Previous
Similes
Fourth Iteration: Bungalow
Explanation and Analysis—Complacent Leaders:
In Fourth Iteration: Bungalow, Wu and Hammond speak privately. Multiple threads of dramatic and situational irony come together in this scene:
Wu could hear the static crackle on the telephone line. Hammond shrugged, and set the receiver back in its cradle. “Lines must be down,” he said. “Or maybe Nedry’s still doing data transmission. He has quite a few bugs to fix this weekend. Nedry’s a genius in his way, but we had to press him quite hard, toward the end, to make sure he got things right.”
Related Themes:
Fourth Iteration: Control (III)
Explanation and Analysis—Halfhearted Attack:
In Fourth Iteration: Control (III), Harding explains why Malcolm's fall from the tyrannosaur's jaws did more damage to him than the bite itself. Through this conversation about the irony of the situation, the novel advances the ethos of both Malcolm and the tyrannosaur in service of its message about the hubris of corporate science:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Harding said, “....[W]ith a small creature like Dr. Malcolm, the animal would just shake him, and then toss him.”
“I’m afraid that’s right,” Malcolm said. “I doubt I’d have survived, except the big chap’s heart wasn’t in it. To tell the truth, he struck me as a rather clumsy attacker of anything less than an automobile or a small apartment building.”
“You think he attacked halfheartedly?”
“It pains me to say it,” Malcolm said, “but I don’t honestly feel I had his full attention. He had mine, of course. But, then, he weighs eight tons. I don’t.”
Related Themes:
Seventh Iteration: Almost Paradigm
Explanation and Analysis—Those Damned Kids:
In Seventh Iteration: Almost Paradigm, Hammond is terrified to hear the tyrannosaur's roar while he is out for a walk, until he realizes that Tim and Lex are just playing with the loudspeaker. His internal monologue, thick with situational irony, is practically befitting of a cartoon villain:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Those damned kids!
He should never have brought those kids. They had been nothing but trouble from the beginning. Nobody wanted them around. Hammond had only brought them because he thought it would stop Gennaro from destroying the resort, but Gennaro was going to do it anyway. And the kids had obviously gotten into the control room and started fooling around—now, who had allowed that?
Related Themes:
