What makes "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" by Douglass Adams so important?
The future: we've read a lot about it so far. What makes Hitchhiker's Guide so different? Why does it matter?
The scientific parody category of genre has opened my eyes to what it feels like the other sci fi had been trying to teach me about, but couldn't completely send it home until now. A lesson about the future.
The genre of sci fi as a whole, though often depicting the future, is often describing the present. It has often forced me to reevaluate the present. Hitchhiker's, though a parody, was no exception. Most obviously, Hitchhiker's taught me to laugh even in a dark present. If the world was ending, why should I sweat the small stuff? Or, alternatively, if the world is ending, I might as well go enjoy the smallest, most mundane little things about life that I can, while I still can. And finally, at the very least, at least I can still say "at least the world isn't about to explode in place of a new interstellar bypass."
Hearing about the end of the universe, even in parody, still feels relieving. Suddenly the problems of my life are framed in a completely new way. By expanding the scale, most sci fi novels are able to make earthly problems seem small in place of grand adventure. Hitchhiker's Guide, however, accomplishes this somewhat, and also in it's place, accomplishes something else. Hitchhiker's Guide does show and address all of the small, earthly problems (like houses being destroyed, being depressed like Marvin, or wanting to know the purpose of your life and your place in the universe).
It just also happens to show you that these problems are very silly.
By making fun of all of the medial things, Hitchhiker's Guide has the vibe that your life is manageable. This dynamic works beautifully with an observation about Arthur and Ford.
At first, I believed Arthur to be the one we were meant to relate to. He's an average guy, and reminds me extremely of Bilbo Baggins from The Hobbit. He never meant to go on an adventure, but one happened to find him. Arthur as well, having just been inducted into this new world of space and time travel beyond Earth, also tends to freak out. Arthur gets extremely concerned and freaked out when confronted with danger or the impossible situations they encounter, as any of us would
However, the more I listened, the more I felt like I was slipping into Ford's frame of mind. When terrible things happen and characters like Arthur spend so much time worrying and fretting about it, you find yourself trusting that everything will be okay, because they always have been.
Applying this to my own life, Hitchhiker's Guide was teaching me to stop stressing about the present. I should instead focus on the adventure that is my life, and work on getting to where in the universe I want to be.
Liberating, it is, to stop stressing about every detail of the present, and it then frees you to explore your future. If all of the sci fi that I have experienced has taught me anything, it would be that the future is going to be exactly what I make it, because I am the greatest force under my control, and so I must use it.
The scientific parody category of genre has opened my eyes to what it feels like the other sci fi had been trying to teach me about, but couldn't completely send it home until now. A lesson about the future.
The genre of sci fi as a whole, though often depicting the future, is often describing the present. It has often forced me to reevaluate the present. Hitchhiker's, though a parody, was no exception. Most obviously, Hitchhiker's taught me to laugh even in a dark present. If the world was ending, why should I sweat the small stuff? Or, alternatively, if the world is ending, I might as well go enjoy the smallest, most mundane little things about life that I can, while I still can. And finally, at the very least, at least I can still say "at least the world isn't about to explode in place of a new interstellar bypass."
Hearing about the end of the universe, even in parody, still feels relieving. Suddenly the problems of my life are framed in a completely new way. By expanding the scale, most sci fi novels are able to make earthly problems seem small in place of grand adventure. Hitchhiker's Guide, however, accomplishes this somewhat, and also in it's place, accomplishes something else. Hitchhiker's Guide does show and address all of the small, earthly problems (like houses being destroyed, being depressed like Marvin, or wanting to know the purpose of your life and your place in the universe).
It just also happens to show you that these problems are very silly.
By making fun of all of the medial things, Hitchhiker's Guide has the vibe that your life is manageable. This dynamic works beautifully with an observation about Arthur and Ford.
At first, I believed Arthur to be the one we were meant to relate to. He's an average guy, and reminds me extremely of Bilbo Baggins from The Hobbit. He never meant to go on an adventure, but one happened to find him. Arthur as well, having just been inducted into this new world of space and time travel beyond Earth, also tends to freak out. Arthur gets extremely concerned and freaked out when confronted with danger or the impossible situations they encounter, as any of us would
However, the more I listened, the more I felt like I was slipping into Ford's frame of mind. When terrible things happen and characters like Arthur spend so much time worrying and fretting about it, you find yourself trusting that everything will be okay, because they always have been.
Applying this to my own life, Hitchhiker's Guide was teaching me to stop stressing about the present. I should instead focus on the adventure that is my life, and work on getting to where in the universe I want to be.
Liberating, it is, to stop stressing about every detail of the present, and it then frees you to explore your future. If all of the sci fi that I have experienced has taught me anything, it would be that the future is going to be exactly what I make it, because I am the greatest force under my control, and so I must use it.
Let me just say, I completely agree. I especially love your point about how the book makes life seem more manageable, because at least the planet didn't explode right? Now if I could just stop stressing about finishing all this homework before the semester ends...
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