The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Literature Notes
'There is a theory which states that if every-one 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 that states that this has already happened.'
-Douglas Adams The Restaurant at the End of the Universe
Douglas Adams was an English writer, humorist and dramatist who was born on March 11, 1952 and died on May 11, 2001. He is best know for his work on The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, but has produced several books, as well as three stories for the television series Doctor Who.
http://www.douglasadams.com/http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_Adams
http://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/4.Douglas_Adams
-Douglas Adams The Restaurant at the End of the Universe
Douglas Adams was an English writer, humorist and dramatist who was born on March 11, 1952 and died on May 11, 2001. He is best know for his work on The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, but has produced several books, as well as three stories for the television series Doctor Who.
http://www.douglasadams.com/http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_Adams
http://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/4.Douglas_Adams
DOUGLAS ADAMS' BOOKS
SUMMARY
The story begins with an omnicient author informing the reader about the value of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy to the universe. We are also introduced to the catastrophic events that occurred on one stupid Thursday, its extraordinary consequences and the link between these consequences and The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. We are then introduced to Arthur Dent, who is protesting the imminent destruction of his house, but is later informed that his planet is in line for destruction in order to facilitate the construction of a Hyperspatial express route, or highway, through the star system.
SETTING
CHARACTERS
Arthur Dent
Ford Prefect
Zaphod Beeblebrox
Trillion
Marvin
Mr. L. Prosser
Edi, the computer
Slartibartfast
Deep Thought
Lunkwill and Flook
Vroomfondel and Majikthise
Phouchg and Loonguawl
Benji Mouse and Frankie Mouse
Vogon Construction Fleet
Dentrassis
Babel fish
SUMMARY
Introduction
The introduction to the book highlights that humans are not only NOT alone in the universe, but are considered to be primitive. The reader also learns of the importance of the book, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, to everyone in the universe and why.
Chapter 1
The reader meets Arthur Dent, whose house is being bulldozed today, Thursday. He goes about his morning routine, then lays down in front of a big yellow bulldozer in order to prevent the destruction of his home. This is all to the annoyance of the person in charge of the demolition, Mr. Prosser. Enter Ford Prefect, who wants Arthur to go with him to a pub to talk. Ford somehow, oddly, manages to convince Mr. Prosser to take Arthur's place in the mud, while he and Arthur go to a pub called the Horse and Groom to talk.
Chapter 2
The reader learns the difference between The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and The Encyclopedia Galactica. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy was more impressive in terms of its details and sells more copies. The men are at the pub and Ford asks Arthur to drink three pints in order to relax his muscles. Ford then tells Arthur that the world is about to end.
Chapter 3
Vogon spaceships enter the Earth's atmosphere and only Ford is aware of this fact through his Sub-Etha Sense-O-Matic. The reader also learns about the uses of a towel, as an explorer, from The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Arthur and Ford are at the pub drinking, in preparation for the catastrophic end of the world, and Arthur's house is demolished. The Vogons then make an appearance at the bar and the destruction begins. The reader learns, from Prostetnic Vogon Jeltz of the Galactic Hyperspace Planning Council, that the Earth is to be demolished in order to build a highway, or Hyperspatial express route, through the star system. The plans have been at the local planning department in Alpha Centauri for fifty years. The Vogons energize the demo beams and the Earth was destroyed.
Chapter 4
The reader meets Zaphod Beeblebrox, the president of the Imperial Galactic Government. He is powerless, merely a figurehead, but he does his job of distracting people away from the source of power. He is to make a speech regarding the 'Heart of Gold', a spaceship, but shuns the pre-written speech and makes a distracting speech of his own. He then throws a Paralyso-Matic-Bomb.
Chapter 5
The reader learns about the evolution of the Vogons and why they form the backbone of the Galactic civil service. We also learn that the Vogons do NOT like hitchhikers. Ford and Arthur wake up on the Vogon ship, which the Dentrassis have allowed them to board. The friends talk and Arthur learns about Ford's editing job and how he got stuck on Earth. A fish is placed in his ear so that he could understand the Vogon announcement.
