Dr. Harding Character Analysis in Jurassic Park

Dr. Harding is the veterinarian at Jurassic Park. Prior to being hired by John Hammond, he was the chief vet at the San Diego Zoo. His expertise in modern birds positions him as the best expert on dinosaur anatomy and physiology, although there are still many things he does not understand about the dinosaurs and their health. He joins the park out of a sense of pride; few discoveries or innovations remain in the modern era, and he wants the worldwide acclaim and acknowledgement he expects to receive as the author of the first book about dinosaur veterinary medicine.

Dr. Harding Character Timeline in Jurassic Park

The timeline below shows where the character Dr. Harding appears in Jurassic Park. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

...they find the veterinarian’s Jeep parked by the road. Regis explains that the vet, Dr. Harding, has tranquilized one of the animals for study. The stegosaurs periodically get sick and no... (full context)

Ellie’s conversation with Dr. Harding reveals that the animals become sick periodically with symptoms that suggest poisoning from nearby chinaberry... (full context)

...maintains that the small white fragment in his hand came from a dinosaur egg. Dr. Harding, reminding the guests that all the dinosaurs are sterile females, suggests that it must come... (full context)

The visitors prepare to split up. Ellie will stay with Dr. Harding to finish documenting the stegosaurus’s symptoms. Gennaro volunteers to join them. Malcolm and Grant prepare... (full context)

...raise a warning, but they discover they can’t reach the control room or raise Dr. Harding on the walkie-talkie. They’re about 17 minutes from the base when the lights abruptly turn... (full context)

Elsewhere on the island, Dr. Harding, Ellie, and Gennaro find the road blocked by a massive fallen tree. Harding can’t reach... (full context)

...reboot than Muldoon bursts in saying that someone has taken the gas-powered Jeep. Because Dr. Harding hasn’t returned, Arnold and Muldoon assume he stopped to pick up the rest of the... (full context)

On the road, Dr. Harding slams on the breaks as a herd of apatosaurs crosses the road. They’re huge—each as... (full context)

...the Jeep pauses again to allow a herd of compys to cross the road. Dr. Harding, noting that the scavengers don’t usually move at night, wonders where they’re off to. He... (full context)

...use the Jeep to pick the others up. Confused by the urgency in Arnold’s voice, Harding points the vehicle towards the base. (full context)

...he thinks Grant, Lex, and Tim are still alive but lost in the park. Dr. Harding, the closest person to a medical professional on the island, needs her help providing first... (full context)

Gennaro leaves the control room to check on Malcolm. He needs surgery, but with Dr. Harding’s attention and high doses of morphine, he appears relaxed and stable. He describes the tyrannosaur... (full context)

In the park, Hammond supervises Dr. Harding and the work crews as they tranquilize and move a hypsilophodont. Hammond frets over the... (full context)

In the park, Dr. Harding revives an anesthetized dinosaur, assuring Hammond of her wellbeing despite her wobbly gait. Arnold turns... (full context)

In the lodge, Ellie helps Dr. Harding administer more morphine to Malcolm. When Hammond arrives to check on his guest, he glumly... (full context)

...creatures—seem to be staging a diversion to keep Ellie’s and Muldoon’s attention. And when Dr. Harding informs him that the two raptors on the roof abandoned the skylight, he hurries to... (full context)

...after second’s hesitation, she jumps. She expects the dinosaurs to follow her, but luckily Dr. Harding unlocks and opens the access door on the roof at just that moment, distracting them... (full context)

As Harding and the others move Malcolm to a clean bed, Hammond perks up. At least, he... (full context)

...lies on death’s door, mumbling deliriously though semi-consciousness about paradigms. Hammond leaves Malcolm in Dr. Harding’s charge, declaring that he’s going outside for some air. (full context)

...he mutters that everything looks different on the other side of the paradigm shift. Dr. Harding knows scientists talk about worldview changes—discoveries so massive they force humanity to reassess its beliefs—as... (full context)

...Muldoon are already strapped in. Muldoon tells the newcomers that a second helicopter took Dr. Harding and the remaining workmen; someone found Hammond’s body where the compys left it; Malcolm died.... (full context)