The Hitchhiker’s guide to the Galaxy

So there might be instances when you have hitched a ride with a passing car but have you ever thought of getting one on an alien ship? And not just on any alien ship, how about the one that destroyed The Earth and hitch-hiking it is your last chance to survive. The icing on the cake is that you don’t even know what happened because it was your alien friend who saved your life.

Meet Arthur Dent, the protagonist of Douglas Adams’s The Hitchhiker’s Guide to Galaxy! Everyone has bad mornings. You wake up late, you stub your toe, you burn the toast…but for a man named Arthur Dent, this goes far beyond a bad day.

Our dear Arthur is in quite a situation as he struggles to save his home from the bulldozers and Mr. Prosser who want to demolish his house to make a bypass. He tries to have his way out of the problem when Ford Prefect, Arthur’s friend (an alien actually!) comes to the rescue. But it isn’t just from the situation, the rescue turns out to be a lifesaving favor by Ford, which in turn leads to an extraordinary journey. 

This journey is a bumpy ride which begins by getting a free ride on the alien ship of the Vogons, and as quoted by the Hitchhiker’s guide to the galaxy- they hate hitchhikers and torture them with their poetry. Arthur and Ford bravely bear the poetry but still they are sentenced to be thrown into free space. At this crucial moment, even the Hitchhiker guide whose front cover says “DON’T PANIC” is of little help.

Every second, a lot happens in the universe. So, there are also characters like the President of Galaxy, Zaphod Beeblebrox who fled with the stolen Heart of Gold (The Improbability device which is a unique ship in the history of galaxy), Trillian- a beautiful inhabitant of earth who accompanied Zaphod Beeblebrox ,an extremely depressed robot Marvin.

The bumpy ride brings everyone down to the mysterious planet Magrathea. And together they all discover the story of the ultimate question of “Life, Universe and Everything!”. 

But the planet Magrathea is not an ordinary planet. Their lives are at a risk as they try to escape from the inhabitants of Magrathea, if any. And not to forget the chasing Blagulon Kappa police! (Who is chasing the president)

Intertwined with the sarcastic and humorous conversations, Douglas Adams managed to convey the message that things are not always what they seem to be. There is always a scope for the unexpected reality, which we fail to notice for obvious reasons.

Pallavi Singhal

I enjoy the little things in life and express them through my words, whenever I feel like..

Leave a Reply