Mostly Harmless

By Douglas Adams

Mostly Harmless by Douglas Adams, is the fifth book in the Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy comedy science fiction series. After the events in So Long, and Thanks For All the Fish, Arthur Dent and Fenchurch decide to go on a galaxy quest and do a bit of sightseeing. Fenchurch disappears and a depressed Arthur finds himself travelling across the Galaxy alone. Arthur raises money to pay for his space travel by donating his biological material to DNA banks.

Simple Man, Complicated Family Life

On one journey his space shuttle crashes on the planet Lamuella. He survives and makes a simple living as a sandwich maker for the local people. One day Trillian arrives on Lamuella and presents Arthur with his daughter. Random Dent was conceived by Trillian via artificial insemination. The only human sperm that happened to be available is that of Arthur Dent. Trillian then leaves Random with Arthur to work on their father daughter relationship, so that she can pursue her dream career as an intergalactic reporter.

Father Daughter Relationship Problems

Random is bored with simple living on Lamuella and cannot stomach Arthur. She discovers the Guide Mk II that Arthur hid for Ford Prefect and escapes the planet to find her mother. Ford appears shortly after, looking for the Guide. Together Ford and Arthur return to live earth, and find that Random has also returned there. Random has a confrontation with Tricia McMillan, another version of Trillian, and Arthur, Ford, Tricia and Trillian attempt to talk to her.

For the Tropic of Freedom Books Finders Keepers:
In Mostly Harmless the sequence of events between Arthur, Trillian and Random, made me think about the responsibility one takes on when deciding to have a child. Having children is a lifelong commitment. Besides the financial and emotional commitment, there is also the responsibility a parent takes on, that most people don’t realise is part of parenting.

The responsibility, whether we realise it or not, is in everything we do. Whether what we do relates directly to the child or not, it still has an effect. Being the parent automatically makes you the child’s point of reference for things that they learn. The choices they make, and the point of reference behind those choices, comes first and foremost from the relationship of parent and child.

Even if the parent isn’t around, that still has an impact. A missing parent is still a point of reference, the child still learns something from it.

What we choose to teach our children has an impact on what they become. What we choose not to teach our children also has an impact on what they become.

What happens in the interaction between Trillian, Random and Arthur?
How has this disfunctional relationship impacted on Random?
How is she being assisted to interpret it?

What are we teaching our children?
How are we assisting them to interpret what they learn?

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