Akopian 1

Arpie Akopian
15 April 2016
Wake Up Grab a Brush and Put a Little Makeup
Our everyday is different. It is different from our families, different from our friends and
different from our peers. No two people will have the same schedule because everyone does
things differently. One person can eat breakfast and then brush their teeth, another person can
brush their teeth first and then eat breakfast which is a different everyday. In Douglas Adams
The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, the everyday routines of the characters are different from
each other but also similar in many ways that the readers can pick out and compare to their
lifestyles.
Arthur Dent, one of the main characters in The Hitchhikers Guide, lives an average
everyday life. Wakes up, has his cup of tea, reads the paper, goes to work, comes home, etc. Just
like many of us this is considered the average day and form of normalcy but to other species this
is weird and strange to them. Ford Prefect is another main character who has a different
lifestyle than Arthur but they happened to be really close friends. Fords everyday is pretty much
partying. Whereas Arthur is the calm one and much more family friendly then Ford. He is seen as
the panicky one but somehow Arthur can sleep through a huge catastrophe. Over exaggerated is
the word that would fit Arthur but he can also easily adapt to things such as the environment that
will get him to have no worries anymore. Ford being the total opposite, he is calm all the time
and has a certain way with people. He can be manipulative as seen in Chapter One where he
convinces Mr. Prosser to sit in front of Arthurs home so it will not end up getting bulldozed. The
man does fall for it and lays in the front going along with it. He was the one that made plans to

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tear Arthurs home down but now is convinced that he will be saving it. Ford has a certain charm
for that and also being straight forward. He just cuts to the chase, no sweet talk. In the beginning
of chapter two, Arthur and Ford are at the bar having drunks and as Ford is placing the order he
says to the barman Six pints of bitter, and quickly please, the worlds about to end. The barman
had no idea about this nor did anyone else. The barman tried to ignore the fact that he said that
and continued to have a casual conversation about a soccer game asking him if he would be
watching but Ford restated with No, No point. Its just the worlds about to end. He was
persistent and for sure made the barman thing he was insane. Arthur had no care for what was
happening.
Arthurs everyday is very much like ours, since he is a human like us. He wakes up has
his cup of tea, reads the paper, gets dressed and heads to work. Pretty basic like other normal
humans. Fords is also the

same but involves him having some stops at the bar or

going to a party at night. The difference between them would be
that Ford is more of a partier and that Arthur likes to relax

at home with his

own company. A specific difference between Arthur and space

would be tea. Arthur tends to keep asking around where he can get tea from and once he finds
some form of it, it is nowhere near the same.
As there are different species in this book, there are many different everydays. One of the
foreign species we meet happens to be an alien. That would be Prostetnic Vogon Jeltz. We are
first introduced to him on Earth but he is a huge ship above making an announcement how they
are destroying their world in about 2 minutes. Jeltz is seen as an idiot rude leader that no one
likes. Not even other aliens in outer space. For his every day, the vogons have a thing for poetry
and that is what there day consists of mostly. They write horrible poems and assume it is the

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greatest. But that is what we think. The poetry that we write can be horrible for them and the
ones they write might be the best. As a leader, he goes around the galaxy doing his duty He
was introduced during the destruction of Earth. As he makes his announcement over the PA, it is
seemed as monotone and that he wants to get this whole thing over with and could care less
about the people that are still on Earth. The people panicked that they had no clue about this but
Jeltz was surprised that they did not know about this since it was posted up in space, What do
you mean, youve never been to Alpha Centauri? For heavens sake, mankind, its only four
light-years away, you know. Im sorry, but if you cant be bothered to take an interest in local
affairs thats your own lookout. Assuming they knew about is why his announcement was
straight forward but as he found out these people were clueless, he still could have cared less. He
is the one to do good for himself even if he is hurting people around him. Typically, Jeltz is the
person you avoid. Arthur and Ford happened to hop on to Jeltzs ship before Earth destructs.
They get caught and are brought to Jeltz along with other prisoners. Jeltz says they have to be
honest with his poetry and he might let them go. This is where he becomes a dumb ruthless
leader. As Arthur and Ford try to say good things about the poetry,
he could have cared less and still threw them out into space. He
plays these types of tricks for his own satisfaction.
On the other side of the galaxy, we are introduced to
Zaphod Beeblerox who is the president of the Imperial Galactic Government. He is the complete
opposite of Vogon Jeltz. The man has an actual heart. He cares about the people around him and
is a calming ruler. But a little too calming. He does not really act like a President. When we think
of our President, he is a strong leader that does what is better for our country. Zaphod on the
other hand just acts all casual like he is not even a leader. Does not even care what is going on in

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his ship. As his everyday starts, it is pretty casual. He does the same as the rest of the people on
the ship but has more of a luxury. He happens to search for a planet named Magrathea that no
one thinks exists. It is considered a myth that no one has ever came across of. He is accompanied
by Trillian who is a human he had picked up from a party on Earth.
Zaphod happens to know Ford and so does Arthur. Ford and Zaphod are semi-halfcousins. Ford was trying to introduce them but Arthur and Zaphod got straight into conversation
like they knew each other. They had met at a party on Earth where he had picked Trillian up
from.
The differences that stand out of the everyday between the humans and others in space
would be things like hygiene, the foods they eat, and the clothes they wear and huge one being
social media. They probably do not have any form of communication like twitter and instagram
through the internet as it does not exist in space. It can be a different form that we have never
even heard of or thought of. We wake up to go to school and work. We learn math, English,
science they most likely learn certain jobs such as how to fix the ship or how to drive one. There
are so many jobs you can choose from on Earth
and they can be of your liking. Whereas in space,
you are limited to more or less selling
food/clothing, mechanics, teaching and things
that have to do with service.
Our everyday is our life. We do it so we survive. If we do not wake up, go to
school/work, feed and take care of ourselves, we would not survive. Waking up and starting our
daily routines gives us a reason to carry on with our lives. Our routine is a form of our identity.
The way someone plans there day or what job they take shows what kind of person they are.

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Since we have so many options, we can express ourselves in multiple ways but on space they are
only limited to a couple of things and maybe that is a way for them to keep their feelings in. That
makes them different from us, the way we are so open and proud.