The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy Summary: Plot, Characters and Ending
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy follows Arthur Dent, an ordinary Englishman whose planet is demolished to make way for a hyperspace bypass. Rescued by his friend Ford Prefect, who turns out to be an alien, he hitchhikes across a ridiculous universe and learns that Earth was built to find the question to the answer 42.
It began as a BBC radio comedy and is the first book of Douglas Adams's comic series.
| Character | Who they are |
|---|---|
| Arthur Dent | Bewildered Englishman in a dressing gown |
| Ford Prefect | Researcher for the Guide from near Betelgeuse |
| Zaphod Beeblebrox | Two-headed President of the Galaxy |
| Trillian | Tricia McMillan, the only other human survivor |
| Marvin | Gloomy robot with a brain the size of a planet |
| Slartibartfast | Planet designer from Magrathea |
How does Earth get destroyed?
Arthur lies in front of a bulldozer to stop his house being knocked down for a road. His friend Ford, secretly a researcher for The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, takes him to the pub and explains that the world is about to end. Vogon ships appear and demolish Earth for an intergalactic bypass. Ford and Arthur hitch a ride aboard a Vogon ship.
↑ Back to the topWhat happens aboard the Vogon ship?
Ford puts a Babel fish in Arthur's ear so that he can understand any language. The Vogon captain catches them, makes them listen to his dreadful poetry and throws them out of an airlock. With only seconds to live, they are picked up by the Heart of Gold, a stolen starship powered by the Infinite Improbability Drive.
↑ Back to the topWho is on the Heart of Gold?
The ship was stolen by Zaphod Beeblebrox, Ford's semi-cousin and President of the Galaxy. With him is Trillian, a woman Arthur once met at a party in London, and Marvin, a depressed android. Zaphod is searching for the legendary planet Magrathea.
↑ Back to the topWhat do they learn on Magrathea?
On Magrathea, Arthur meets Slartibartfast, who designed Norway's fjords. He explains that a race of hyperintelligent beings built a supercomputer, Deep Thought, to find the Answer to Life, the Universe and Everything. After seven and a half million years it answered 42. Since no one knew the question, Deep Thought designed a greater computer to find it: the Earth. It was destroyed five minutes before finishing. The beings behind it all appear as Earth's white mice.
↑ Back to the topHow does it end?
The mice want to buy Arthur's brain, hoping the question is hidden in it. He refuses, and the group escapes after police attack. Arthur offers a guess at the question, but it doesn't make sense. The friends board the Heart of Gold and Zaphod suggests they go for a bite at the Restaurant at the End of the Universe, the title of the next book.
↑ Back to the topMore about The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
This summary reveals the whole plot, including the ending.