Chapter 6
The Vogons broadcast a message saying that the hitchhiker's are unwelcome and they will be hunted and put off the ship. The message also specified that they are about to jump into hyperspace and no-one is to leave the ship when they reach Barnard Star. The reader learns about the philosophical importance of the Babel fish, see Arthur's reaction to hyperspace, as well as the destruction of Earth. Arthur is infuriated at the minor entry that Earth has attained in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. The Vogons then make their approach.
Chapter 7
Our heroes are tortured with Vogon poetry and they suffer through it. They praise the poetic work, but the Vogon is aware that this is a ruse and orders that the hitchhikers be shot out of the spaceship. Ford and Arthur try to get their guard to disobey orders, but to no avail. The chapter ends with the hitchhikers being shot out of the spaceship.
Chapter 8
The omnicient narrator explains, with the help of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, the unimaginable expansiveness of interstellar distance, as well as surviving in the total vacuum of space.
Chapter 9
Arthur and Ford get picked up by the spaceship 'The Heart of Gold'. They see strange, mad sights in this ship that is powered by the Infinite Improbability Drive
Chapter 10
This chapter explains the origin of the Infinite Improbability Drive. It was invented by a student who swept the labs, after it was deemed to be an improbability by physicists.
Chapter 11
Trillion sends Marvin to fetch the hitchhikers. Ford is enthused that they have been picked up by a technologically advanced spaceship and shocked that Zaphod Beeblbrox is the 'owner' of the vessel that has saved their lives. This shock occurs in tandem with Marvin's declarations of sadness and hatred for both himself and the contented doors.
Chapter 12
Zaphod attempts to hear news of his theft of the spacecraft 'The Heart of Gold', but is interrupted by Trillion. She is boggled by a coincidence; the fact that they aliens were picked up in the same sector as her. They ask the computer to work out the probability of this coincidence, but Trillion stops it and asks to get a visual of the aliens instead.
Chapter 13
Marvin ushers the visitors into the room and we learn that Zaphod Beeblebrox and Ford Prefect are semi cousins. But most surprisingly, we learn that Arthur had met Zaphod on Earth. He had gate crashed a party in Islington, calling himself Phil, and stolen Tricia McMillan - Trillion - from him. We learn that Trillion hitchhiked because she was bored.
Chapter 14
Zaphod and Trillion discover that, by some perversion of physics, relationships between people were subject to the same laws that governed the relationship between atoms and molecules. Everyone went to bed when the artificial night chipped in, but Trillion couldn't sleep because she was disturbed that her planet was destroyed. Zaphod could not sleep because he had a 'vague nagging feeling of being not at all there' (Adams, 113). Ford could not sleep either because he was too excited about being back on the road, but Arthur slept well because he was tired. Upon waking, Zaphod, Trillion and Ford huddled around the computer looking at 'the most improbable planet that ever existed' (Adams, p.113).
Chapter 15
The readers get the story of Magrathea in this entry. It was the richest planet because it had the specialist industry of custom made luxury planet building. Their success caused the poverty of other planets and the collapse of the Empire. Magrathea had disappeared and was forgotten.
Chapter 16
Arthur awakes to find everyone staring at the planet. They watched a binary sunrise, but the planet itself appears dead.
Chapter 17
After having the ship's version of tea, Arthur asks an important question: Is the planet safe? They find out that it is not when they attempt to enter the atmosphere and a missile is launched. The chapter ends when the missile makes contact.
Chapter 18
The result of the bomb was that the Heart of Gold got its interior redesigned, but was unharmed. This was due to Arthur's quick thinking when he turned on the probability drive directly before the bomb made impact. The bombs turned into a sperm whale and a bowl of petunias and they both went crashing to the surface of the planet.
Chapter 19
Ford, Arthur, Zaphod and Trillion all leave the ship, but the computer does not want to comply.
Chapter 20
The travelers explore the planet and Trillion thinks that she sees something out of the corner of her eye. They catch up with Zaphod and realize that he has discovered a crater. Marvin and Arthur are left to guard the entrance, while Trillion, Zaphod and Ford enter. Zaphod speaks to them about his insanity, previous tests that were run on him, as well as ones he ran on himself. The chapter ends with the revelation of who 'tweaked' his brain. The chapter ends with the crew being gassed.
