What truths are expressed hear about our society?

-The Law of Gravity isn't as indiscriminate as people often think.

-That to their employers small workers are not worth a lot
(Given by the examples of the robots being shoved off on the carts to a slave planet, even though they have thought for the birds, worked for them and cared for them.)

-that things that used to be unaccaptable get acceptable after some years
"swut and turlingdrome are now perfectly acceptable in common usage, but there is one word that is still beyond the pale"

-An economic crash which is announced to have come overnight but was a result of a long term process and could have been expected

What warnings are given?
-do not believe/trust polititians
-we cannot trust on what we know, since we do not know a lot yet
-what is publically accepted changes over years

Literary Devices (200-202)

Tone

Arthur: confused, uncomfortable, frustrated
Ex:

- "Oh come on…"

-"Then why did you bring it up in the first place?""All right, what was upon you?"


Birds: very loud, very talkative, chatty, comunicative,
Ex:
-"(General squawks and caws)"

-"(Hiss hiss hiss)"

-"Imagine how our ancestors felt! To walk through our great cities, stride across pedestrian precincts, stroll along walkways, maybe wander into a small wine bar to have lunch with a girlfriend…"

Narrator: unconcerned, detailed, talkative, humorous
Ex:

-"…and in extreme cases shot through their lungs, are now thought to be very healthy proper and their use in everyday speech is seen as evidence of well adjusted relaxed and totally un(BEEP)ed up personality"

Opposition

-"unspeakable nightmare"
-"more unspeakable than this lot"
-"very little still held to be unspeakable"


Imaginary
-"and then they would saunter off into the sunset"

Humor:
-understatement :"Can't be more unspeakable than this lot"

-pun"Well anything to get out of my ear"



Allusion:

-Allusion to very strict employers giving their workers no rights.
"We set them to work to build up the stature as an eternal reminder. After which we set them to a slave planet where they are doing a very useful job making toupes."

-The law of Gravity
"The law of Gravity isn't as indiscriminate as people often think"

-Belgium
"That word is 'Belgium and it is only ever used by loose tongued people like Zaphod in situation of dire provocation""Belgium, man Belgium"

-The blight
"We were forced to re-evolve by the second more deadly blight"

Repetition:

-"We walked, we walked"

-"Unspeakable! Unspeakable"

-"Belgium, man, Belgium!"

-"Ah what woe was upon us!"All right, what woe was upon you?"

Reversal:

-"Well anything to get out of my ear"


Understatement:

-"Can't be more unspeakable than this lot"

Hyperbole:

-"Many words and expressions which only a matter of decades ago were considered so distastefully explicit that were they merely to be breathed in public…"

Vogon Letter!!!!!

To Gag Halfrunt

Since there is no way to contact you over the long distance sub-ether line or anyway else I am sending you this telephragma message to tell you that I have just wiped out half my of my crew. Of course you would remind me that this is normal behavior for a psychiatrist like me. You always do. Though they seemed delighted of my poetry it seemed time for them to go. This is the reason why I am contacting you. You are committed listen to me! As usual If your response will not be here in 0.11 seconds there will be 1000 slaughterers sent to execute you. A slow painful death is the best, I think!

Oh gruntlegrew, oh bublebrew
Thy gumblebubble is juggblewooblle too me
But as wobbleman goes jobtiput
Motfubtipub son wobtipub
If that will not occur
Motipolifob should hear
That ahalotifob, motirolisub, contifulioub and rosioliub
will kontikulihier
And blubfibub will be cut of
Till filliub will contibub and chonifub will bontifob
And sooonifolliboribuuuCut open, cut open, cut open youuuuuu
And eat and take contilifuuu
Till you are shredded so so so bad
Micemeat are you and shorwly dead

So dispensable creature. I present you a simple choice. I sent my friends to execute you. Of course slowly and horribly as described above. There is only one way To prevent this. Think for once. Think carefully. You are holding your lives in your hands. Either you will be chopped down, which is another method I can present you. As presented in my poem the slaughterers will chop your head of first and then eat your toes. Toe by toe. All the tiniest parts will be sent to me and will be an inspiration for my next poem.

