Commentary Revision

“... the Jatravartid people of Viltvodle Six firmly believe that the entire Universe was in fact sneezed out of the nose of a being called the Great Green Arkleseizure.” Absurdities such as this, taken from the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy are typical examples of one of the many literary devices employed in this absurdist comedy. The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy is also a radio serial and furthermore falls under the genre of the science fiction and is driven by a row of themes, some more important than others, such as the themes mostly harmless and aliens rule. There themes are enforced by the employment of motifs, rhetorical devices and imagery for humorous effect by the means of absurdity, irony or intertextuality among many more.


Similarly to any theme in the entire radio script, the theme 42 brings motifs with it, recurring symbols that are indicators of the present themes. In the case of 42 the motifs present are the Ultimate Questions and the mice, who were the ones who gave the order for the construction of the computer called Earth. It is impossible to talk about the theme of 42, which on one hand is absurd, but nevertheless is the Ultimate Answer, without mentioning the Ultimate question itself. The Ultimate Question in fact is only interesting to the mice for money reasons. The mice in this passage are only addressed as a race of hyper intelligent pan-dimensional beings, which wraps around the theme of 42. The themes itself, as well as its motifs are all in service of the overall absurdity of the piece.

Commentary reflection

Commentary reflection

What went well?
Once I actually started writing the annotations I did in the passage; the different parts started joining together into ideas that served the theme. Also there was no lack of material to write about and although I needed more time than I would like to have taken find the literary devices, there were enough to write about.
Where you struggled?
I had trouble deciding on which theme to address since the passage had a summary of the previous chapters, so there was a row of themes that I considered. This was probably the biggest problem since everything else is supposed to be in service of the themes. Furthermore I had troubles finding the right words for the introduction and deciding how much to space to delicate to the context.

completed paragraph

“That is impossible”, often this phrase is used as an exaggeration to state how unlikely it is that an event is taking place. The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy uses this fact to take it to an extreme for humorous purpose. The idea behind it is the case of the impossible or at least the very unlikely. One theme therefore is the probability of the improbable, which recurs throughout the whole radio script. An important motif in service of this theme is the improbability drive which is invented precisely in this passage, supported by literary devices to help to evoke amusement. Examples of these literary devices are the intertextuality, irony and logical fallacy. The motif, the improbability drive, which is later revealed, enables a space ship to be at every point of the universe at the same time, is a rather absurd and impossible object. In order to make sense of it in a humorous way logical fallacy is applied. A student left behind in the lab to clean up after an unsuccessful party, which is irony, since one would expect that he would clean up an experiment, figured out that since it was impossible to invent a improbability drive he just needed to calculate how unlikely it actually was. The process as it is explained itself follows a logical structure that ends in the invention; however the end result is so absurd and impossible that this process is called logical fallacy. Precisely the fact that it is absurd causes the amusement in the reader. Also in service of that improbability is the use of intertextuality which is another literary device applied and references to the argument that if enough monkeys have a typewriter, eventually one types the script for Hamlet, again an absurd scenario and therefore amusing. The absurdity of the passage enforced by the literary devices is responsible in the humour of the probability of the improbable.

Outline

The ability to create custom made planets by using white holes in the “glorious days of the Former Galactic Empire” already give a clear indication of genre this passage taken from The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy belongs in the category of Science fiction. The reason why this can already be seen only within the first sentence is the use of conventions. Just as in any other genre in any written piece the conventions in Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy serve the codes, such as theme and characters to create a humorous science fiction radio play. The themes such as the insignificance of mankind and the relation of past and presence are enforced through a row of literary devices ranging from intertextuality to irony and sarcasm, which often create absurd scenarios, all for the humorous effect.



Paragraph 1:
Thesis: In this passage one of the main themes of the radio script on the big scale takes its beginning, the probability of the improbable.

Examples: Invention of the improbability drive
Examples: Jargon, logical fallacy

Paragraph 2:
Thesis: Furthermore another theme plays a vital role in the paragraph, the distinguishing between the cool and trendy objects and pastimes in the universe in contrast to the uncool part of the universe
Convention Examples: Irony, Juxtaposition, Physicists-uncool

Paragraph 3:
Another theme of the Hitchhikers guide to the Galaxy finds it origin in this passage, the power of a cup of tea and motif of the cup of tea is a red thread though the whole book

Examples: Invention, it is ubiquitous


All of these themes, as well as other codes such as the characters and the plot built the base to define the genre of the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. The themes of the probability of the improbably, the power of a cup of tea and the argument what is cool and what is not keep on recurring throughout the whole script. Together with the use literary conventions of irony, logical fallacy, etc. to create humour through language it creates this parody of the genres science fiction and serial, which is highly successful in evoking amusement in the reader.