This is a modern novel. It might mean
different things for different people. Douglas Adams never says
anything directly to the reader. Some of my friends thought it to
be simply funny. It is funny, but it has a certain philosophy
behind it. I feel he suggests some of his observations of our
world.
He talks about exterminating Earth so coolly. It does not seem to bother, as earth is just a small, tiny, unimportant piece of equipment. The language is sarcastic and hilarious. The whole story is episodic and has a sense of no-responsibility. The science fiction imaginations are beautiful. The way he uses English is new. Standard English would not allow to And patience and pencils in "He had run out of patience and pencils and felt very hungry".
The novel has a sense of insecurity. The continuous conflict between being and machines comes out. The machines are autonomous and have no liability of following the commands given to them. There are no heroes or villains All beings are a part of the system. They are all running away from something or the other. Novel is episodic in nature, but there is a linking among the episodes.
There is no concept of success or failure. There is just a concept of trying to survive and have fun. There is a sense of looseness. That is, there are no ideals or duties or any bonds of morality. Zaphod’s conversation with his granddad reflects this. The book ‘Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy’ does not take responsibility of its own accuracy. There is a careless, carefree, give-up attitude. Zaphod was the president of the galaxy, but in middle of his tenure, he gave up the duties to generally have a good time and stole a spaceship.
Is it that Douglas Adams is portraying our modern-city-thinking-and-social-behavior? The characters become skeptical when somebody offers friendship. There is sadness in every character. Nobody sense to like what he is doing. Zaphod is chasing the ruler of the universe and he hates doing it. The helplessness of beings in front of machines shows. Argument of the elevator, tea-vending machine and others show this. The sense of loom, some destruction, or something bad is going to happen exist throughout. "Why is nobody ever happy to see us?" – Arthur. "Something bad is going to happen" – sounds like a ‘month old’ news to him.
The conversation of Zarniwoop with the ‘ruler of the universe’ compels one to think. It brings out Adams’ philosophy of ‘ruling others’. The universe for the ‘ruler’ is his eyes, his ears, his cat and his shack, everything else is a hearsay. He reasons, how can he believe in anything he has not seen? What he listens and sees is a perception and is individual to him. It may not be the same for someone else. And that, the perception may be completely different from reality. All these ‘maybes’ makes him skeptical of everything. He does not believe in anything; to such an extent, that he would not trust a person (Zarniwoop) who believes in existence of the universe.
There is an infinite sarcasm on the ‘modern’ management and governance practices. These, so called, ‘middlemen’, like, security officers, management consultants, etc, are shown to be loonies who do not produce anything. They talk of personnel management on a prehistoric planet; they talk of money, without producing anything; they find fire and wheel difficult to invent, but have elaborate committees and departments in charge of inventing them. Adams has also ridiculed the modern system of ‘law’ and ‘courts’. The way a poet was hired to settle suing of HitchHikers Guide to the Galaxy, is a sheer sarcasm.
The most ironic part is when he suggests that humans are a product of these unproductive-gibberish-producing people and not cavemen. All this weirdness in present day world is not only saddening but also sickening. It is so sickening that time and again, that time and again these people try to find an answer to the question: Why does the universe exist? Why is there life at all?
All this is so weird that that finally Ford and Arthur give up there search and go on to live life as it is. "Enjoy the day, the sun" ad Ford puts it. Why is life? What the heck, enjoy and live.
Probably, this kind of tension free life and free to life attitude is unique to people we call ‘saints’. Douglas Adams is a loner, does not have a family, or may be is the ‘out of the worldly’ kind of guy. His attitude towards life (I believe as suggested here) is this- forget the mess forget the tensions and enjoy. The characters of the captain of the ship or the ruler of the universe reflect this. Common people are shown as morons who would clap and applaud for anything, stupid or brilliant. In fact, there is no concept of anything stupid or brilliant.
What is the relationship of these ideas with the literary thinking of late 70’s or early 80’s is yet to be seen. Another thing that bothers is the name ‘The Restaurant at the End of the Universe’. Why is the novel named after the restaurant, which is a very small part of the novel? The answer is probably present in the sequels to this book.
The sense of loneliness in this big bad universe is ubiquitous in the novel. Every character is alone. The only one who talks about it and asks for love is the ‘menial- super intelligent’ robot Marvin. This cute guy ends up in a sun. The act is termed ‘heroic’. This episode also introduces a willing-to-be-eaten animal who tries to interest its prospective-eaters in its body parts. The idea is amusing and disgusting. Both these characters may be suggesting something. Probably Marvin’s cute-ness and need for love killed him.
What this novel means to me:
In future I am going to be a management consultant or an IT consultant. This novel pushes me to think what these people really produce? What are they really for? Why are they paid so high? I will have to watch myself and see whether I do something for some betterment. From whatever I know, it seems these help companies to reach their goals. I have to see that really happens and we just don’t dupe them.
Manuj Naman.
2nd January, 1999. Hostel Room.