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 the control room, the computer screens 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 snaps his fingers. This happened before, he says; they can fix it by turning on main power. Tim desperately pushes the main power button again and again, until finally, mercifully, the lights flicker back on. Lex yells; Grant says something that Tim can’t quite hear; over the radio, Malcolm swears. Tim pushes the button for the lodge grid and the electrified bars zap and kill the raptors on the lodge roof. Next, Tim calls the boat captain, who hears a child’s voice and thinks he’s the victim of a practical joke. Gennaro grabs the phone and threatens the captain with some legalese. It works—the captain turns the boat back toward the island.
Tim’s careful observation of the computer systems earlier does come in handy in this climactic scene where he restores power to the park’s electric defenses and reestablishes lines of communication with the outside world just in the nick of time. But this scene also reminds readers that the motivations and blind spots of the park’s operators limit the park’s computer system, despite its sophistication. Gennaro and Tim must combine their knowledge to save the day. Hammond believed that he had total control over the island and the life on it, but recent events have shown otherwise. But, by banding together, the survivors have indeed managed to carry the day against the dinosaurs. At least, it seems, no one on the mainland will be victimized by any escaped raptors.
Themes
