Philosophy
Throughout the book, Douglas Adams plays into the idea of the philosophical, and places many of his own thoughts and ideas into the book in humorous ways that draw in the reader. He uses the Babelfish in the book to play on the idea of belief and evolution. To believe in God, there must be faith, and if the Babelfish - which is so elaborate that it could not have evolved without divine design - proves that God exists, then the need for faith is gone, and in the book, God "vanished in a puff of logic" (52) after having "[not] thought of that" (52). |
Intelligence
What is intelligence? How can we measure intelligence? These are the kinds of questions that we are introduced to through the book. And actually, the whole book, while maybe not intentionally written that way, causes the reader to question various things, and introduced the idea that not all intelligence is the same. In fact, one statement that he makes shows the very idea that man thinks they are smarter than all other creatures without even questioning it. "Man had always assumed that he was more intelligent than dolphins because he had achieved so much" (127). He even introduces artificial intelligence that had been given human characteristics, which is something that we are currently working on trying. |
Politics
Adams also takes a stab at the absurdity of politics with the amusing two-headed character, Zaphod Beeblebrox, who is the president of the Imperial Galactic Government. In fact, the book even states that he decided to run for president, it was seen "as a clinching proof that the whole known creation had finally gone bananas" (36). He has no actual power as president, as he is just a bumbling idiot, and is really used to draw attention away from the people who were actually running things. |
"Have you any idea how much damage that bulldozer would suffer if I just let it roll straight over you?"
"How much?" said Arthur.
"None at all," said Mr. Prosser (16).
"The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy also mentions alcohol. It says the best drink in existence is the Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster. It says the the effect of the Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster is like having your brains smashed out with a slice of lemon wrapped around a large gold brick" (24).
"Time is an illusion. Lunchtime doubly so" (26).
"This must be Thursday," said Arthur musing to himself, sinking low over his beer, "I could never get the hang of Thursdays" (27).