Jurassic Park

“Bobbie looked at the stars, and listened to the peaceful lapping of the surf at the shore. In the darkness she saw shadows of the fishing boats anchored offshore. The whole scene was quiet, so normal, she felt foolish to be talking of vampires and kidnapping babies.”

Juxtaposed with the dramatic and out-of-the-ordinary events of the raptor bite Bobbie witnessed earlier that day is the quiet, peaceful night on the beach. After the experience she had, Bobbie is relieved to have a moment of solitude and what at least appears to be normalcy. She recently learned from the local midwife about the hupia, or raptor, that kidnaps children, and this foreshadows the real-life raptors that will be revealed later. Ironically, there is nothing normal about Costa Rica or the island Bobbie inhabits; instead, something completely unexpected and extraordinary is taking place very close by: the recreation of dinosaurs.

“Hammond also concealed from prospective investors the fact that the elephant’s behavior had changed substantially in the process of miniaturization. The little creature might look like an elephant, but he acted like a vicious rodent, quick-moving and mean-tempered.”

As Gennaro goes to meet Hammond, he recalls how Hammond deceived investors into funding his genetic engineering pursuits. Hammond created a miniature elephant using a type of crossbreeding procedure—not cloning or genetic engineering of any sort. He carted the elephant with him to every investment pitch and sold the idea by lying about how he had made this tiny elephant. This history indicates Hammond’s deceptive nature and foreshadows the behavior of the dinosaurs in Jurassic Park. Like the elephant, they too seem temperamental and quick to illness.

“In a way… We have been very, very careful about making sure nobody knows about it, until the day we finally open that island to a surprised and delighted public.”

In his inner reflections, Gennaro reveals that Hammond is not an honest man. To gain investors for his park, Hammond bred a tiny elephant and played it off as a genetically engineered animal. With his tales, he wowed rich people into giving him the money he needed to try and pursue genetic engineering for real. Hammond also continuously assures both Grant and Gennaro that absolutely nothing is wrong on the island and lies about how the workers died. When Hammond makes this statement about his vision of how the public will receive his park, he is either blatantly lying or deceiving himself, because he likely already knows that this dream will not come to fruition.

“In the information society, nobody thinks. We expected to banish paper, but we actually banished thought.”

Here, Malcolm sets his sights on a particular manifestation of modern science: the digital information age. At the time of Jurassic Park’s publication, the information age was in its infancy; the Internet and computers were still largely used by the military, large corporations, and hobbyists. Thus, this proclamation may seem prescient to individuals who today bemoan what is lost with the emergence of ubiquitous smartphones, social media, and digital advertising.

“Even if you could understand it, you still couldn’t predict it.”

Malcolm attempts to explain chaos theory and his reasoning behind predicting Jurassic Park’s downfall to both Grant and Gennaro, neither of whom have a background in physics. Despite his arrogance, Malcolm is willing to explain things on their level—and the reader’s—to help them understand. Malcolm describes the progression of chaos theory and how people slowly learned that science could understand a system without being able to predict its next actions. Malcolm’s explanation is a subtle reference to the fact that although Hammond’s team clearly understands how to genetically engineer extinct animals, they do not understand what those animals’ next move will be.

“It turns out you can’t predict more than a few seconds into the future. Because almost immediately very small effects—imperfections in the surface of the ball, tiny indentations in the wood of the table—start to make a difference. And it doesn’t take long before they overpower your careful calculations. So it turns out that this simple system of a pool ball on a table has unpredictable behavior.”

Malcolm continues explaining chaos theory. He uses a metaphor involving a game of pool to explain that very minor changes can create significant results. If a ball rolls even a millimeter in a different direction than it did the previous time, an entirely different effect occurs. Malcolm insists, though, that these very tiny changes can be measured and are organized like any other system; they are just so small that they are very difficult to track or solve. The equations produced by such complex measurements are nearly impossible to solve. Hammond’s careful calculations for how his park should be designed and the types of dinosaurs that should be bred does not guarantee any type of long-term safety or success. There is no guarantee beyond a few seconds into the future.

“The DNA of the dinosaurs was like old photographs that had been retouched, basically the same as the original but in some places repaired and clarified.”

