Tim Murphy Character Analysis in Jurassic Park

Tim Murphy is John Hammond’s grandson and the sister of Lex Murphy, with whom he travels to Jurassic Park. Eleven years old, Tim is a bit shy and bookish, more interested in dinosaurs and science than sports. In this way, he is unlike his sister. Tim knows Dr. Alan Grant by reputation and has read some of his books. Although he is scared of heights, he overcomes his discomfort when his survival demands it, as when he’s thrown into a tree by a dinosaur or when he has to climb over the high fences around the tyrannosaur enclosure. Tim successfully figures out how to run the computer systems following the deaths of John Arnold and Dr. Henry Wu. His attention to the dinosaur behavior and the messages of the computer demonstrates the importance of critically assessing the evidence in front of one to draw the correct conclusions. Because he is a child and has fewer biases and beliefs than the adults around him, Tim proves to be more flexible and adaptive in this thinking.

Tim Murphy Character Timeline in Jurassic Park

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

Tim Murphy feels anxious watching his grandfather (Hammond) argue with Gennaro. He and his sister Alexis... (full context)

Tim tells Grant that he likes to visit natural history museums to look at the fossils... (full context)

...a technician tends to a baby velociraptor. The small yellow and brown creature jumps into Tim’s arms. Both Wu and the tech assure everyone that the baby is harmless—it doesn’t even... (full context)

Grant wants to look at the baby raptor, which Tim willingly hands over. But Grant handles the creature callously, stressing it and causing it to... (full context)

...to open, Lex and Regis play catch on the lawn while Grant, Ellie, Malcolm, and Tim go to see the raptors. (full context)

Grant likes kids—especially the way so many of them seem fascinated by dinosaurs—so he asks Tim questions about raptors while they walk. Tim knows that raptors are pack hunters. Grant adds... (full context)

...whisk them around the island. Grant, Ellie, Malcolm, and Gennaro take the first car, leaving Tim, Lex, and Regis to ride in the second. Each car contains a display screen, CD-ROM... (full context)

...Cruisers approach the apatosaur and hadrosaur enclosure. As the vehicles begin to move once again, Tim thinks he catches a glimpse of a brown-and-yellow animal—a raptor—stalking through the tall grass. He... (full context)

In the control room, Arnold asks Wu what he thinks Tim saw, and Wu suggests an othnielia, down from the trees. Hammond complains that his first... (full context)

...and Grant prepare to return to the visitor center in the second vehicle, while Regis, Tim and Lex climb into the front car. To assuage Tim’s frustration at not being allowed... (full context)

On the main road, Tim looks through the night vision goggles while the rain pours over the roof of the... (full context)

...his pants” and flees the car in a blind panic, leaving the door wide open. Tim tells Lex to close it, but she’s too frightened. As Tim radios the other car... (full context)

...prey inside the car, it picks the entire vehicle up in its powerful jaws and—to Tim and Lex’s horror—tosses it into the air. (full context)

Tim Murphy comes back to consciousness. He seems to have suffered a concussion. Slowly, he realizes... (full context)

Tim finds Lex huddled in a drainage pipe, chewing on her baseball mitt, weeping, and banging... (full context)

A relieved Grant checks Tim and Lex for injuries. Hers are minor; his are more serious, but both children can... (full context)

...off with a vicious bite. And then, the sound of the night-vision goggles falling from Tim’s head captures her attention. Grant grabs the children’s hands and begins to run. (full context)

Muldoon inspects the wreckage of the vehicles carefully, noting the crushed radio handset and Tim’s watch. The watch itself is broken, but the band is intact, suggesting to Muldoon that... (full context)

...Malcolm, badly injured, near the crumpled Land Cruisers and that he thinks Grant, Lex, and Tim are still alive but lost in the park. Dr. Harding, the closest person to a... (full context)

...motion sensors have markings on them that he’s trying to use to navigate; he and Tim quickly realize they’re labeled around a central point like a compass. They press north, back... (full context)

...in the distance, but when the trio comes to the fence, she’s quick to mock Tim for his fear of heights. Nevertheless, all three climb over into the moat without incident.... (full context)

...to go out into the exposed field to wave at the motion sensors, Lex and Tim insist on going with him. (full context)

...giant apatosaurus raises its head above the tree line. A gigantic, prehistoric dragonfly lands on Tim’s arm. Grant, Lex, and Tim approach the nearest sensor, but it seems to be offline,... (full context)

