The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy Essay

Worldview or vision of life is framework or set of fundamental beliefs thru which we view world and our

‘The Dawn of Man’ sequence is based in a prehistoric time period and the most important theme of this sequence is nature. Kubrick shows the two stages of nature before showing us as the audience how humans evolved as a species. The various shots of land are staged in altered settings within different time zones, which express the Earth as a large place. With no characters and no type of dialogue, the non-diegetic sound of birds chirping is a representation of nature. The sound of the birds in this sequence created a natural atmosphere and made it believable for the viewer.

     The following paper will analyze the movie, “2001: A Space Odyssey” by Stanley Kubrick” and “The Centinel” by Arthur C. Clarke. Although there are many themes present between the story and the film, the following are the most dominant. I will be discussing Scientific themes, Religious and Moral Themes, and Clarke’s development of the short story into a full-length film.

The legend of the Vanishing Hitchhiker has been evolving over many years as every town has a slightly different tale to tell, but the gist of these tales have remained the same.“A man picks up a young woman hitchhiking and when he turns to bid his unusual hitchhiker goodbye he discovers that she has mysteriously disappeared from the car. He later learns that his mysterious passenger had died several years earlier”(“The Vanishing Hitchhiker”). Even though some believe that they have witnessed a being from the beyond communicating with them, folklorist David Mikkelson proved them wrong once he came to realize. This backcountry lore of a young ladies vanishing without a trace from vehicles started to spread like wildfire through many social media sites and local newspapers because the lore is just a hoax that has

Conversely, Hazel’s husband is handicapped with forty-seven pounds of birdshot strapped to his neck, and he is obedient to the government’s handicapped system. Vonnegut uses irony to demonstrate a dysfunctional Utopia in the society. In his story, Vonnegut uses irony to depict how easily a government can control its citizens, by assaulting their senses and individuality.

Notice, the hefty amount of information conveyed via questions, I believe there’s no other way to transmit this volume other than asking questions because it is simply the best way to teach, ask your school teacher, it is the best way to cause us to think. And that’s what Harlan Ellison wanted us to do, think, he didn’t want us to simply absorb this information, but to come to the information by ourselves. Then by making these conclusions destroy our old conclusions, the information we were taught before this story through similar multiple choice exams and discussion topics. It’s an “Academic Parody” because it parodies the very way we learn and then uses that process to force us to learn more. This is why Harlan Ellison’s style is dangerous, it assaults the ways our neurons are

Throughout the story there is much detail about what is happening without telling the readers everything which leaves all the details that were left out up to the reader’s imagination. It is a masterpiece that plays on the emotions and never-ending imagination of its readers. Because not all the small details were given by the author, readers are obligated to dissect the story and try to understand exactly what Joyce Carol Oates meant by what she wrote and the meaning behind this story. What makes this story beautiful even though it is full of evil is the way it was written, how every action, and dialogue within the story is carefully thought through, making every part of the text essential to the overall

Automatically, the reader knows that serious issues are about to be discussed and that the outcome may not be positive. This novel challenges the material ideology discussed above. It does this by bringing the issues to the forefront and reporting on them in a fictitious yet realistic manner. The reader is not led to believe that the ending will be happy, he is supposed to expect the consider the harsh realities of the world throughout the piece.

The book’s main focus is on the gradual disillusionment of the narrator and his personal battles. In particular, the book develops the battle the narrator faces when he discovers the truth about the Brotherhood organization. He eventually realizes that they are using him for their own purposes and encouraged him to incite the blacks to a riotous level so they will kill one another. The narrator develops feelings of hopelessness when it becomes apparent that he is being betrayed by both white and black cultures. His overwhelming feeling of emptiness comes to a climax when he falls into a manhole during a riot. While hibernating in the underground black community, the narrator struggles to find meaning in his invisibility and to come up with his true identity. The seclusion allows the reader to realize the disillusionment of the narrator. Ellison does an incredible job of getting inside the narrator’s character and describing his emotional battle. At times it feels as if the text is purely his thoughts transcribed directly onto the page. The narrator traces back his history

The book, The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, by Douglas Adams, is a Science Fiction Comedy that tells the story of a man named Arthur Dent and his experience with space travel. After waking to a bulldozer on his front lawn ready to charge, Arthur’s best friend, an alien disguised as an out of work actor, Ford Perfect, reassures Arthur that the sad demise of his house is nothing compared to the destruction of earth in the next ten minutes. With people all around the world scrambling for safety, and even placing brown paper bags on their heads and laying on the floor, Ford decided that the only way he and Arthur can survive is to hitch a ride with the aliens that are destroying their home. The next two-hundred pages tell the story of Arthur and Ford in space, of course with their towel (every hitchhiker has one), trying not to die from the wrath of multiple alien species.

To portray the story clearly would have been virtually impossible, since the author himself didn't even know the answers to his questions, so he approached it in a unique way. This organization, or assumed lack thereof by the audience, indicates strongly Vonneguts deep confusion about life and death, and his juggling with ideas over the concepts.

Recently, our class read the book and watched the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey. The book is written by Arthur C. Clarke and the movie was directed by Stanley Kubrick. The book was written as a framework for the movie, so the two are mostly the same. But, while there were similarities, there were also some major differences.

Adams and Vaughn manipulate motifs and symbolism effectively to explore the different ways in which our society has come to regard the truth. Adams’ use of the mice and their quest for the ‘ultimate truth’ symbolises our modern society’s desire for purpose. Alternatively, Vaughn’s portrayal of the Kingsman organisation acts as a motif to emphasise to the audience their blind acceptance of information and inability to question the truth. Adams through the use of Deep Thought explores humanities ‘pursuit of truth in all its forms’ stating that ‘pure research’ is our path to understanding, while faith and speculation fails to ‘solve [our] problems’. The audience are subjected to Arthur’s amazement after his introduction to the wider universe; shown through the advancement of other civilisations through the hitchhiker’s guild.

2001: A Space Odyssey is just that: a long wandering voyage of the body and mind. Stanley Kubrick and Arthur C. Clark collaborated brilliantly. In examining both works, the film and the novel, there are certainly differences, yet the theme and overall idea coincide thoroughly. That this was made in the 1960's augments both accomplishments. The visuals, seen in 2004, are still captivating. What they must've seemed like in 1968! I flout those who received this movie poorly in those days. Would I have received it as well without having a preconceived idea of its greatness? I can only hope I would have known what I was watching.

One of the conflicts that underlies the feeling of absurdity that we as humans want a reason to the universe but also the universe says nothing and is quite, it does not respond back to us. Camus states, “The climate of absurdity is in the beginning. The end is the absurd universe and that attitude of mind which lights the world with