h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

While looking through the various entries in the h2g2 i suddenly get a flashback to the days of joy when I just had read the hitchhiker's guide for the first time.
Something occured to me a few weeks(months?) later when I was thinking about the answer. The thoughts running through my head "sounded" something like this: -In the beginning of the book, A-P Dent was in his thirties Right?(I may be wrong, it's just as i recall and my memory is rather strange theese days.) And he travelled around in space for quite a many years. AND the fella who was said to know the question recogniced A-P's name. Assume, just ASSUME that when earth was blown up in the end, A-P had reached the age of 42.
If and I repeat IF my speculations are correct, isn't it possible for the quistion to be something like: "At what age did Arthur Dent die" or maybe "How old did Arthur Dent get?"

Well, as stated earlier: Just a mere thought.

Greetings

:SNIP:
:While looking through the various entries
:in the h2g2 i suddenly get a flashback to
:the days of joy when I just had read the
:hitchhiker's guide for the first time.
:SNIP:

Good feeling, eh? I experienced the same excitement when I first came here too.

:SNIP:
:In the beginning of the book, A-P Dent was
:in his thirties Right?
:SNIP:

By, "A-P" do you mean "Arthur Phillip"? If so, then yes, he was about 30ish in the beginning according to the Guide.

:SNIP:
:AND the fella who was said to know the
:question recogniced A-P's name.
:SNIP:

Could you clarify this a little. Which fella are you refering to? Seems to me like you're talking about Marvin.

:SNIP:
:Assume, just ASSUME that when earth was
:blown up in the end, A-P had reached the age of 42.
:SNIP

Which time? The Earth gets blown up quite a few times. Are you refering to the end of Mostly Harmless?

:SNIP:
If and I repeat IF my speculations are correct, isn't it possible for the quistion to be something like: "At what age did Arthur Dent die" or maybe "How old did Arthur Dent get?"
:SNIP:

Hmmmm, possible, Arthur did manage to do a lot of mucking about in the space/time/probability continuum, and in such did a lot of influencing on various cultures and such throughout the galaxy, but I think the closest we get to the Question is "What do you get if you multiply 6 by 9?" in Chapter 33 of The Restaurant at the End of The Universe. I am in complete agreement with you that he may have been 42 at the time of Earth's "final" destruction in Mostly Harmless. The number obviously played some part in the location of his "death" at least, "Just there, number forty-two" shouted Ford Prefect to the taxi driver. (Chapter 25, Mostly Harmless)

I look forward to additional comments, information, and arguments you have to make. I love conversations like these.

Have a fish ... (Save the H2G2 Fish!)

42!

Phoenix

Sorry for not writing back. My life has become a little muddled lately.
And my Hitchhiker was missing(for about 18 months) so I couldn't look up some of the things i was writing about. I'll look them back and get back to you.
Be patient

Greetings

No problem at all, with the exception of your Hitchhiker being missing. I hope it turns up soon. Whenever you post will be hoopy, I look forward to our future, or past, conversations ...

42!

Phoenix

^..^

Heh, now I've fetched my guide. It's a little scratched and dusty. But everything works with love.
Well in your 1st reply you made some remarks, let's see if I can clarify things a little (My quotations from the guide are taken from the swedish version of the guide and I've translated them myself, so I'm not sure wether they are 100% correct):

:SNIP:
:AND the fella who was said to know the
:question recogniced A-P's name.
:SNIP:
Your remark:Could you clarify this a little. Which fella are you refering to? Seems to me like you're talking about Marvin.

The "fella" I mentioned was not Marwin. I just couldn't remember his name. In the Swedish version of the book he is called Prak. He appears in the epilogue of "Life, the universe and everything" and is said to know the question. When A-P (yes it's what I call Arthur) introduces himself to Prak he (Prak that is) starts to laugh and utters the words "You're joking right? You're Arthur Dent? That Arthur Dent?" And starts to laugh.
That's the fella I was talking about. Just didn't remember his name.

:SNIP:
:Assume, just ASSUME that when earth was
:blown up in the end, A-P had reached the age of 42.
:SNIP
Your remark: Which time? The Earth gets blown up quite a few times. Are you refering to the end of Mostly Harmless?

I meant the FINAL destruction of earth. (Well earth might have been destroyed again, but it's not mentioned in the book.)

As you stated, 42 did play an important role in A-P's place of death so I... : The question might as well be "What was the number of the house in which Arthur Dent died?" But then again, that question isn't as fun as the one which asked about his age. Why? Because he (just as everyone else) had worked with his age his whole life only to realize that it was his age that killed him (also like most people that die) and that is sort of what life is all about.

Keep in touch.
Mr_Mismatch

Greetings


>The "fella" I mentioned was not Marwin. I just couldn't remember
>his name. In the Swedish version of the book he is called Prak.
>He appears in the epilogue of "Life, the universe and everything"
>and is said to know the question. When A-P (yes it's what I call
>Arthur) introduces himself to Prak he (Prak that is) starts to
>laugh and utters the words "You're joking right? You're Arthur
>Dent? That Arthur Dent?" And starts to laugh.
>That's the fella I was talking about. Just didn't remember his name.


Ah yes, Prak, the one who thought that Arthur was even funnier than the frogs. There's a person who should definitely lay off the truth serum.


>I meant the FINAL destruction of earth. (Well earth might have
>been destroyed again, but it's not mentioned in the book.)


So by the "FINAL" destruction of the Earth, I presume that you are talking about at the end of Mostly Harmless when all of the probability variations of the Earth are (supposedly) wiped from existance by the Guide Bird?


>As you stated, 42 did play an important role in A-P's place
>of death so I... :
>The question might as well be "What was the number of the
>house in which Arthur Dent died?" But then again, that question
>isn't as fun as the one which asked about his age. Why? Because
>he (just as everyone else) had worked with his age his whole
>life only to realize that it was his age that killed him (also
>like most people that die) and that is sort of what life is all
>about.


Consider this, if you will ...

1 ... Arthur was one of the only Terrans to have survived the destruction of Earth (up until the last time anyway). He experienced many things that no other Terran had ever experienced, and unintentionally influenced the rest of the Galaxy (the culture of the bird people, helping to prevent the second Krikitt war, becoming the Sandwich Maker, etc. etc.)

2 ... The question that Athur and Ford came up with (What do you get if you multiply six by nine?) didn't seem to match their normal mode of thinking (i.e. decimal), but actually works in other modes of thinking (i.e. base 13)

Therefore ...

1 ... Perhaps this question (What do you get if you multiply six by nine?) and it's answer (42) are symbolic of a cosmic statement about life? Perhaps the real 'answer' which has no 'question' is "Reach beyond what you accept as 'normal' and 'real', and expand yourself and those around you to experience new things and grow."

2 ... Perhaps Arthur was an example (the end result of the Earth's computer program) of this?

3 ... Perhaps all the 42 referrences, and the other questions that people see in the series of events, are merely supporting indicators of this conclusion?

42!

Phoenix

^..^