ISU

Theme

“McDonald’s, he thought. There is no longer any such thing as a McDonald’s hamburger. He passed out. When he came round a second later he found he was sobbing for his mother.” (53)

At this point in the novel Arthur is trying to accept the fact that Earth has been blown up along with everything and everyone that he loves. He tries to remember the simple things on Earth such as McDonalds. This relates to the theme because in order to move on with this situation he has to accept what happened to him in order to move on. He has come to terms with the fact that the Earth no longer exists and is trying to move on and become a better person.

“Since he was going to have to live in the place, he reasoned, he’d better start finding out something about it” (180).

Arthur is adapting to his new situation. He has accepted and he is now adapting, he is adapting by learning about his new world, the galaxy. He is reading about how the galaxy works and what creatures he may encounter. This can relate to the theme because he has accepted and this is him adapting, he can now move on to become a better person.

Conflict

(138-139)

This quotes clearly helps analyze the conflict, this is an example of a situation where Arthur has a clear understanding of his world and then it suddenly changes. At first, he assumes that mice are very unintelligent creatures and that we took advantage of them by running various tests. He later realizes that the mice were putting up a front and that they were secretly taking their own research on humans and have been responsible for the construction of earth and are very intelligent creatures.

However, his reality keeps changing and he keeps having to change his perspective of the universe. Arthur encounters events and circumstances that make him must change the way he thinks. He struggles to understand which can be related to the issue of understanding the meaning of life.

“He wished there was something simple and recognizable he could grasp hold of.” (48)

This is another quote that represents the conflict, Arthur wishes that something in this new bizarre world makes sense and something that he can wrap his mind around.

Character

“Since he was going to have to live in the place, he reasoned, he’d better start finding out something about it” (180)

Arthur Dents life is constantly on the move and changing. For context, after his world gets blown up, he is forced to live with his alien friends in a spaceship. His circumstances are always changing, and he was forced to adapt to these situations. He reasoned that he better start learning about his new home and world.

“Alright, so I’m panicking, what else is there to do?” (48)

His first resort is to panic he always struggles to wrap his head around new situations. Arthur Dent throughout the novel continues to encounter new realities and resorts to panicking to cope. In the end he manages to adapt, looking at the first quotation he finally comes to reason with his bizarre circumstances.

Setting

“That one of his closest friends was not descended from an ape, but was in fact from a small planet somewhere in the vicinity of Betelgeuse” (8)

Arthur’s friend Ford Prefect is not actually human. He is an alien from a different planet. Ford is very humanlike and it is even stated in the book. He has very human characteristics and blends in with the society. There are also other aliens who show up throughout the book such as the president of the galaxy Zaphod. Aliens are common in the universe, yet humans are unaware of their existence.

(48)

In the very beginning of the novel an evil group of aliens called the Vogons blew up Earth. This is a very key element of the setting because the rest of the story is mostly based on this factor. This can further prove that this novel is a prime example of science fiction. It is based on Earth and even expands on our understanding of the universe around us.

Psychology Today

https://www.psychologytoday.com/ca/blog/hide-and-seek/201803/what-is-the-meaning-life

Psychology Today

This reflects on my issue because in the article it contemplates what the meaning of life is. One of the points talked about was about God and how the meaning of life is based on a supernatural entity. In the article it states that “having no purpose at all is better than having this sort of purpose because it frees us to be the authors of our own purpose or purposes and so to lead truly dignified and meaningful lives.” (Burton M.D.) This suggests that we are to make our own purposes in life to live meaningful lives.

Another section of this article states that, “Human life may not have been created with any pre-determined purpose, but this need not mean that it cannot have a purpose” (Burton M.D.). This quote suggests that we may have been put on this earth with no real purpose but that does not mean that we must live without having a purpose in mind.

Psychology Today

https://www.psychologytoday.com/ca/blog/hide-and-seek/201803/what-is-the-meaning-life

Psychology Today

This reflects on my issue because in the article it contemplates what the meaning of life is. One of the points talked about was about God and how the meaning of life is based on a supernatural entity. In the article it states that “having no purpose at all is better than having this sort of purpose because it frees us to be the authors of our own purpose or purposes and so to lead truly dignified and meaningful lives.” (Burton M.D.) This suggests that we are to make our own purposes in life to live meaningful lives.

Another section of this article states that, “Human life may not have been created with any pre-determined purpose, but this need not mean that it cannot have a purpose” (Burton M.D.). This quote suggests that we may have been put on this earth with no real purpose but that does not mean that we must live without having a purpose in mind.

Tim Cook

https://www.cultofmac.com/666986/the-meaning-of-life-according-to-tim-cook/

Tim Cook

This article is related to my issue because according to Tim Cook states that, “At some point, you recognize the reason we are all here is to help someone else” (Tim Cook). He basically is saying that the reason we live is to help someone else. This proves that this issue is still relevant and even Tim Cook is discussing the issue.

Also, another component from this article is when he said that, “Once you get that in your head, life gets so much simpler. It gets so much simpler.” (Tim Cook) Understanding your version of the meaning of life makes your life simpler. Knowing why you were put on this earth can give you clarity in life. Even someone of a high status like Tim Cook even contemplates the meaning of life.

School of Life

School of Life

This artifact is related to my issue of understanding the meaning of life because in the first part of the video it talks about how people think that the purpose of life is to worship a god. “Once upon a time, so the story goes, life had a clear meaning given to us by god. It was about worshiping him” (School of Life). One of the main reasons that sparks about the conversation of the understanding of the meaning of life is the instance of god. People believe that we ay have been put on this earth to worship a god.

In another part of the video it mentions the bet way we can live our lives. In the video it says, “thirdly, there is service, one of the most meaningful things we can do is to serve other people, try to improve their lives” (School of Life). They infer that the best way to live our lives and live towards the meaning of life is to help other people and try to make other peoples lives better.

Ted Talk

https://www.ted.com/talks/emily_esfahani_smith_there_s_more_to_life_than_being_happy?utm_campaign=tedspread&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=tedcomshare

Ted Talk

This relates to our theme because she talks about how being happy is not the meaning to life and that you can be happy yet still not know what your purpose is. She says that, “And according to the research, what predicts this despair is not a lack of happiness. It's a lack of something else, a lack of having meaning in life.” (Esfahani Smith) She means that pursuing happiness alone is not enough, and that people can have different meaning of happiness which is not our purpose.

In another part of the lecture she states that, “Purpose is less about what you want than about what you give.” Always getting what you want is not normally considered the meaning of life in most people’s eyes. The purpose of life is more about what you give and what you can do for other people than what you want.