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, Grant regards the computer systems with distrust and annoyance. The chief engineer, John Arnold, eagerly explains the park’s control systems to the guests. The computers can track the movements of each individual dinosaur via motion sensors and cameras that cover 92% of the island. This system updates twice a minute, and every 15 minutes the computer tallies the number of animals by species. Then, it compares the two datasets to account for all the animals. Grant asks about the version numbers for each species, and Wu explains that they change the numbers whenever they must make major changes to their genetics. Grant finds the idea of creatures having release numbers like computer programs discomforting.
Grant dislikes and distrusts the computer systems in part because he doesn’t understand how they work. His reaction suggests that an uncritical, unlimited trust in technology could be a bad thing—which will prove to be the case in Jurassic Park. It’s important to pay attention to the technology’s limitations: it can’t see 8 percent of the island, undermining Hammond’s sense of god-like control over the park. Arnold and Wu think that the two competing surveys that the computer conducted guarantee insight, since the computer looks for two different things. But because they’ve artificially limited the computer’s range of vision—only asking it to search for the expected number of animals—they remain blind to what’s really happening. Finally, Wu’s discussion of version numbers shows that he thinks of the dinosaurs as a technology, not as living creatures.
Themes
Gennaro asks about the physical containment systems, and Arnold explains that a moat surrounds each enclosure, ranging from 12 to 30 feet deep, depending on the species. Next come 12-foot-tall electric fences—50 miles surround the island’s perimeter and each individual enclosure. If, hypothetically speaking, an animal escapes, park warden Robert Muldoon would capture it with the aid of non-lethal equipment like shock guns and tranquilizers. Because of the expense of creating and maintaining the animals, the park focuses on protecting that investment. They have hardened the computer system against external security threats. The park may have a lot of problems—keeping ancient animals healthy and functional in the modern world isn’t easy, according to Arnold—but they don’t include animals escaping to the mainland.
The park’s containment systems seem more than adequate to contain their expensive and exclusive animals. But they are designed from a human point of view that doesn’t sufficiently take into account nature’s clever and never-ending variations. The park creators can’t see what they’re not looking for, and by limiting their assessment to the threats they most fear, like the theft of their intellectual property or the destruction of their monopoly by competitors who might try to hack the system, they can’t see all the potential threats to their system.
Themes
Gennaro asks about the “mechanical systems,” reminding Grant and the others that the island is destined to become an amusement park. Grant finds this idea as discomforting as the computer systems. But even when the whole park is up and running, workers will control most of its functions from this very room. And the computer system Nedry designed can track, feed, and water the animals autonomously for up to 48 hours at a time, if necessary. At least, it will once he’s done debugging it.
The conversation in the control room further demonstrates the park operators’ unwavering faith in the power of the systems they’ve designed to control nature within the confines of the park. In contrast, Grant finds the very idea of engineered dinosaurs in an amusement park disturbing. But instead of dealing with this distress, the park creators simply ignore and discount it. And thus, they continue to miss or ignore warning signs of the park’s instability.
Themes
The last question goes to Malcolm, who asks if the computer can display other data on the dinosaurs. In answer, Arnold pulls up a graph of the compys’ heights, which displays a normal bell curve. Gennaro expresses his firm belief that, given these redundant systems, he can’t see how any animals might escape. On the contrary, seeing the park’s workings has only convinced Malcolm further that dinosaurs have already left the island. In his opinion, the park’s engineers and caretakers make foolish assumptions based on an expectation that they’ve created a natural ecosystem rather than an artificial one.
Although he has the final word on whether the park continues toward its opening or not, Gennaro’s lack of expertise on dinosaurs, genetic engineering, or amusement parks makes him unqualified to judge the system. And he proves willing to accept the park’s systems as adequate without subjecting them to any critical review. Malcolm yet again points out that the park operators have massive blind spots. Readers might not yet understand the significance of the bell curve yet, either. But readers’ ignorance—unlike the operators’—can be excused because they exist outside the system. Those responsible for running it, by contrast, should not allow their biases and expectations to blind them to reality.
Themes
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