...bursts from the trees, scattering the herd and setting off a stampede. Grant, Lex, and Tim run. (full context)

...Muldoon that he needs to go investigate the situation. In the field, Grant, Lex, and Tim see the stampeding dinosaurs from a very different vantage point as they crouch behind a... (full context)

Huddled in the tree with Lex and Tim, Grant suddenly finds himself face to face with a hadrosaur grazing on the foliage. This... (full context)

...of the island and a tranquilizer gun. As they approach the dock, he, Lex, and Tim hear snoring. The tyrannosaur, full after its hadrosaur feast, sits in the shade of a... (full context)

As the jungle river becomes narrower, it runs faster, carrying Grant, Lex, and Tim back towards the base. Lex, still hungry, wants to try berries from trees alongside the... (full context)

...dinosaur sticking to these areas will disappear from the computer’s sight. He guesses that Grant, Tim, and Lex might be following one of these unmonitored sections, the river, which provides a... (full context)

...out of the giant aviary enclosure, Lex cheers. As they ride the river’s increasing currents, Tim asks Grant why he asked Wu about frog DNA the previous afternoon. Grant explains that... (full context)

...the river, Grant slows the boat to a cautious crawl despite the current. He and Tim both remember from the tour that the dilophosaurs have poisonous venom. Coming around a corner,... (full context)

The river carrying Grant, Lex, and Tim back towards the resort buildings moves so fast now that it feels like an amusement... (full context)

...below seems to take an eternity. When he resurfaces, he manages to pull himself and Tim from the water quickly, but he can’t find Lex, whose bright orange lifejacket dangles from... (full context)

Lex and Tim are waiting for Grant to return when the tyrannosaur’s head bursts through the waterfall. It... (full context)

In the park, Tim cautiously peers out from behind the waterfall. The tyrannosaur is tranquilized, not dead. Tim notices... (full context)

Grant, Lex, and Tim race through the underground tunnel in the electric car, carrying the tranquilized juvenile male raptor... (full context)

...maintenance building. Once he’s there, Wu will talk him through restarting the generator. Grant wants Tim and Lex to stay in the visitor center; because Lex complains of hunger, he directs... (full context)

In the kitchen, Tim finds several refrigerators, all fully stocked with staples like vegetables, steaks, and milk, before he... (full context)

Back in the kitchen, Tim watches the velociraptor follow their scent towards the kitchen. The books all say that dinosaurs... (full context)

In the visitor center, Tim and Lex search for the control room, where Tim hopes to find a radio. The... (full context)

...in jumping to a second-story balcony, gaining access to the building. Meanwhile, over the radio, Tim tells Muldoon that he’s made it to the control room. If someone will give him... (full context)

As Tim struggles to navigate the confusing computer interface, he tries to ignore Lex’s needling questions. Pushing... (full context)

...the broken glass. But inside, they confront another set of locked doors separating them from Tim and Lex…and the raptors. (full context)

Tim falls to the floor screaming: as he passed through the door, he felt the touch... (full context)

...Gennaro that he has a plan to dispatch the raptors and pushes him, Lex, and Tim, through a nearby door. He hopes it will allow them to access the control room,... (full context)

...remaining poison into the beast’s tail. Once the danger has passed, Grant, Gennaro, Lex, and Tim head back to the control room. (full context)

...flash inexplicably. The video monitor shows that the supply boat has nearly arrived at port. Tim pushes the button for the grid, receiving another error message about the auxiliary power. Gennaro... (full context)

...them with helicopters. Eight are dead and six are missing, leaving only about 10 survivors. Tim runs a headcount on the dinosaurs. The count has dropped from 292 to 203. With... (full context)

...warmth and—thanks to waterworks created by the park to control flooding—water and shelter. Ellie asks Tim to bring up a map of the water tunnels. But first, he reveals his discovery... (full context)

...where he breaks his ankle tripping on the vegetation. In the control room, Lex and Tim fight over the computer controls after realizing that they can broadcast recorded dinosaur sounds over... (full context)

...cowering in the jungle, listening to the tyrannosaur roar. After a few minutes, he hears Tim and Lex over the loudspeakers and realizes that they’re playing with the park systems. He... (full context)

...As it lands, the dinosaurs scatter. Soldiers rush to escort Grant, Ellie, and Gennaro onboard. Tim, Lex, and Muldoon are already strapped in. Muldoon tells the newcomers that a second helicopter... (full context)