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
As everyone stares at the dinosaur, Ellie whispers “My God.” She’s surprised at the animals’ beauty and grace, despite their immense size. Even though Gennaro has always known about InGen’s plan for the island, seeing the dinosaurs in the flesh still leaves him speechless. Grant feels dizzy and disoriented. But as he grapples with this unbelievable reality, his analytical mind clicks back into gear. He’s looking at apatosaurs, commonly misidentified as brontosaurs. People think—thought, Grant corrects himself, now that he can see the evidence to the contrary with his own eyes—that they needed water to support their massive bulk. Hammond continues walking down the path, unfazed, calmly discussing the weekend’s itinerary as the company walks under a “crude, hand-painted sign” welcoming them to Jurassic Park.
Gennaro demonstrates the kind of reaction Hammond hopes to provoke in his park guests: unabashed amazement. Seeing is believing in this case; even though he knew about the dinosaurs, Gennaro must see them to accept their existence. Grant initially shares Gennaro’s shocked reaction, but he’s a trained scientist who integrates the evidence he can see with his knowledge. This knowledge frequently allows him to understand what he sees more clearly than uninformed characters like Wu, Hammond, and Arnold. But he also demonstrates humility when he allows new evidence to update his mental paradigms. The crude, hand-painted sign offers a hint that, despite the incredible scientific and technological prowess on display in the park, InGen has cut corners as it rushes to open the park.
Themes
