Learning to Fly (4)

This will be my last post regarding Life, The Universe, and Everything. This project has come to a close with this post.

"There is an art, it says, or rather, a knack to flying. The knack lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss."(75). As Arthur Dent was sliding down the mountain as the earth was literally sliding beneath his feet, he tripped and fell. Right before he hit the ground he noticed a bag which he had previously lost. He thought about his bag until he realized that he never actually hit the ground. Upon looking down, he was hovering in the air. Arthur Dent was flying!

This was surprising. I had heard the book mention the ability before, but never did I think that Arthur Dent, the main character, could ever pull it off. He never believes anything is possible. Arthur Dent flew high into the sky and managed to slow down his chattering, thinking, brain long enough to save his life, for if you think too hard about flying, you will simply fall.

Then, Arthur realized and thought about this ability to fly and he came down to earth. Arthur then did the most surprising thing. He tripped, on the way down, he thought about a specific retsina in his bag. He never hit the ground. Arthur Dent had now managed to fly twice! It was unbelievable. Incredible. Magical. I was more surprised that Arthur had flown twice than I was that he had flown the first time. I thought for sure that it was a one time thing that would torture Arthur forever. Instead, he gained the ability to fly majestically among the birds, where he "discovered that their conversation was fantastically boring. It was all to do with wind speed, wing spans, power-to-weight ratios, and a fair bit about berries," (232). What a wonderfully surprising book.

My Love for Bistromathics (1)

Since I have finished the book, I am going to write about the most interesting chapter in the book and tell what I liked or disliked about it.

Chapter 5

"Bistromathics itself is simply a revolutionary new way of understanding the behavior of numbers...so it is now realized that numbers are not absolute, but depend on the observer's movement in restaurants," (47). With that statement Douglas Adams created a new technology and gave the otherwise unusual ship a sense of science. This chapter, despite being barely 3 pages, was one of my favorite chapters in the whole book. Adams creates several ridiculous mathematical terms and gives them all proper definitions and makes them scientific. He does this, of course, while still inserting sly humor into the book. "Numbers written on restaurant checks within the confines of restaurants do now follow the same mathematical laws as numbers written on any other pieces of paper in any other parts of the Universe. This single statement took the scientific world by storm. it completely revolutionized it. So many mathematical conferences got held in such good restaurants that many of the finest minds of a generation died of obesity and heart failure and the science of math was set back by years," (48,9). He manages to create a lot of prgress than take it all right away.

Bistromathics set up the Bistromathic Drive, the drive which propelled Slartibartfast's ship and allowed him to cross giant distances in the universe without danger. This explanation keeps the universe bound by science without using magic to propel things. The numbers created from Bistromathics also help explain other strange phenomenons in the Universe like the Somebody Else's Problem field, a field which makes somebody else's problem invisible to those who do not see it.

I did not like that there were so few chapters like this one. I expect it may have become overkill if there were more and perhaps the fact that it is only one makes it more special.

Character Motivation (3)

The impending destruction of the Universe brought the killer robots to feel a new emotion. They felt....unfulfilled. They were depressed. They were no longer happy about their deed. "The robots aren't enjoying it, sir." 193. In skirmishes they, "raise their weapons to fire and suddenly think, why bother?" 194. They just do quadratic equations and sulk. This robot reminds me of my favorite manically depressed robot, Marvin. As it turns out, Marvin is the one controlling these robots. He has since stopped them from harming the protagonists and Zaphod. All the robots took on his personality when he was hooked into the computer controlling them.

The Krikkits wanted to exterminate the universe because the space around the planet is filled with a dust cloud which provides the blackest possible night and the utmost feeling of aloneness. Once they discovered other people, they wanted to be truly alone so they set about killing everyone. They seemed to have changed their minds somewhat due to their wanting to play sports with other galaxys, but they ultimately decided that sports and politics should not mix and decided to just kill everyone.