So either die by slaughter or execution. Or … tell me how good my poem was…

the cake and the universe

The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy

Chapter 8:

The building Zaphod and Roosta are is flying towards the most evil place in the universe ("Frogstar"). The Prisoner Relations Officer of this planet suddenly appears next to them and teases Zaphod.
Ford and Arthur want still want a ship to come and rescue them that will not appear completly and they do not know how to call. Surprisingly when they wave the towel it flies towards them sending the towel away and trapping them under it. A second later the drunk Zaphod comes out of the ship, who is really happy that he survived being put in a total Perspective Votex. He found the towel as it got fossiled and now picked up by the Impropability Drive.

The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy

Chapter 7

A captain is having a conversation with one of his workers that tells him that he has just picked up a hitchhiker. The hitchhiker is Zaphod, who is on the radio he is announced dead. Ford and Arthur have been trying to find a way to get off the earth, and are getting drunk.
Zaphod is on the other hand thinking about how to visit the planet "Ursa Minor Beta" and staying hidden. He wants to since, when he escaped from the Haggunenon that ate him but revolved only seconds later, he received a message from himself (20 years ago) saying that he would have to meet someone there. The receptionist denies to let Zaphod see Zarniwoop until he reveals his real identity. Seconds after that Marvin enters and follows Zaphod. As the two are going up the elevator the building starts to shake since it is being bombed. Roosta, who introduces himself as "A friend" claims that it is being bombed since everyone knows that Zaphod is around and the government is trying to get him. Zaphod tells Marvin to hold up the robots attacking and but doesn't make it into Zarniwoops office. Roosta realizes that the building is not only on fire but that is being taken away. The floor disappears under them...

New and Revised

The use of motifs in Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and how the motifs are connected to the creation of humor in the radio play

“And what has happened to the Earth?” The character Arthur asks Ford after he had come to rescue him from it. ”It’s been disintegrate! (…) It just boiled away into space.” “Look. I’m a bit upset about that.” Arthur responds.
Fords reaction to the end of the earth is typical in the “Hitchhiker’s guide to the Galaxy”. By the use of the same frequently upcoming motifs in the basis for the creation of humor in the book is set. The characters in the story are put into unrealistic to unnormal situations, which we could not see ourselves in. The near to death situations, Marvin’s depression and the references to the world are examples of often used motifs in the book. The way the characters react to these situations seems very unfamiliar to us. This makes the science fiction radio play amusing.

Frequently upcoming motifs of the “Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy” are the near to death situations. The way the character’s deal with the situation creates humor. The editors of the book often used understatements in their dialogues in which the characters sometimes show panic, but never fear. That Ford and Arthur survive every near to death situation they were in, make jokes about them, understate them and forget about them only seconds later seems funny to us and creates humor.

Additionally in the dialogues the world is always portrayed as something very unimportant, which has no real impact on the universe.
“I wonder if Columbus had this trouble”- “Who?”-“Sorry,just an esoteric Earth reference. He discovered a continent which went on to cause a bit of trouble!”
The importance of the earth is always understated. When it is mentioned in the dialogue it is always portrayed as something that is not very harmful and really does not matter… This stands in great contrast to our picture of the earth, since we live on it and we picture it as very important and very powerful. That in the story it is the opposite and has no power, gets taken over so easily and has no control over the universe seems amusing to us.

Also the depressed computer Marvin is used frequently. The answers he gives create humor since his miserable and unhappy mood is portrayed through everything he is saying.
“But that sunset. I’ve never seen anything like it in my wildest dreams… the two suns… it was like mountains of fire boiling into space.”-“I’ve seen it. It’s rubbish”
There is a strong contrast of mood between what he and the others (like in the example Arthur) are saying. This strong contrast portrays his funny behavior even more and contributes to the humor of the story.

As a conclusion the frequently upcoming situations in which the characters almost die, Marvin shows his depression and the earth is portrayed as something very unimportant, create humor in the radio play, since they seem very unrealistic to us. Additionally the characters react to dangerous situations with understatements, which again does not seem like a regular reaction to the readers and creates humor.