Dr. Wu confronts Hammond about the dinosaurs and their high-speed and violent nature. He suggests scrapping them and creating a new set of dinosaurs that are more docile. Hammond vehemently disagrees with this idea, stating that people only want to see what is real. Wu again challenges Hammond, trying to explain that the dinosaurs are not exactly real anyway. Because their DNA is only partially complete, Wu had to make guesses as to what the missing pieces of the code might hold. The dinosaurs are only partial reflections of the real ones of the past; a significant portion of their DNA is entirely fabricated. This is much like a photograph which has been edited and retouched; while it resembles the original, it can never be the original.

“I don’t think we should improve upon reality just because we think it’s better that way. We have real dinosaurs out there now. That’s what people want to see. And that’s what they should see. That’s our obligation, Henry. That’s honest, Henry.”

Hammond shows the true extent of his dishonesty when it becomes clear that he is also dishonest with himself. When his chief genetic engineer, Dr. Henry Wu, suggests scrapping the current dinosaurs to create more docile ones, Hammond scoffs at him. Hammond insists on having “real” dinosaurs in the park because anything else is dishonest. Ironically, Hammond is the most dishonest character in the story, and rarely does a word of truth come from his mouth. There is additional irony in the fact that, as Wu points out, the dinosaurs are not real; they are artificially created and possess only partially complete DNA.

“Jurassic Park is not the real world. It is intended to be a controlled world that only imitates the natural world. In that sense, it’s a true park, rather like a Japanese formal garden. Nature manipulated to be more natural than the real thing, if you will.”

After Arnold shows the group the normal distribution graph of height and weight of the park dinosaurs, Malcolm becomes immediately alarmed. Nobody else seems to realize the problem, but he, as usual, does. Malcolm points out that in a supposedly unnatural or manufactured environment, there should not be a normal distribution likened to one seen in nature. The fact that the park dinosaurs appear to be breeding and growing in a natural manner means that Jurassic Park is much more natural than Hammond or his employees want to admit. They instead make it sound as if the park is under total control. Malcolm knows better and suspects that the lizard attacks are a direct result of this dinosaur park becoming far too natural.

“Raptors were at least as intelligent as chimpanzees. And, like chimpanzees, they had agile hands that enabled them to open doors and manipulate objects. They could escape with ease.”

As a game warden, Muldoon possesses a vast and detailed knowledge of the behaviors of various animal species. Although he is still learning about live dinosaurs, he applies his observations of similar species to predict what might occur for the dinosaurs. It was recently revealed that raptors had been escaping their enclosure and eating dinosaur eggs. Muldoon reasons that because raptors possess a high level of intelligence and the claws necessary to grab and use objects, they could easily escape and be roaming the park at any given moment. Through this scene, the reader obtains a true sense of the level of skill and danger of this dinosaur species.

“The history of evolution is that life escapes all barriers. Life breaks free. Life expands to new territories. Painfully, perhaps even dangerously. But life finds a way.”

Malcolm philosophizes again as he and Grant roll back to the lodge in the Land Cruiser after the park tour. Rain is pouring down in sleets, and Malcolm’s confidence is lost as it finally hits him that the danger he predicts is real and present. In his monologue, Malcolm explains fractal geometry and the way that it branches off in endless and unpredictable ways. This is also the case for evolution and life itself, as living creatures always find a way to overcome the impossible. In this instance, Malcolm uses a metaphor to describe the way that Hammond and his team have breached the unthinkable territory of the creation of new life, and while that is amazing, it is also dangerous and terrifying.

“A day is like a whole life. You start out doing one thing, but end up doing something else, plan to run an errand, but never get there…. And at the end of your life, your whole existence has that same haphazard quality, too. Your whole life has the same shape as a single day.”

Malcolm continues his explanation of fractal geometry and the similarity between large and small events of a similar shape. He uses a metaphor based on the idea that a person’s whole life follows much the same pattern as any single ordinary day. Furthermore, one little change or event can alter the entire course of the rest of a person’s life. Fractal geometry can explain this once considered random phenomenon: A fractal disperses into infinitely more complex fractals, and in doing so, creates a specific type of chaos. Although the events within the chaos cannot be directly predicted, Malcolm can predict that chaos will always occur. Despite the fact that sudden changes in the environment—or one’s life—may seem random and unavoidable, they are part of a much larger, more complex pattern.