Chapter 21
The Hitchhiker' Guide to the Galaxy tells us of the theory of the ballpoint pens and Zaphod Beetlebrox's part in it. Arthur gets so bored that he wakes Marvin and tries to wile away the time while waiting for the others to resurface. Arthur goes for a walk on top of the crater and bumps into an old man in the dark.
Chapter 22
Arthur meets Slartibartfast, an old Magrathean man who informs him that the planet's inhabitants have been asleep, underground, for the last five million years. They have literally slept through the depression, with computers that are/were linked to the Galactic Stock Market, to wake them when everyone had rebuilt their economies enough to afford their expensive services.
Chapter 23
We learn that despite the fact that humans deem themselves to be the most intelligent species on Earth, this title, in fact, belonged to the mice. They were second only to dolphins, who tried to warn humans of the impending danger to the planet, but then gave up and left. Man had, apparently, misinterpreted his relationship with both species.
Chapter 24
Slartibartfast takes Arthur deep in the heart of Magrathea. He is taken to the factory floor where he is told that Earth was a planet that they had originally built on commission by mice. The mice experimented on humans as a ten million year research program, and it was destroyed five minutes before it would have completed what it was created for. Therefore, the Magratheans were awakened to rebuild the planet.
Chapter 25
Mice built a computer to answer the ultimate question of life, the universe and everything else. When they asked it, it told them that it would have to ponder on the answer for 7 1/2 million years. It pointed out that this would help the disagreeing philosophers because it would amplify their popularity with the populace. This disappointed the mice, and they were already disappointed that the computer had ranked itself second.
Chapter 26
Arthur does not understand what the story has to do with 'Earth and mice and things' p. 174. Slartibartfast invites Arthur to his study in order to use the Sens-O-Tape records in order to experience events that occurred 7 1/2 million years later.
Chapter 27
Slartibartfast's study is very messy because the cleaning staff was dead for nearly thirty thousand years. Arthur 'sees' the past/future and the answer to the question is 42. Every-one is upset, but they were warned.
Chapter 28
The representatives of the people are very upset at the answer that they have received from Deep Thought. The computer identifies the issue of them NOT knowing the question. He proposes that another computer, that will be built, will give them the question. This computer is called Earth, and Phouchg and Loonquawl will take another form and navigate its ten million year program.
Chapter 29
The crew wakes up in the catalogue section of the planets. They discuss Zaphod's brains and why he became president. A tall Magrathian man comes to get them.
Chapter 30
Arthur learns that Deep Thought designed the Earth, Magratheans built it and Vogons destroyed it five minutes before it fulfilled its purpose. We learn that Slartibartfast believes that finding out what is really going on is so remote that he just keeps himself occupied. He is given Africa to build this time around, instead of Norway, and they won't let him build it with all fjords. The chapter opens with Slartibartfast taking Arthur to meet the mice.
Chapter 31
The story is told about how one statement, uttered in one galaxy, starts a war in another. Slartibartfast takes Arthur to a room where he sees his crew mates eating. Two mice are also present and they propose, to Arthur, that he gives them his brain to use for experimentation. When the crew chooses to run, however, the mice get aggressive. The crew is saved by an earsplitting alarm for the whole planet.
Chapter 32
The two mice decide to make up a question, since their plans to ascertain one through the use of Arthur's brain was thwarted. They are successful in their efforts and are delighted with their accomplishment. Our heroes, in the interim, make their escape. They are, however, bombarded by shots by the police and are issued an ultimate. Their choices are either to give up and get a little beaten up, or get blown up, along with some other planets. They huddle together and await their demise.
Chapter 33
Death does not come, but the barrage of activity suddenly stopped instead. Ford goes to investigate and discovers that the policemen's tiny life support systems, found on their backs, seemed to have unexpectedly blown up. The heroes then make a hasty retreat. Luck finds them in the form of Slartibartfast's air car, with instructions regarding how to start it.
