The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

by

Douglas Adams

Benjy Mouse Character Analysis

A “hyperintelligent pandimensional being” who has been living on earth in the form of a mouse. More specifically, Benjy has been on earth as one of Trillian’s two pet mice. When Trillian left earth to travel with Zaphod, she brought Benjy and Frankie (her other mouse). Unbeknownst to her, Benjy and Frankie have been subtly manipulating her, and when the Heart of Gold lands on Magrathea, they escape. Eventually, Arthur and his friends learn that Benjy and Frankie want to extract his brain to study it, assuming that the answer to their long-running experiment on earth must be imbedded in his brain. Another reason Benjy and Frankie want to dissect Arthur’s brain has to do with their desire to get rich and famous. Indeed, they have been offered the opportunity to give lectures about what they’ve discovered on earth, but they can’t do this without the vital information in Arthur’s brain. Rather than repeating the entire experiment—which would take another 10,000,000 years—they want to cash in on their efforts now. When they fail to steal his brain, though, they try to fabricate their findings.

Benjy Mouse Quotes in The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

The The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy quotes below are all either spoken by Benjy Mouse or refer to Benjy Mouse. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Meaninglessness and Happiness Theme Icon
).
Chapter 31 Quotes

“Well, I mean, yes idealism, yes the dignity of pure research, yes the pursuit of truth in all its forms, but there comes a point I’m afraid where you begin to suspect that if there’s any real truth, it’s that the entire multidimensional infinity of the Universe is almost certainly being run by a bunch of maniacs. And if it comes to a choice between spending yet another ten million years finding that out, and on the other hand just taking the money and running, then I for one could do with the exercise.”

Related Characters: Frankie Mouse (speaker), Arthur Dent, Benjy Mouse
Page Number: 201
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy LitChart as a printable PDF.
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy PDF

Benjy Mouse Quotes in The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

The The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy quotes below are all either spoken by Benjy Mouse or refer to Benjy Mouse. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Meaninglessness and Happiness Theme Icon
).
Chapter 31 Quotes

“Well, I mean, yes idealism, yes the dignity of pure research, yes the pursuit of truth in all its forms, but there comes a point I’m afraid where you begin to suspect that if there’s any real truth, it’s that the entire multidimensional infinity of the Universe is almost certainly being run by a bunch of maniacs. And if it comes to a choice between spending yet another ten million years finding that out, and on the other hand just taking the money and running, then I for one could do with the exercise.”

Related Characters: Frankie Mouse (speaker), Arthur Dent, Benjy Mouse
Page Number: 201
Explanation and Analysis: