Log #2

        From chapter six to ten, Ford and Arthur were captured, tortured, thrown out of the Vogon flagship－and rescued. In the meantime, we can still see the mind boggling sarcasm of Douglas Adams on human nature non-stop. I have encountered quite a bit of challenge due to the large amount of non-sense words and nonsense plot, but in no way it lessens the pleasure in reading the book.

In the beginning of chapter six, they were trapped on the Vogon command ship. While they were trapped, they heard the captain’s broadcast, which was able to be translated by stuffing “the Babel Fish” in their ears. Interestingly enough, the discovery of such a species that eliminates all language barrier, according to the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, had led to countless wars and chaos, and in reality, it is also true that lifting barricades and borders between nations is not helping to create a more stable society. Then, before long, they were captured by a searching patrol, and shortly after, tortured by the Vogons－with their “poetry reading”. Here, Douglas Adams was criticizing those who pretended to appreciate art only to appear more noble than other, as he explained that even the best Vogon poem is horrifying, tormenting, and agonizing to listen to, and that they compose poems only to prove that they too are an “intellect species”.

After getting thrown out of the shuttle, they were immediately rescued by another spaceship, The Heart of Gold: the ship rendering all hyperspace bypass useless mentioned in the previous log. Despite the improbability of a ship appearing not anywhere else but Arthur and Ford’s exact location, they were safe. This is another theme of this book－there is no such thing as fate, and everything happens arbitrarily. What is a coincidence is a coincidence.