Comparing The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy By Richard Adams

However, this seems to be remiss, as its lasting impact on both science fiction and people makes it worthy of study regardless (O’Dair). The deviation from the regularities of the genre only encourage the idea of not taking the universe seriously, as it gives the impression that Adams doesn’t even take the writing of the book seriously. By writing it in this way, the style of novel actually contributes towards the themes. Another way that Adams breaks the rules of science fiction novels while also building toward his themes is by removing all suspense. For example, in one of the climaxes in the book, Arthur Dent and the other characters accumulated are situated on the outside of a planet believed to be the legendary Magrathea with missiles flying at them, and Adams reveals the outcome of the events in

For example, at the beginning of the book, Earth is destroyed by an interstellar construction crew (Adams 35). This symbolizes the meaninglessness of the universe because of the random way the Earth was destroyed. Also, the fact that the Earth was destroyed simply for intergalactic construction purposes supports this idea a lack of meaning in the universe. Another example is Ford’s encyclopedia entry for Earth in the book The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy: “Mostly Harmless” (Adams 181). This shows how little in importance the Earth is in the grand scheme of the universe, as the entries shared on other topics throughout the book are paragraphs long despite being over topics such as specific types of alcoholic drinks and the importance of carrying a towel. At first Arthur is very upset at hearing this answer, but over the course of the book he comes to accept it. He gradually realizes the same thing that Adams is attempting to get the reader to realize: taking the universe seriously will get you