Chapter 34
Arthur and his friends use the air car to leave the depths of Magrathea. They discovered the dead police ship, but Ford was the only one of the crew members that stopped, out of curiosity, to find out what had happened. He walked toward the ship and encountered Marvin. He learns that Marvin was bored, so he plugged himself into the external computer feed and talked to the ship. It committed suicide.
Chapter 35
Our heroes relax on the Heart of Gold. Zaphod lounges while trying to bang his brain into shape. Ford and Trillion discuss life and Arthur acquaints himself with the contents of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. He is interrupted by Zaphod who plans to go for a quick bite at the Restaurant at the End of the Universe.
Contributor: Leisa Samuels-Thomas
Adams, Douglas. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. New York: Harmony Books, 1979.
- The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
- Dirk Gently
- Last Chance to See
- The Meaning of Liff
- Hyperland
- Bureaucracy
SUMMARY
The story begins with an omnicient author informing the reader about the value of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy to the universe. We are also introduced to the catastrophic events that occurred on one stupid Thursday, its extraordinary consequences and the link between these consequences and The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. We are then introduced to Arthur Dent, who is protesting the imminent destruction of his house, but is later informed that his planet is in line for destruction in order to facilitate the construction of a Hyperspatial express route, or highway, through the star system.
SETTING
- Earth
- The spaceship called the Heart of Gold
- Magrathea, in the Horse-head Nebula
CHARACTERS
Arthur Dent
- Thirty years old, tall and dark.
- He worked in local radio and was never at ease with himself.
- He moved out of London because the city made him nervous and irritable.
- His house was about to be demolished, at the beginning of the story, in order to build a bypass.
Ford Prefect
- A visitor from a small planet somewhere in the vicinity of Betelgeuse
- He is a roving researcher for The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
- He was on Earth for 15 years and was homesick.
- He pretended to be an out of work actor.
- His friends thought that he was eccentric and a boozer.
Zaphod Beeblebrox
- President of the Imperial Galactic Government.
- He is described as an 'adventurer, ex-hippie, good-timer, (crook? quite possibly), manic self publicist, terribly bad at personal relationships, often thought to be completely out to lunch.' (Adams, 38)
- He is said to be amazingly good at his job of distracting people from where the real power lies because he was very flashy.
- He became president in order to steal the 'Heart of Gold', a spaceship.
Trillion
- A girl that Zaphod had picked up while visiting a planet.
- She is described as 'slim, darkish, humanoid, with long waves of black hair, a full mouth, an odd little knob of a nose and ridiculously brown eyes...she looked vaguely Arabic.' (Adams, p.43-44)
- She travelled with Zaphod and told him what she thought of him.
- A very observant and perceptive individual.
- Her real name is Tricia McMillan, and she has a degree in Math and Astrophysics.
Marvin
- Marvin is a new generation of Sirius Cybernetics Corporation robots and computers with the new GPP (Genuine People Personality) feature, hence, he is always depressed, sad and extremely sarcastic.
- He was a well constructed robot who looked like parts of his humanoid body did not fit together.
Mr. L. Prosser
- He was forty years old, fat and shabby.
- He worked for the local council and was responsible for the bypass project, as well as getting Arthur dent out of the way of the bulldozer.
- He was a direct descendant of Genghis Khan, despite being nothing like him physically or otherwise.
- He was a nervous and worried man.
- Ford Prefect manipulates him into taking Arthur's place in the mud.
Edi, the computer
- It is a very pleasant, sociable and polite robot that is viewed as annoying to the people on the spaceship.
- Edi loves to talk.
- In chapter 19, Edi becomes an overbearing female who is very determined.
Slartibartfast
- An old Magrathean who meets Arthur, in chapter 22, and appraises him of the state of the planet.
- He tells Arthur of Earth's true history and recreation.
Deep Thought
- The second greatest computer in the Universe of Time and Space.
- Deep Thought believed that it was destined to create a computer that would be better than it, hence its classification as second greatest computer.
- Deep Thought was asked to provide the answer to 'Life, the Universe and Everything' (Adams, p.170) by the programmers Lunkwill and Fook .
Lunkwill and Flook
- Programmers representing their species for the Great-On-Turning.