Motifs & Humor

The use of motifs in Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and how the motifs are connected to the creation of humor in the radio play

“And what has happened to the Earth?” Arthur asks Ford after he had come to rescue him from it.”It’s been disintegrate! (…) It just boiled away into space.” “Look. I’m a bit upset about that.”By the use of the same frequently upcoming motifs in the “Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy” the basis for the creation of humor in the book is set. The characters in the story are put into unrealistic to unnormal situations, which we could not see ourselves in. The way they react to these situations is even more unfamiliar to us. This makes the science fiction radio play amusing.

Frequently upcoming motives of the “Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy” are the near to death situations. The way the character’s deal with the situation creates humor. The editors of the book often used understatements in their dialogues in which the characters sometimes show panic, but never fear. That Ford and Arthur survive every near to death situation they were in, make jokes about them, understate them and forget about them only seconds later seems funny to us and creates humour.

Additionally in the dialogues the world is always portrayed as something very unimportant, which has no real impact on the universe. “I wonder if Columbus had this trouble”- “Who?”-“Sorry,just an esoteric Earth reference. He discovered a continent which went on to cause a bit of trouble!” The importance of the earth is always understated. When it is mentioned in the dialogue it is always portrayed as something that is not very harmful and really does not matter… This stands in great contrast to our picture of the earth, since we live on it and we picture it as very important and very powerful. That in the story it is the opposite and has no power, gets taken over so easily and has no control over the universe seems amusing to us.

Also the depressed computer Marvin is used frequently. The answers he gives create humor since his miserable and unhappy mood is portrayed through everything he is saying. “But that sunset. I’ve never seen anything like it in my wildest dreams… the two suns… it was like mountains of fire boiling into space.”-“I’ve seen it. It’s rubbish” There is a strong contrast of mood between what he and the others (like in the example Arthur) are saying. This strong contrast portrays his funny behavior even more and contributes to the humor of the story.

But there are even more motifs that stated in these examples which show of quite often in the Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy like: the time travel the frequently undergo, the ultimate question about universe and it’s answer 42, references to the Hitchhiker's Guide to The Universe, unrealistic situation, extraordinary life, help from HGTG, jump from unrealistic situation to non-realistic one, understatements about the desperate situations, unexpected twisted situations, coincidence and destiny and drinking. The figures are placed into these situations by the authors frequently since they are like in the examples either very unrealistic to us or create a high contrast. Through these awkward happenings humor is created in the radio play.

Science Fiction Genres

-Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic science fiction

-Biopunk (uses elements from the hard-boiled detective novel, film noir, Japanese anime, and post-modernist prose to describe the nihilistic, underground side of the biotech society)

-Dying Earth science fiction

-Military science fiction

-Mundane SF

-Steampunk (denotes works set in (or strongly inspired by) an era when steam power was still widely used — usually the 19th century, and often set in Victorian England)

-Time travel

-Space colonization

-Space opera (emphasizes romantic adventure, exotic settings, and larger-than-life characters)

-Spy-fi


Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Science_fiction_genre

The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy

Chapter 6:

They had escaped from the dinner party and have gone back in time and they realize that they have stolen the admiral's flag ship and wonder what to do now! Zaphod is talking to the admiral's boss, who doesn't recognize that he is not the admiral. Still, they realize that he looks very different and think that they might only try to confuse them. Through the hitchhiker's guide, they found out that the admiral is not a lepard and does not necessary have to be a person but also an item, since he is from a dumb kind of species that can transform themselves into anything. Arthur sits down on some living thing, the things start getting alive around them. But then Ford and Arthur suddenly teleport to another ship. They have cut themselves of the others in a different spaceship, while the others are getting scrunched in the other spaceship. The captain of this new ship is very relaxed and offers them drinks. He tells them that he has build ships to collect workers from the planet Golgafrincham which are going to die out, so that they recreate a better civilization. They are about to crash on Golgafrincham. On this planet the leaders have a great discussion about the discoveries on this planet.

