Cole’s Reviews > Life, the Universe and Everything > Status Update

I'd say the moral universe of Zaphod mostly includes everything bad or mean but doesn't include most things good or helping others. He's very selfish and hates helping others. The reason that he lets Arthur travel with him is that Ford is his half cousin and is friends with Arthur. Zaphod mostly doesn't mind doing whatever's it takes to be happy. He steals kills, and commits other crimes to get himself cool stuff.

The tone in this story varies by character. When it's talking about Arthur and his ambling around confusedly, it uses a slow-paced, funny and strangely calming tone. However, most of the verbs surrounding Zephod have a negative or mean connotation. He's always slamming doors open and stomping around as opposed to opening doors and walking (shuffling, moseying, or walking) around.

The tone behind this book is set up in multiple ways, depending on the arc. During the beginning, the tone is frantically trying to get away and a general elongated chase scene with a lot of humor. Anxiety is key. However, later on, there's a sense of mystery formed when we discover Zaphod's secret area of his brain. Also, the planet that Slartibartfast comes from adds mystery, trying to identify their motives.

This book has great humor. One of my favorite parts was about how the art of flying involves throwing yourself at the ground and missing. The simplicity of its explanation really threw me off because I expected a full and detailed guide thing. Another good example of the humor is the realization that's humans evolved from stupid aliens that landed here on accident and built up from that.

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One color based archetype I noticed is that the "heart of gold" Is the spit after, super expensive ship. Since gold can mean wealth and greatness, it makes sense that this ship is one of the most important things in the universe. The main idea about the ship is that it can defy all odds and make things happen out of nowhere to protect itself; such as turning 2 missiles into a bowl of petunias and a sperm whale.

This book confuses me. The archetypes seem to be a mix of comedy and voyage and return. The only thing is, the voyage has no place to return to because the Earth was destroyed. The comedy part is quite obvious. Every page there's at least one thing I have highlighted because it made me laugh. The voyage starts on the very first book when the Earth is destroyed and Arthur and Ford start their adventure.

The humor in this book is one of my favorite kinds. It includes multiple types of humor from sleight-of-hand style ones to straight forward. I think it can, at some point in the series, make anyone laugh. Some of my favorites are the ones where it deceives the reader into thinking one thing and reveals it to be a trick. Usually, those occur when they describe someone like Marvin and don't say his name until later.