The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy: Chapter 5 Summary & Analysis

Prostetnic Vogon Jeltz, Adams notes, is quite ugly. Like all Vogons, his nose is long and his forehead small. Many of his attributes are due to the fact that the Vogons have never evolved—ever since they first “crawled out of the sluggish primeval seas of Vogsphere,” the Vogons have never changed. This is a testament to their stubborn nature, which makes them especially well equipped for “civil politics.” When the Vogons finally found a way to leave their wretched planet, they immediately traveled to a nearby location, where they became the “immensely powerful backbone of the Galactic Civil Service.” Prostetnic Vogon Jeltz, Adams explains, is a “fairly typical Vogon in that he [is] thoroughly vile. Also, he [does] not like hitchhikers.”

The Vogons employ a race of aliens called the Dentrassis on their spaceships. The Dentrassis work as caterers on the Vogon ships but hate the Vogons. As such, they have no problem helping Ford and Arthur sneak onto the ship as stowaways. As the spaceship hurdles away from what used to be Earth, Arthur slowly wakes up in a dark cabin. When he asks Ford where they are, his friend says that they’ve safely survived the destruction of Earth by “hitch[ing] a lift” on a Vogon spaceship. “Are you trying to tell me that we just stuck out our thumbs and some green bug-eyed monster stuck his head out and said, ‘Hi fellas, hop right in, I can take you as far as the Basingstoke roundabout?” Arthur asks, and Ford confirms that this is the case, though the Thumb is electronic, and the roundabout is six light-years away.

Having just destroyed Earth, Prostetnic Vogon Jeltz feels “vaguely irritable.” This is how he always feels after “demolishing populated planets.” As such, he wishes somebody would “come and tell him that it was all wrong so that he could shout at them and feel better.” To his delight, a Dentrassis server comes running into the room with an obvious grin on his face—a clear indication that something has gone wrong. After all, if a Dentrassi looks “that pleased with itself,” there must surely be something “going on somewhere on the ship that [Prostetnic] could get very angry indeed about.”

Meanwhile, Arthur bombards Ford with questions. Finally, Ford hands him The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and tells him to look up anything he might want to know. He shows him how the book works, explaining that Arthur must type in what he wants to find, since the book has been digitized. Together, they look at the entry for Vogons, which reads (in part): “Here is what to do if you want to get a lift from a Vogon: forget it. They are one of the most unpleasant races in the Galaxy—not actually evil, but bad-tempered, bureaucratic, officious and callous.” At the end of the entry, the book says: “On no account allow a Vogon to read poetry at you.”

Ford explains why he was on Earth and tells Arthur that, unfortunately, the planet has been destroyed. He then urges Arthur to heed the guidebook’s most salient advice: “DON’T PANIC.” “You just come along with me and have a good time,” he says. “The Galaxy’s a fun place. You’ll need to have this fish in your ear.” Saying this, he takes out a small yellow fish. As he does so, the ship’s speakers burst to life, spewing a terrible sound that sounds to Arthur like “a man trying to gargle while fighting off a pack of wolves.” Ford tells him that this sound is the Vogon captain making an announcement.” He then shoves the yellow fish into Arthur’s ear canal, and suddenly Arthur can understand the announcement.