The Answer to The Meaning of Life, Finally Solved...

Brandon Zuniga

Hitchhiker’s Guide to The Galaxy

By Douglas Adams

Forty-two. The answer to the great question of Life, the Universe, and Everything. If you have no clue what I mean, well, neither do the characters in Douglas Adams’ novel, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to The Galaxy. This review is a continuation of my “first look” of the novel. If you would like to see my initial thoughts on the novel, check it out here.

The latter half of the novel takes place in a planet known as Magrathea. This planet was thought to have been a legend that was passed down, and a place where the industry inside the planet boomed by creating and selling planets to the richest species in the world. Zaphod’s mission was to see if the planet was real or not. After almost being obliterated by the planet’s weapon defense system, the crew found out that the planet was dormant due to the universal economy not being able to afford buying planets. After meeting a mysterious being named Slartibartfast, Arthur finds out that earth was created by hyper-intelligent mice to figure out the meaning of the question, “What is the meaning of life?”. The mice wanted to know the full extent of the question due to their dissatisfaction of the answer “forty-two”, and thus the Earth was created.
It is meant to serve as a book you can pick up and enjoy with ease, as it throws one-liners and goofy scenarios at you such as two cops arguing with Ford, one of the main characters: ”I don’t go around gratuitously shooting people and then bragging about it... like some cops I could mention... I agonize about it afterward... to my girlfriend!”(207). Additionally, in the novel, the answer to the meaning of life is the number forty-two; It is not meant to mean anything more than that. The total absurdity and non-conventional writing makes it humorous. After an intense scene for Dent, he mutters, “I seem to be having tremendous difficulty with my lifestyle” (196). His words drifted into a wormhole to a different galaxy, and started a war. It is unimportant to the main story, but adds quick comic relief . Adams throws a lot at you very quickly, and, for the most part, it can be taken at face value. “It is an important and popular fact that things are not always what they seem”(156), but with this novel, rest assured that you get exactly what you pay for-a fun and fantastical novel .

This short novel is not meant to be taken too seriously, and can be used as a way to escape reality for a while. This book will fit perfectly for readers ages twelve through seventeen. The reason I enjoyed this novel was simply because it was simple and and enjoyable! I was able to take a break from reality and just enjoy a comedic book for a few hours. If this still intrigues you, what are you waiting for? Go out and grab your Hitchhiker’s Guide and enjoy!