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Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy Analysis

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Douglas Adams: Absurd in Every Way
What is the meaning of life? This age-old question has never yielded a satisfactory answer, even though the human race has existed for millions of years. In The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams, every character attempts to answer this question in a different way. Adams argues meaning should be found through individual journey and reflection. Hitchhikers’ Guide also contains anecdotes about intergalactic liquor and the importance of towels. The marriage of existentialist philosophy and breezy, surrealist comedy is a hallmark of Douglas Adams’ works. Adams’ style is a unique amalgamation of many influences throughout his life. The period in which he grew up, the comedy troupe Monty Python, and …show more content…

One of the most obvious examples is on page 34, when the narrator dryly remarks: “The ships hung in the sky in much the same way that bricks don’t” (Adams). This is the least obvious analogy the narrator could utilize because it is not logical. By creating dissonance between the reader’s expectation of a real analogy and what they get, Adams plays with the constructs of novel-writing. Bending the rules of an established practice is a Python trademark. Furthermore, the Infinite Improbability Drive allows for several moments of complete surrealism. During their first experience with the Drive, Arthur remarks to Ford, “ … there’s an infinite number of monkeys outside who want to talk to us about this script for Hamlet they’ve worked out” (Adams 84). So many aspects of this sentence are absurd, like the sheer number of monkeys. Also, absurdity lies in the fact that the monkeys wrote a script for Hamlet, one of the most iconic plays of all time, and that they want to discuss it with two humanoid creatures such as Ford and Arthur. Adams’ inclusion of the Infinite Improbability Drive ensures chaos, which only fuels the Python-esque absurdity of the entire novel. By using absurd humor, Adams creates a rich world where anything is possible. In addition to absurd humor, the school of thought known as absurdism is prevalent throughout Adams’

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