- They were disappointed and confused by Deep Thought's answer.
Vroomfondel and Majikthise
- Representatives of the Amalgamated Union of Philosophers.
- They want the machine, Deep Thought, to be turned off.
- They reaped the benefits from the million year wait for the answer.
Phouchg and Loonguawl
- The representatives of the people, to hear the answer.
Benji Mouse and Frankie Mouse
- Two mice that Trillion brought with her from Earth.
- The mice wanted to rebuild Earth initially, but later chose to cut up Arthur's brain in order to answer the Question.
Vogon Construction Fleet
- Visitors to Earth who arrive to destroy the planet.
- They are building a Hyperspatial express route through the star system.
Dentrassis
- The cooks on board the Vogon ship.
- They liked the company of hitchhikers and liked to annoy the Vogons.
- They allowed Ford and Arthur to board the Vogon ship.
Babel fish
- It allows one to interpret other languages 'if you stick a Babel fish in your ear you can instantly understand anything said to you in any form of language.' (Adams, p.60)
SUMMARY
Introduction
The introduction to the book highlights that humans are not only NOT alone in the universe, but are considered to be primitive. The reader also learns of the importance of the book, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, to everyone in the universe and why.
Chapter 1
The reader meets Arthur Dent, whose house is being bulldozed today, Thursday. He goes about his morning routine, then lays down in front of a big yellow bulldozer in order to prevent the destruction of his home. This is all to the annoyance of the person in charge of the demolition, Mr. Prosser. Enter Ford Prefect, who wants Arthur to go with him to a pub to talk. Ford somehow, oddly, manages to convince Mr. Prosser to take Arthur's place in the mud, while he and Arthur go to a pub called the Horse and Groom to talk.
Chapter 2
The reader learns the difference between The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and The Encyclopedia Galactica. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy was more impressive in terms of its details and sells more copies. The men are at the pub and Ford asks Arthur to drink three pints in order to relax his muscles. Ford then tells Arthur that the world is about to end.
Chapter 3
Vogon spaceships enter the Earth's atmosphere and only Ford is aware of this fact through his Sub-Etha Sense-O-Matic. The reader also learns about the uses of a towel, as an explorer, from The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Arthur and Ford are at the pub drinking, in preparation for the catastrophic end of the world, and Arthur's house is demolished. The Vogons then make an appearance at the bar and the destruction begins. The reader learns, from Prostetnic Vogon Jeltz of the Galactic Hyperspace Planning Council, that the Earth is to be demolished in order to build a highway, or Hyperspatial express route, through the star system. The plans have been at the local planning department in Alpha Centauri for fifty years. The Vogons energize the demo beams and the Earth was destroyed.
Chapter 4
The reader meets Zaphod Beeblebrox, the president of the Imperial Galactic Government. He is powerless, merely a figurehead, but he does his job of distracting people away from the source of power. He is to make a speech regarding the 'Heart of Gold', a spaceship, but shuns the pre-written speech and makes a distracting speech of his own. He then throws a Paralyso-Matic-Bomb.
Chapter 5
The reader learns about the evolution of the Vogons and why they form the backbone of the Galactic civil service. We also learn that the Vogons do NOT like hitchhikers. Ford and Arthur wake up on the Vogon ship, which the Dentrassis have allowed them to board. The friends talk and Arthur learns about Ford's editing job and how he got stuck on Earth. A fish is placed in his ear so that he could understand the Vogon announcement.
Chapter 6
The Vogons broadcast a message saying that the hitchhiker's are unwelcome and they will be hunted and put off the ship. The message also specified that they are about to jump into hyperspace and no-one is to leave the ship when they reach Barnard Star. The reader learns about the philosophical importance of the Babel fish, see Arthur's reaction to hyperspace, as well as the destruction of Earth. Arthur is infuriated at the minor entry that Earth has attained in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. The Vogons then make their approach.
Chapter 7
Our heroes are tortured with Vogon poetry and they suffer through it. They praise the poetic work, but the Vogon is aware that this is a ruse and orders that the hitchhikers be shot out of the spaceship. Ford and Arthur try to get their guard to disobey orders, but to no avail. The chapter ends with the hitchhikers being shot out of the spaceship.