Trillian, motivated by her desire to keep the universe intact, talked her way up the chain of command to Hactar, the Krikkits' leader. Ford has stopped being cowardly because the time has called for it. Arthur is being brave to impress Trillian. Together Arthur and Trillian manage to SPOILER ALERT: get Hactar to cancel his plan for world domination. He seems to not care whether he fails or succeeds. This was a ploy for later though when he tries to destroy the universe again.

The characters in this book are mostly static, which provides a good sense that you actually know the person because you can predict what he or she will do. All the main characters were motivated by their desire to save the universe or their desire to destroy the universe.

Douglas Adams Has Style (11)

Douglas Adams is one of the most successful writers of the 20th century. His style and use of language are exceptional and make his books extremely enjoyable. He has a satirical tone, mixed with a witty use of language, making for a hilariously enjoyable read.

He often takes breaks from the story to explain some foreign part of the book, such as the concept of "bistromathics" a branch of mathematics based around the fact that numbers act differently in a restaurant. The chapter explaining this concept was written in an informative manner but it was based on an imaginary concept. This dedication to creating his universe provides a certain inexplicable reality to the otherwise strange book. He also often states things matter of factly, especially when pertaining to the Guide. It is the authority on everything in the Universe. if one were to look up Earth in the Guide, they would find out it says, "Mostly, Harmless."

Adams' style is extremely effective. It makes the story enjoyable to read and leaves the reader wanting more. It adds to my enjoyment of this book. I would probably not enjoy this book nearly as much as I do if it were written by someone else with a different style. It is perfect the way it is.

Enjoy a video of Douglas Adams reading a portion of his book.

The Character's Choices (13)

Each character must decide if they are going to go down to the planet of Krikkit to fight or run away and let the Universe slowly be annihilated. Slartibartfast, seeing as it is his idea, has chosen to go down to fight. This is the appropriate decision for him because he has dragged Arthur and Ford all this way; if he did not fight now he would have wasted their time. Ford does not want to go down. He did not want to come at all. He will be going down though. He cannot abandon Slartibartfast and Arthur now. Arthur is going down. I suspect a small reason he is doing this is to impress a girl, Trillian. I also think he does not want to see the Universe exterminated. Trillian, Arthur's love interest, has also surprisingly decided to go down. I did not expect her to go. I do think it was a good choice, though. She is the only character with any common sense. She will keep the boys alive. Zaphod, not suprisingly, decided he was not going. Zaphod is a bit of coward and is much more interested in women and other rich things than saving the universe.

I would advise them that they made the correct decision in fighting to save the universe, regardless of the odds that they will win (which are most likely astronomical, I mean 4 people against a robot army?). They need positive thoughts. I would also advise them that there is probably a way to control the army and to shut them all off. An off switch perhaps. Maybe a computer that can be destroyed. Someone has to be controlling this army. This is like Star Wars and the clone army. I forget how they were destroyed but that information would probably be useful to our heroes at this stage in the book.

Reflecting on the Past (7)

My predictions were mostly correct from part 6. The award for the "Most Gratuitous Use of the Word Beligum," was the silver pail, part of the key. I was also right about "the Krikkits (evil race that wants to exterminate the Galaxy) will make a surprise appearance at the party and take this part of the key," as the Krikkits' warship showed up literally inside the party. They were there only a second before disappearing. The award for "Most Gratuitous Use of the Word Belgium" aka The Silver Pail also disappeared. This left Slartibartfast disappointed, Arthur confused, and Ford....relieved that he could stop worrying about it. I was mistaken with some facts though. This was the final piece that the Krikkits needed to complete the key. The other 4 were the leg of Marvin, the manically depressed robot, the ashes of an ancient stump, the heart of the improbability drive, and a Scepter. Arthur, Ford, and Slartibartfast are now determined to go down to fight the Krikkits themselves.

My predictions were correct and this book is getting even more interesting. I am looking forward to the war most likely coming.

Che Thesis

Ernesto “Che” Guevara’s asinine view on life led him to try to become a savior of the people, but he ended up as just another glorified rebel who preached equality while murdering his opponents.