The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy Free Essay Example

The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy starts with Earthman Arthur Dent facing the demolition of his house to make way for a motorway bypass. He was then met by hi friend Ford Prefect who had three things to tell him: He was an alien from Beetlegeuse, He was a writer for the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, and the Earth was about to be destroyed. Arthur and Ford get picked up by a Vogon ship avoiding their destruction along with Earth.

However the Vogons aren’t particularly fond of hitchhikers and Arthur and Ford end up getting blasted into the vastly huge vacuum of space, but before they suffocate they are rescued by Ford’s semi-cousin Zaphod Beeblebrox. Zaphod and his girlfriend Trisha McMillian, a girl Arthur met a party back on Earth before it was destroyed, have stolen the Heart of Gold spaceship. The Heart of Gold runs on something called an improbability drive. This means when a button is pushed the most improbable thing will happen and the Heart of Gold will pass through every point in the universe.

They are using the Heart of Gold to try and find a planet called Magrathea.

Magrathea was formerly known as the richest planet in the galaxy and used to manufacture custom luxury planets. The manufacturing of planets destroyed the galaxy’s economy and the Magratheans went into hibernation for millions of years until the galaxy’s economy improved. Zaphod, Trillian, Arthur, and Ford manage to find Magrathea but are attacked by an ancient weapons system.

They are saved by the improbability drive, and manage to land on the surface of Magrathea which they explore. Arthur goes for a walk on the planet’s surface, while the others explore underground, and meets a man by the name of Slartibartfast. Slartibartfast tells Arthur that Earth was the home of the most intelligent computer in all of time and space. The computer was built in order to find the answer to the question of Life, the Universe, and Everything. After the computer told everyone that the answer was 42, the building of Earth in was commissioned in order to search for the actual question.

Earth was destroyed by the Vogons, in order to make way for a hyperspace expressway, only five minutes before the question was found. The descendants of the makers of the computer and two mice, (Earth was run and commissioned by mice. The mice are really super-intelligent pandimentional beings.) , want to cut out Arthur’s brain to look for the answer because he was on Earth seconds before it was demolished by the Vogons. Arthur is rescued by Ford, Zaphod, and Trillian and they all leave Magrathea on the Heart of Gold. They then head to the Restaurant at the End of the Universe for some food.

Literary Devices

A literary technique also known as literary device is any standardized method an author uses to convey his or her message. There are many literary techniques used in The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy including flashbacks, Circumlocution, Characterization, Bildungsroman, Authorial Intrusion, Stream of consciousness, Suspense, Point of View, and Personification. One of the major literary devices is personification. Personification is one of the most commonly used and recognized literary devices. It refers to the practice of attaching human traits and characteristics with inanimate objects, phenomena, and animals. An example of when this was used in the book was when the ancient nuclear defense system of Magrathea was shot at Arthur and his friends and he used the improbability drive to change the missiles into a sperm whale and a bowl of petunias.

The sperm whale and the bowl of petunias begin expressing their thoughts. The sperm whale was trying to come to terms with its identity and thought “What’s happening, who am I, why am I here, what’s my purpose in life?” and the bowl of petunias thought “oh no, not again.” Since the inanimate objects were able to think they were given human traits. This example also shows another literary term, that term is stream of consciousness. “The phrase stream of consciousness refers to an uninterrupted collection and occurrence of thoughts and ideas in the conscious mind. In literature, the phrase refers to the flow of these thoughts; with reference to a particular character’s thinking process. This literary device is usually used in order to provide a narrative in the form of the character’s thoughts instead of using dialogue or description.”. All of these literary devices contribute to the story and some way and they produce a vivid mental image while we read the story.

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