Chapter 8
The omnicient narrator explains, with the help of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, the unimaginable expansiveness of interstellar distance, as well as surviving in the total vacuum of space.
Chapter 9
Arthur and Ford get picked up by the spaceship 'The Heart of Gold'. They see strange, mad sights in this ship that is powered by the Infinite Improbability Drive
Chapter 10
This chapter explains the origin of the Infinite Improbability Drive. It was invented by a student who swept the labs, after it was deemed to be an improbability by physicists.
Chapter 11
Trillion sends Marvin to fetch the hitchhikers. Ford is enthused that they have been picked up by a technologically advanced spaceship and shocked that Zaphod Beeblbrox is the 'owner' of the vessel that has saved their lives. This shock occurs in tandem with Marvin's declarations of sadness and hatred for both himself and the contented doors.
Chapter 12
Zaphod attempts to hear news of his theft of the spacecraft 'The Heart of Gold', but is interrupted by Trillion. She is boggled by a coincidence; the fact that they aliens were picked up in the same sector as her. They ask the computer to work out the probability of this coincidence, but Trillion stops it and asks to get a visual of the aliens instead.
Chapter 13
Marvin ushers the visitors into the room and we learn that Zaphod Beeblebrox and Ford Prefect are semi cousins. But most surprisingly, we learn that Arthur had met Zaphod on Earth. He had gate crashed a party in Islington, calling himself Phil, and stolen Tricia McMillan - Trillion - from him. We learn that Trillion hitchhiked because she was bored.
Chapter 14
Zaphod and Trillion discover that, by some perversion of physics, relationships between people were subject to the same laws that governed the relationship between atoms and molecules. Everyone went to bed when the artificial night chipped in, but Trillion couldn't sleep because she was disturbed that her planet was destroyed. Zaphod could not sleep because he had a 'vague nagging feeling of being not at all there' (Adams, 113). Ford could not sleep either because he was too excited about being back on the road, but Arthur slept well because he was tired. Upon waking, Zaphod, Trillion and Ford huddled around the computer looking at 'the most improbable planet that ever existed' (Adams, p.113).
Chapter 15
The readers get the story of Magrathea in this entry. It was the richest planet because it had the specialist industry of custom made luxury planet building. Their success caused the poverty of other planets and the collapse of the Empire. Magrathea had disappeared and was forgotten.
Chapter 16
Arthur awakes to find everyone staring at the planet. They watched a binary sunrise, but the planet itself appears dead.
Chapter 17
After having the ship's version of tea, Arthur asks an important question: Is the planet safe? They find out that it is not when they attempt to enter the atmosphere and a missile is launched. The chapter ends when the missile makes contact.
Chapter 18
The result of the bomb was that the Heart of Gold got its interior redesigned, but was unharmed. This was due to Arthur's quick thinking when he turned on the probability drive directly before the bomb made impact. The bombs turned into a sperm whale and a bowl of petunias and they both went crashing to the surface of the planet.
Chapter 19
Ford, Arthur, Zaphod and Trillion all leave the ship, but the computer does not want to comply.
Chapter 20
The travelers explore the planet and Trillion thinks that she sees something out of the corner of her eye. They catch up with Zaphod and realize that he has discovered a crater. Marvin and Arthur are left to guard the entrance, while Trillion, Zaphod and Ford enter. Zaphod speaks to them about his insanity, previous tests that were run on him, as well as ones he ran on himself. The chapter ends with the revelation of who 'tweaked' his brain. The chapter ends with the crew being gassed.
Chapter 21
The Hitchhiker' Guide to the Galaxy tells us of the theory of the ballpoint pens and Zaphod Beetlebrox's part in it. Arthur gets so bored that he wakes Marvin and tries to wile away the time while waiting for the others to resurface. Arthur goes for a walk on top of the crater and bumps into an old man in the dark.
Chapter 22
Arthur meets Slartibartfast, an old Magrathean man who informs him that the planet's inhabitants have been asleep, underground, for the last five million years. They have literally slept through the depression, with computers that are/were linked to the Galactic Stock Market, to wake them when everyone had rebuilt their economies enough to afford their expensive services.
