The introduction alone carries a few references to the bible, one to the main character, and one to the book itself. Adams sets the time period of his story by writing, "And then, one Thursday, nearly two thousand years after one man had been nailed to a tree for saying how great it would be to be nice to people for a change, a girl sitting on her own in a small cafe in Richmansworth suddenly realized what it was that had been going wrong all this time." This passing statement carries a blatant allusion to Jesus Christ, the main character of the New Testament, who was crucified for claiming to be the son of God and spreading his message of faith and redemption throughout the Middle East. The next allusion that appears in the introduction refers to the bible as a book itself. Adams says his story is on about "a book, a book called The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy." He then goes on to describe it as a very important, and popular, piece of literature:
"Not only is it a wholly remarkable book, it is also a highly successful one -- more popular than the Celestial Home Care Omnibus, better selling than Fifty-three More things to Do in Zero Gravity, and more controversial than Oolan Colluphid's trilogy of philosophical blockbusters, Where God Went Wrong, Some More of God's Greatest Mistakes, and Who Is This God Person Anyway?"The guide is supposed to contain everything a person needs to know in order to navigate through life in a successful and meaningful manner. Sound familiar? The hitchhiker's guide is to the people of Douglas Adams' book as the bible is to Christians around the world. Furthermore, I don't think it is a coincidence that Adams juxtaposed the guide with three books questioning the motives and existence of God.
Douglas Adams continuously makes references to religion in general, not limited to Christianity. While presenting his view on life bearing no great meaning, Adams maintains a predominately satirical view on all religious references made in his book. However, there are several noteworthy biblical allusions and symbols to be found throughout the novel. For instance, there is an extended allusion to the Sadducees of the bible found in the book. The Vogons, the antagonists of the book, share many similarities with Sadducees. Douglas Adams describes them:
"They are one of the most unpleasant races in the Galaxy-not actually evil, but bad-tempered, bureaucratic, officious, and callous. They wouldn't even lift a finger to save their own grandmothers from the Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal without orders signed in triplicate, sent in, sent back, queried, lost, found, subjected to public inquiry, lost again, and finally buried in soft peat for three months and recycled as firelighters."
The Vogons are, in essence, the gatekeepers, rulemakers, and rule enforcers of the universe. In much the same way, the Sadducees represent the state, carry out priestly duties, set forth rules for worship and everyday life, and enforce the rules they set in place. Both people groups are sticklers for the rules and are not exactly admired by common people. Coincidentally, both races hold a very high opinion of themselves.
The Vogons are the subject for another allusion found in the book. When they are first introduced, they are described as having a "highly domed nose" and "a small piggy forehead". In fact, pig references appear frequently in regards to Vogons. When Arthur Dent and Ford Prefect, two of the main characters, find themselves stuck on a Vogon ship, Ford offers Arthur advice on how to deal with the Vogons. He tells Arthur to choose his words carefully because Vogons are known for twisting words around and using them to "trample" the individual who first spoke them. This immediately brings to mind the words of Jesus found in Matthew 7:6: "Do not give dogs what is holy, and do not throw your pearls before pigs, lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you". The Vogons, in this case, take the role of pigs, and the pearls are any words spoken by another race to the Vogons.
Perhaps the most interestingly utilized biblical allusion found in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy comes in the form of a fish, a Babel fish to be exact. The Babel fish obviously borrows its name from the Tower of Babel erected in the Old Testament. The fish plays a key role in the book and is used in relation to languages; however, interestingly enough, it completely reverses the intended purpose of the Tower of Babel. In the story of the tower, the whole Earth spoke the same language; everybody was able to communicate with each other. Because of this, the people were able to erect a tower that very nearly put them face-to-face with Yahweh. God didn't like this very much. So, to keep the people from becoming to powerful, God scattered them all across the planet and confused their languages. Genesis 11:9 states, "That is why it [the tower] was called Babel—because there the Lord confused the language of the whole world. From there the Lord scattered them over the face of the whole earth." However, the Babel fish in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy serves an opposing purpose. The fish is inserted into the ear where it unscrambles ANY language, allowing the user to understand everyone and everything he meets. The complete role reversal of this symbolic object is a good example of Adams use of religious themes throughout the book. He constantly turns the tables on the motifs of religion and uses them to support his theme of a meaningless world.
While the book is anything but religious, Adams masterfully uses these themes, as well as many other themes, to bolster the hedonistic nature of the story. Most of the religious references found in the book are ambiguous and satirical in nature. However, as you can now see, there are several allusions directly originating in the biblical text.
**Easter egg allusion from The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, the movie**
In the opening credits of the movie, a song is playing. The song is being delivered from the point-of-view of dolphins, who take on the role an all-knowing race (i.e. God). The dolphins, aware of the imminent destruction faced by Earth, have decided to leave their home world and are singing this farewell song to the human inhabitants of the planet. In the song, the dolphins explain to the humans that they have been trying to warn them of what is to come. However, being substantially less intelligent than the dolphins, the humans have missed all the signs and cues. This bears striking resemblance to the later stage of Deuteronomistic history, when God is absent for hundreds of years. The parting words of the dolphins reminisce on the many warnings they delivered and their frustration with the humans for not listening to them or heeding their warnings:
So sad that it should come to this
We tried to warn you all that you're dead
You may not share our intellect
Which might explain your disrespect
For all the natural wonders that
grow around you
In very similar fashion, a large portion of the strife between God and man found in the bible comes as a direct result of man's refusal to listen to God and heed his many warnings about various things. An added layer to this allusion could be the thanks being given by the dolphins for the fish the humans fed them. The Israelites constantly offer animal sacrifices to God in the Old Testament. I'm sure he appreciates that. So long, and thanks for all the oxen, and sheep, and doves, and goats, etc.
No comments:
Post a Comment