Journal 3
“He felt that his whole life was some kind of dream and he sometimes wondered whose it was and whether they were enjoying it.” (Adams Chapter 1) From the beginning of Douglas Adams’ “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” it has seemed as though this was indeed the case; at least in terms of the haphazardness, randomness, and unpredictability. Throughout my time reading this particular novel, I have hardly been able to accurately predict or infer the progression of the plot, characters, settings, or conflicts. This uncertainty of the dynamics of the literary elements has made it extremely difficult to call attention to the themes or morals. However, there must be some meaning hidden behind the seemingly random events strung together….
Nonetheless, there are some themes that I was able to find in “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy”, one of which being the theme of bureaucracy. The most prominent example of this is the Vogons, who are described as bureaucratic and inefficient. Throughout the novel Adams hints that they are a representation of the human bureaucratic system, which is obvious from the following quote, “They wouldn’t even lift a finger to save their own grandmothers from the Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal without orders signed in triplicate, sent in, sent back, queried, lost, found, subjected to public inquiry, lost again, and finally buried in soft peat and recycled as firelighters” (Adams Page 35). Adams is mocking the bureaucratic system in this quote by saying that they simply have an extremely inefficient method of solving problems. In addition to this, Adams continued to mock them through the next quote, “‘Except…’ he thought again, which required looking at the ceiling—‘except some of the shouting I quite like.’ He filled his lungs and bellowed, ‘Resistance is…’”. By saying that thinking required looking at the ceiling, Adams was implying that the Vogons (which represent bureaucracy) do not think often. Furthermore, the line “Resistance is…” is an allusion to Star-Trek, which created the famous quote “Resistance is futile”. This line was said by the Borg, which is the antagonist in the Star Trek series. Thus, Adams is…