Chapter 23
We learn that despite the fact that humans deem themselves to be the most intelligent species on Earth, this title, in fact, belonged to the mice. They were second only to dolphins, who tried to warn humans of the impending danger to the planet, but then gave up and left. Man had, apparently, misinterpreted his relationship with both species.
Chapter 24
Slartibartfast takes Arthur deep in the heart of Magrathea. He is taken to the factory floor where he is told that Earth was a planet that they had originally built on commission by mice. The mice experimented on humans as a ten million year research program, and it was destroyed five minutes before it would have completed what it was created for. Therefore, the Magratheans were awakened to rebuild the planet.
Chapter 25
Mice built a computer to answer the ultimate question of life, the universe and everything else. When they asked it, it told them that it would have to ponder on the answer for 7 1/2 million years. It pointed out that this would help the disagreeing philosophers because it would amplify their popularity with the populace. This disappointed the mice, and they were already disappointed that the computer had ranked itself second.
Chapter 26
Arthur does not understand what the story has to do with 'Earth and mice and things' p. 174. Slartibartfast invites Arthur to his study in order to use the Sens-O-Tape records in order to experience events that occurred 7 1/2 million years later.
Chapter 27
Slartibartfast's study is very messy because the cleaning staff was dead for nearly thirty thousand years. Arthur 'sees' the past/future and the answer to the question is 42. Every-one is upset, but they were warned.
Chapter 28
The representatives of the people are very upset at the answer that they have received from Deep Thought. The computer identifies the issue of them NOT knowing the question. He proposes that another computer, that will be built, will give them the question. This computer is called Earth, and Phouchg and Loonquawl will take another form and navigate its ten million year program.
Chapter 29
The crew wakes up in the catalogue section of the planets. They discuss Zaphod's brains and why he became president. A tall Magrathian man comes to get them.
Chapter 30
Arthur learns that Deep Thought designed the Earth, Magratheans built it and Vogons destroyed it five minutes before it fulfilled its purpose. We learn that Slartibartfast believes that finding out what is really going on is so remote that he just keeps himself occupied. He is given Africa to build this time around, instead of Norway, and they won't let him build it with all fjords. The chapter opens with Slartibartfast taking Arthur to meet the mice.
Chapter 31
The story is told about how one statement, uttered in one galaxy, starts a war in another. Slartibartfast takes Arthur to a room where he sees his crew mates eating. Two mice are also present and they propose, to Arthur, that he gives them his brain to use for experimentation. When the crew chooses to run, however, the mice get aggressive. The crew is saved by an earsplitting alarm for the whole planet.
Chapter 32
The two mice decide to make up a question, since their plans to ascertain one through the use of Arthur's brain was thwarted. They are successful in their efforts and are delighted with their accomplishment. Our heroes, in the interim, make their escape. They are, however, bombarded by shots by the police and are issued an ultimate. Their choices are either to give up and get a little beaten up, or get blown up, along with some other planets. They huddle together and await their demise.
Chapter 33
Death does not come, but the barrage of activity suddenly stopped instead. Ford goes to investigate and discovers that the policemen's tiny life support systems, found on their backs, seemed to have unexpectedly blown up. The heroes then make a hasty retreat. Luck finds them in the form of Slartibartfast's air car, with instructions regarding how to start it.
Chapter 34
Arthur and his friends use the air car to leave the depths of Magrathea. They discovered the dead police ship, but Ford was the only one of the crew members that stopped, out of curiosity, to find out what had happened. He walked toward the ship and encountered Marvin. He learns that Marvin was bored, so he plugged himself into the external computer feed and talked to the ship. It committed suicide.
Chapter 35
Our heroes relax on the Heart of Gold. Zaphod lounges while trying to bang his brain into shape. Ford and Trillion discuss life and Arthur acquaints himself with the contents of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. He is interrupted by Zaphod who plans to go for a quick bite at the Restaurant at the End of the Universe.
Contributor: Leisa Samuels-Thomas
Adams, Douglas. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. New York: Harmony Books, 1979.
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