Pointing out the satirical elements of Douglas Adams The Hitchhiker's Essay

Pointing out the satirical elements of Douglas Adams The Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy - Essay ExampleWhile the romance ostensibly takes place in the contrasted future, its clear that a number of the thematic concerns examined in the newfangled have contemporary relevance. In these regards, theorists and critics have argued that in large part the novel is satirical. This essay considers the novel as one of satire, arguing that through the bulldozer that nemesisens to demolish Arthur Dents house and later Earth, the crooked political Zaphod Beeblebrox, and the threat of the Vogon poetry reading, Douglas Adams satirizes social, political, and literary elements. One of the first satirical elements explored in the novel is the encroachment of victimization and technology on our daily lives. From the beginning of the novel deferred payment is made to an impending bulldozer that is outside Arthur Dents home. The next scene in the novel finds Arthur Dent lying on the ground attempti ng to stay the bulldozer from demolishing his home. Its during this time that Ford Prefect appears. He is described as being from, somewhere in the vicinity of Betelgeuse (Adams, pg. 5). Ford is able to prevail on _or_ upon the bulldozer operator to lay on the ground in place of Arthur Dent, so the two men nooky go to the pub. While this part of the novel is ostensibly absurd and comedic, it also can be argued to have satirical connotations. In these regards, the bulldozer can be read as the encroachment of development on the sanctity of daily life. Dent becomes emblematic of a perspective that is attempting to hold onto these old world values. From another perspective, the bulldozer can also be read as the encroachment of technology on our daily lives. While during the time of the novels construction the internet and social networking werent as pervasive, this essay argues that part of the texts lasting power is its ability to continue to appeal to a contemporary audience. In th ese regards, the bulldozer encroaching on Arthurs house can be read as a metaphor of the technological aspects of the internet and social networking encroaching on our daily lives the hiatus of the novel then can be read as a sort of resistance of this technological advancement. The next satirical element concerns the nature of Zaphod Beeblebrox. Beeblebrox is the professorship of the Imperial Galactic Government. His appearance comes out-of-sync in the storyline and seems to have an underlining purpose. Beeblebrox is giving a fantastical description in the story. He is described as an, adventurer, ex-hippy, good enough timer, manic self-publicist, who is terribly bad at personal relationships, and often thought to be completely out to lunch (Adams, pg. 34). The ruler is described as exist on a deserted island and about to unearth the stub of Gold to the universe. Heart of Gold appears to be a sort of starship government show that has within it a gold box. In reality, its indi cated that Zaphod and the Heart of Gold have nefarious intentions to steal the new starship. This scene is clearly complex and for the nearly part seems to have a comedic element that advances the narrative. Still, from another perspective its clear the Zaphod represents a modern day sort of politician. In these regards, one can consider his description of being on an island as the similarity of a politician being removed from the populace they are designed to help. The name of the Heart of Gold project is also indicative of the sort of social welfare and good intentioned project on might envision from politicians. The name