Character Analysis
Lunkwill and Fook are the programmers for Deep Thought. When they show up, they're pretty excited about the prospect of getting an answer to the meaning of life—but pretty soon they're disappointed that the answer will take so long to get.
Loonquawl and Phouchg have almost the same names as Lunkwill and Fook, so we pretty much already know what's going to happen to them. They are the characters who are assigned the task of getting the answer from Deep Thought. They show up in one scene, where they start out excited by the prospect of getting an answer—but they end the scene by being disappointed that the answer is the seemingly meaningless 42.
So you can see that Adams sure loves to set up patterns. What might be less clear is that Benjy mouse and Frankie mouse are in a very similar situation, so the pattern gets repeated for a third time, with a twist. This is a classic comedy setup: repeat three times, but twist the third time.
| Lunkwill and Fook | Loonquawl and Phouchg | Benjy and Frankie |
| Excited to hear answer | Excited to hear answer | Excited to hear question |
| Disappointed by how long it will take | Disappointed by how meaningless "42" seems | Disappointed that Arthur won't let them dice up his brain |