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Fourth Iteration: Nedry
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Jurassic Park, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Chaos, Change, and Control
Sight and Insight
Flawed Human Nature
Technology
Summary
Analysis
In Hammond’s private bungalow, he and Henry Wu finish supper while watching the storm. Privately, Wu worries about the changes he’s noticed in Hammond’s character. He can attribute some, like rambling speech and emotional instability, to Hammond’s age. But his evasiveness, “insistence on having his way,” and denial cause concern. For example, the evidence of wild breeding makes Wu want to check his research records. But Hammond, unwilling to deal with the situation, insists on his company at dinner first. Nor does Hammond seem concerned when they notice that the video monitors in the room have cut out and they can’t call the control room on the phone. He’s more concerned about the ice cream he wants for dessert.
In the park, chaos reigns in the form of power outages, a blinding rainstorm, and escaped dinosaurs. But safe in his luxe private residence, Hammond can maintain the illusion of control. Wu worries about Hammond’s tendency toward denial and his inability to accept evidence for flaws in his plans. These traits run so deep that Hammond doesn’t even worry when his line of vision into the park—the video monitors—goes dark. And whether his callousness toward his guests and grandchildren functions as an extension of his selfishness or his deep denial, it reminds readers that no amount of technological advancement will benefit humanity unless we address our species’ character flaws.
Themes
Thus, Wu feels relief when Hammond confesses to some “fears” about the park. But this isn’t a sign of Hammond facing the facts; instead, he’s worried that he won’t live long enough to see the delight of children enjoying his work. He reminds Wu that they originally planned to make a lot of money from emerging genetic technologies, launching into a well-practiced speech. According to Hammond, using these technologies for noble purposes like developing pharmaceuticals is a fool’s errand. Too much regulation slows progress, while sick people—and their insurance carriers—balk at paying the kinds of prices for these drugs that would make a man rich.
Hammond’s vision of the successful Jurassic Park shows readers what motivates him: pride and greed. Wu has heard this speech before because these flaws are so deeply embedded into Hammond’s character. Some of his critique of governmental oversight points toward real issues, such as a lack of public investment and innovation-stifling oversight. But events in the park—dinosaurs escaping the biological and physical limits their human creators have tried to place on them—strongly suggest that a total lack of oversight is even worse.
Themes
But entertainment is different. Because no one needs it, no one will complain about the price. Thus, amusement parks offered the only avenue for making the kind of money Hammond wants. And, between the park on Isla Nublar and ventures planned for Jurassic Park Europe (in the Azores) and Jurassic Park Japan (in Guam), the company stands to make $20 billion a year—by conservative estimates. And that’s without bothering with the pet dinosaur project that Hammond knows Lewis Dodgson suspects him of.
Hammond reveals the sheer size of his plans for the Jurassic Park franchise: within the space of just a few years, he expects InGen to find a place among the highest ranks of worldwide corporations. With this kind of sway, the lack of regulation and oversight of the park’s activities becomes an even bigger threat. InGen’s technology is morally neutral in itself—but when directed toward selfish and greedy ends, it becomes dangerous.
Themes
In the control room, a guard informs Arnold that someone saw Nedry (the “fat slob”) going into the garage about 15 minutes earlier. Muldoon curses.
A person can’t see what they’re not looking for. Earlier, Malcolm criticized the park operators for setting up their computer systems to monitor the dinosaur population exclusively for escapes, not for breeding. And ironically, since they don’t expect their contractors to turn on them, it turns out they can’t see Nedry’s escape all that well, either.
Themes
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On the road, Dr. Harding slams on the breaks as a herd of apatosaurs crosses the road. They’re huge—each as big as a house—and none of them seem bothered by the Jeep. Unaccustomed to nighttime cars, they don’t see the vehicle as a threat. They can see the humans (at least when they’re moving—their amphibian visual system looks for movement), but the humans don’t mean anything to them.
Harding explains to Ellie the mechanics of the dinosaurs’ vision that Grant already discovered experientially: the dinosaurs are more attuned to movement than any other visual stimulus. Although this represented the cutting-edge paleontological theories of the time of the book’s publication, subsequent research has disputed this hypothesis. Regardless, the apatosaurs’ disinterest in the humans parallels the park operators’ disinterest in attending to the facts available to them about their work. And while the humans don’t mean anything to the giant dinosaurs, unfortunately, the unforeseen variables affecting the park do have real consequences.
Themes
In the bungalow, Wu warns Hammond that he will likely face pressures on his technology and his parks, anyway. Scientists might balk at his use of the technology and try to stop him. Hammond scoffs that scientists just want to research, not actually make real progress. And besides, he continues, because he owns the island, no one can tell him what to do with it.
When Wu suggests that social pressures or control might be brought to bear on Hammond and his parks, Hammond rejects the idea entirely. He had unshakable confidence in his ownership—and thus ability to control—his technology and his island, despite the growing evidence to the contrary.
Themes
On the road, 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 hypothesizes that they might be attracted to a dead or dying animal, so he and Ellie agree that they should follow the dinosaurs to investigate.
Readers already know what dead “animal” has attracted the compys’ attention—Nedry. The characters’ corresponding lack of insight serves to remind readers of how perspective and background knowledge limit or enable people to correctly interpret the things happening around them.
Themes
