When debating the most famous or influential science fiction novel, it’s hard to not think of Douglas Adams’s novel The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. Published in 1979, the book is able to blend science fiction with absurd humor, giving the book life. Additionally, it has influenced pop culture as well, allowing the book to remain relevant in today’s ever-changing world.
The book begins by introducing readers to an ordinary man by the name of Arthur Dent who was living on Earth. Arthur wakes up and finds out that his house is going to be demolished to make way for a bypass that will allow people to get from one point to the other faster. However, this conflict suddenly seems insignificant when Adams reveals that the Earth itself is going to be demolished to make way for a bypass on the galactic scale. Adams is able to criticize the human tendency to carry out pointless destruction but also provide an ironic and greater perspective by causing Earth to be destroyed as well. All hope seems lost for the people of planet Earth, but Arthur’s friend Ford Prefect is able to teleport the two of them onto a spaceship away from Earth.
Next, we are introduced to the eccentric president of the galaxy, Zaphod Beeblebrox. During the unveiling of the newest, most advanced spaceship named the Heart of Gold, Zaphod surprises everyone by stealing it and escaping the planet with his girlfriend, Trillian. Interestingly, the ship uses an “Infinite Improbability Drive” to travel to places. If something is a virtual impossibility, then technically, there must be a finite possibility where the outcome exists. By raising the probability level to virtually impossible, the ship is able to pass through every single location in the universe at once, allowing for instant travel.
Meanwhile, Arthur and Ford get into trouble on the ship they hitched a ride on. They are about to be ejected from the ship and die in space, but the infinite improbability of the Heart of Gold causes the ship to be exactly where Ford and Arthur were ejected out the airlock, miraculously saving them. Zaphod and Ford are old friends, so Zaphod allows Ford and Arthur to stay on the ship.
Adams gets back to the satire inside the ship by introducing technology with “Genuine People Personalities.” Today, we have smart devices such as Alexa or Siri that can respond to commands and are made to seem human. In The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, the character Marvin is the result of Adams’s satirizing of “humanlike” technology. Marvin, a prototype for the Genuine People Personalities, would be a brilliant, useful robot if it were not for the fact that he is constantly depressed. His voice is “Low and hopeless,” his brain is too large and too powerful to find meaning in doing anything, leading to him complaining constantly and a source of humor (Adams 91). In contrast, all of the doors on the Heart of Gold have a, “Cheerful and sunny disposition,” and as people pass through the door, they sigh happily, satisfied with a, “Job well done” (Adams 94). Marvin’s constant questioning of life and the doors’ unnecessary, satisfied sighs blend absurd and exaggerated humor with a real, alarming concept of robots becoming more humanlike. Again, Adams is able to create excellent satire through the combination of humor and reality.
The plot advances as the five characters (Arthur, Ford, Zaphod, Trillian, and Marvin) find the most improbable planet to ever exist: Magrathea. Far before the time when the novel takes place, the universe used to be filled with danger and adventure, as well as many people who were extremely rich. Adams also sneakily adds in a slight jab about how the rich tend to ignore the poor: he writes that, “No one was really poor–at least no one worth speaking of” (Adams 115). The rich complained about how there were minor problems on the planets they lived on, and the industry of creating planets was born. Yet the planet the industry was based on, Magrathea, became the richest planet in the galaxy while all the others entered a state of bleak poverty. Adams now goes into a segment where he criticizes the rich, as their “problems” they have are actually just minor inconveniences, and because of them, they create an industry representing a monopoly in businesses today. This causes real problems for the rest of the galaxy. Adams’s fictitious, comedic backstory hides an important and heavy truth underneath, a key element of good satire.
Magrathea was dismissed as a fairy tale, as the downfall of the planet occurred long before the events of the novel. Yet, when the team encounters the planet, the ancient defense systems of Magrathea are still active, causing missiles to shoot at the Heart of Gold. Adams is still able to make the situation funny by claiming that the stress and tension of the situation are, “Serious social problems in all parts of the Galaxy” and promptly reveals that the missiles will not cause any major harm to any of the people onboard the Heart of Gold before the events even occur (Adams 121). By revealing this ahead of time, Adams is able to make tension feel light-hearted and funny, distinguishing it from other books. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy was likely a great success not only because of its excellent satire, but also the fact that it is unlike most other books.
By turning on the Infinite Improbability Drive at the last second, the two missiles headed towards the Heart of Gold are turned into a whale and a bowl of petunias. The ship can land safely on Magrathea, and Arthur and Marvin are sent to keep watch on the surface while Ford, Zaphod, and Trillian head deeper into the planet. Arthur meets a planet builder named Slartibartfast, who reveals the entire backstory of Earth. When Magrathea was still around, a supercomputer named Deep Thought was built in order to figure out the answer to the question of the meaning of life, the universe, and everything. After millions of years of thought, the computer gives the absurd answer of forty-two. As a result, Earth, an even stronger computer than Deep Thought, was created to counterintuitively figure out what the question was to the answer of 42. By making the answer to life something the reader wasn’t expecting at all, the story remains new and fresh. Additionally, 42 has become a huge reference in pop culture today, giving the book relevance. Although Adams claims that the number was a random choice, people have come up with theories on how 42 really is the answer to the ultimate question.
Unfortunately, Earth was destroyed minutes before the program finished running, causing ten million years of work to go to waste. Arthur meets up with Ford, Zaphod, and Trillian, who are having a meeting with two mice that try to extract the question of life from Arthur’s brain since he’s from Earth. As a result, the five of them, now including Marvin, after they regrettably picked him up, are able to escape the planet and end the book. Through absurd and random humor, Douglas Adams can give the reader of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy a good laugh while still layering in a heavy truth. This blend of comedy and criticism is essential for any satirical piece. Its timeless brilliance has given the book worldwide fame and relevance today.
