41 pages • 1 hour read
Lucille FletcherA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
“The Hitchhiker” is a radio thriller, written to be performed by voice actors and accompanied by atmospheric music and sound effects. It is an unusual take on a ghost story. In traditional ghost narratives, a living protagonist is haunted by the (often malevolent) spirit of a deceased individual. In some stories, the ghost truly exists; In others, it is a figment of the tormented protagonist’s imagination. Fletcher plays with these ideas, introducing a questionably credible protagonist who is haunted by a ghostly figure and then revealing late in the play that he has been dead since the third page. “The Hitchhiker” draws its horror from several elemental human fears: death, isolation, and madness. Fletcher ultimately suggests that death, while terrifying, must be accepted as the natural and inescapable ending to life.
Fletcher creates a tense and suspenseful atmosphere using foreshadowing, repetition, and dialogue delivered by an increasingly fearful protagonist. Sound effects and musical additions enhance the horror of the story: The play opens with a burst of “weird and shuddery” music as Adams introduces himself (94), asserting frantically that he is sane.