Characterizing Figures

Ford

-author of the "Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy'
-from a small planet somewhere in the vicinity of Betelgeuse
-planned a one week visit on the earth but got stuck there for 15 years
-stayed at a town of Guildford
-a friend of Arthur, that saved his life
-does not take happenings very seriously
-humerous
-funny
-knows a lot about the universe
-takes risks
-loud
-has an answer to most of Arthur's questions

Characterizing Figures

Arthur

-nervous
-serious
-narrow-minded
-sarcastic
-sober
-dry
-irritable
-short tempered
-sophisticated
-educated
-eloquent
-helpless
-desperate

The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy

Chapter 5:

After being shot at they find themselves in a really fancy restaurant! They think they are in afterlife but Zaphod suddenly realizes that they aren't dead but that they are in Milliways (the restaurant at the end of the universe). Everything in this restaurant messes with time and space.The waiter tells them that they have travelled in time but not in space and that they are now 3 million years ahead. They meet up with Marven again, who used to be a super robot who is now parking cars and very depressed. Marven opens the spaceship for them in which it is completely black.Then the universe ended. In the spaceship the characters travel back through time, while trying to persuade Marvin to finally tell them the question.Ford suddenly realized that they were "dropped into the vanguard of an intergalactic war".

English Homework

90-94

How is time used to create humor?
The time in the story does not function as we are used toHow could this be viewed as dark comedy?

Dark comedy: Comedy involving disturbing elements, characters suffering irreparable losses

The world universe is about to be blown up in a few minutes and they are dining at a noble restaurant!

The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy

Chapter 4:

Slartibartfast tells Arthur than mice are set up on earth as an experiment in behavioral psychology of them. They wanted to see how much humans have learned by observing the experiments they are doing on them.
But still there is Deep Thought, a supercomputer that can tell future probabilities and knows the answer to life and the universe. On a tape recorder the men listen to him speaking to the representatives of a philosophers union. Deep Thought declares that the answer to the ultimate question of life is 42, but that they would have to find the question which the computer that comes after him could tell them: The earth. Five minutes before the program was completed the Vogons had destroyed it!
They all go to the reception area and find Ford, Zaphod and Trillian lying bleeding in a subterranean corridor who say that they have been attacked by their hosts. The all meet the Frankie mouse and Benjy Mouse, 2 of the mice that control a large sector of the universe and tell slartibartfast that the earth does not need to be rebuilt anymore and that they are still looking for the ultimate question of time since a lot of money is given to them for the search by TV companies. The mice tell Arthur that for him and "Earth Girl" it will be easy to find the question of life and that it will make them very rich. The mice escape when police comes near but tell them to find the question of live. The coops shoot at them because they want to get their spaceship back. As they go on shooting the men realize that they wont be safe for a lot longer since the computer that is protecting them is about to blow up!

Poverty Linked To Climate Change

The NYT-article informs that policies for climate change are increasingly linked to those who are helping the poor, since poverty compaigners are concerned by the issue of climate destabilization.
The article states that "many nations are too poor to invest in cleaner energy systems, or to curb deforestation, which releases greenhouse gases".
In a plan released this week by the E.U. environmental commisioner it is stated that "developing countries, except for the very poorest, would have to limit emissions by between 15 percent and 30 percent by 2020 compared with “business as usual” levels."

The Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy

Chapter 3

Ford doesn't believe Zaphod or the Computer that the planet Magenta exists (a legendary planet on which other planets are supposed to be manufactured) and that they are about to approach it. They arrive on the now dead planet Magenta, where a recorded welcome announcement tells them that the planet is closed for business and that they would use the missiles of their guided service system if they would not leave immediately. Still they manage to survive since the missiles eventually turn into a bowl of petunias and a whale, who shows his excitement about being on this new planet. Trillian lost his mice, Arthur is held for their rescuer and they exit the starship to get to the interior of the planet (where most of the Magratheans used to live). They go down a corridor where they met Slatibartfast who tells them that the Magratheans are not dead but that they have slept through the economic recession, since the economy had collapsed. He sais that they are awaking now to perform a commission and takes them to the center with an aircar where the factory to build planets is. He tells Arthur that they originally made the earth and are now planning on making a copy of it from its blueprint.