the plot of, “The
Hitchens, Christopher. "An Atheist Responds." The Washington Post. N.p., 15 July 2007. Web. 20 Oct. 2012.
Recently I read The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, by Douglas Adams. This book was published by Portland House in 1997. The Hitchhiker’s Guide of the Galaxy is considered science fiction and has 143 pages. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy is about Arthur Dent and his adventures in space with Ford Prefect, Zaphod Beeblebrox, Trillian, and Marvin the Paranoid Android.
...s made a mistake and "this sudden illumination (or epiphany) assures us that order and purpose do exist in the universe, even if we cannot fathom the exact nature of that order and purpose"(Markos 39).