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
The Land Cruisers stop at the crest of a hill while the narration continues. Ed Regis appreciates the early evening light, but his guests impatiently demand to see the tyrannosaurs. Regis explains that the juvenile often sticks close to the lagoon because she has learned to fish. The adult often stands and watches the herds of apatosaurs, just out of reach beyond the electric fence. The adult dinosaur often conceals itself in the shadows, and they think its skin may sunburn easily. But no one really knows, Regis concedes.
The questions about the tyrannosaurs’ behavior point yet again to the blind spots in the park operators’ vision. Since these animals are essentially unknown in the modern world, it’s almost impossible to predict—and thus plan for—their behavior. The tyrannosaurs’ hunting behavior also points to their essential wildness.
Themes
In the control room, Muldoon’s caution about the park’s dangers contrasts with Hammond’s excitement. Muldoon built a reputation as a big-game hunter before becoming a conservationist and well-known consultant to world-class zoos. He likes the interesting challenge of working at Jurassic Park, but he’s under no illusions about the nature of predators. He thinks some are too dangerous to justify keeping, especially given the gaps in knowledge about dinosaur behavior and adaptation. The revelation about the dilophosaurs’ venom—and their ability to shoot it up to 50 feet—luckily came before the animals hurt or killed someone. And the raptors…well, Muldoon knows that they are instinctive hunters who love the thrill of the chase even when they aren’t hungry. And they’re smart enough to evade their enclosure.
Of the park operators, Muldoon operates under the fewest illusions about human control over the wildness and chaos of the natural world. And developments like the dilophosaurs’ venom or the raptors’ deadly hunting behavior reinforce his feelings. But his concerns don’t affect the other decisionmakers, suggesting their choice to close their eyes to evidence they don’t want to deal with.
Themes
On the tour, Grant watches from the car as a mechanical system deposits a goat in the tyrannosaur enclosure. He looks for the big dinosaur’s approach, only to realize with shock that he can see it camouflaged among the trees. It lies in wait for a few minutes before bursting explosively from the vegetation, clearing the distance to the goat in four strides, and killing the goat with one bite. Then, on high alert for the competition of other predators, she takes her prey back to the shelter of the trees for consumption. The episode fascinates Grant and terrifies Gennaro.
Watching the tyrannosaur hunt only confirms the dangers these animals would pose if they got loose from their enclosures; despite its size, the animal remains nearly invisible while it stalks its prey. And this reinforces the book’s ideas about the importance of clear sight, since it’s not always easy to see the full picture. Grant knows what he’s looking for, but the animal’s camouflage still makes it hard for him to pick it out of the trees.
Themes