“You know, at times like this one feels, well, perhaps extinct animals should be left extinct.

Both Land Cruisers are stuck in front of the T-rex enclosure when the power goes out. Torrential rain is falling, and the giant dinosaur is barely visible in the dark downpour. Malcolm and Dr. Grant sit in one vehicle, watching as the other vehicle containing the two children is thrashed, bitten, and flailed into the trees. Malcolm remarks that animals from the past should be left there, as if to imply that there is a very practical reason why species coexist with other similar species, and that those patterns of coexistence often cannot intermix. The current world, with its technology and human-controlled environment, is no place for massive beasts from millions of years ago, and as they sit awaiting their potential death, this fact becomes painfully clear.

“This is my island. I own it. And nothing is going to stop me from opening Jurassic Park to all the children of the world…. Or, at least, to the rich ones. And I tell you, they’ll love it.”

Hammond loses his friendly exterior and sounds more like a villain than a regular man with a dream. Although Hammond has always appeared eccentric and been prone to bursts of anger, he is showing Dr. Wu another side of himself entirely. When Wu points out that the park is under serious threat, and therefore so are they, Hammond exudes a complete lack of responsibility for the danger he has caused. Instead, he expresses that his only fear is not seeing the enjoyment on children’s faces when the parks open. His main goal is to make as much money as possible—billions per year—and he is certain that he will be able to charge any price and those who are rich enough to afford it will flock to his parks.

“If Grant was out in the park, well… what better person to get them safely through Jurassic Park than a dinosaur expert?” 

Grant is a paleontologist. His passion in life is discovering as much as he possibly can about the dinosaurs that roamed the earth millions of years ago. Grant’s expeditions require funding, which leads him to work for Hammond, and to the position he stands in again today. Hammond offers him $60,000 for two days’ work. Despite this flaw, Grant differs from other modern scientists in that he possesses a genuine interest in his chosen field. As Grant and the children move through the park to safety, they encounter both carnivorous and herbivorous dinosaurs, some of whom attack them and some of whom do not. With each experience, Grant relishes the moments of being up close with the creatures he has only thus far been able to study through fossils. With all of the knowledge and passion Grant possesses, he is the perfect candidate to help the children make it home.

“Living systems are not like mechanical systems. Living systems are never in equilibrium. They are inherently unstable. They may seem stable. But they’re not. Everything is moving and changing. In a sense, everything is on the verge of collapse”

The Malcolm Effect predicts that chaotic systems will only fall into deeper chaos. Arnold fully disagrees with Malcolm’s theory and his approach to analyzing the potential outcomes of raising real-life dinosaurs. Arnold sees nature and machine as two very separate things and does not believe one can measure the other. He has military experience and knows that machines require absolute precision to work—both a program code and a missile need to be perfect. On the other hand, Arnold believes that nature thrives on bursts of chaos. He sees Malcolm’s predictions of chaos leading to ruin as inaccurate, believing the entire past two days to be a mere glitch on the radar of a successful venture.

The scientists want it that way. They have to stick their instruments in. They have to leave their mark. They can’t just watch. They can’t just appreciate. They can’t just fit into the natural order. They have to make something unnatural happen. That is the scientist’s job, and now we have whole societies that try to be scientific.”

Malcolm believes that modern science is the cause of most modern chaos. Scientists manipulate nature to their advantage without considering the short- or long-term consequences. Because of modern science, nature is being destroyed, and this is hinted at as early as the first iteration when it is believed that the lizards—which turn out to be dinosaurs—are leaving their territory due to deforestation. Malcolm sees a mass assault on the very foundation of what makes life liveable, and he disdains the fact that scientists seem to have no disregard for what they destroy or change. This is evident in the way the dinosaurs are treated as well, as they are given version numbers instead of names and kept like zoo animals. When they die of illness, only the financial loss is considered, and another “better” one is created to replace it.

“Scientific power is like inherited wealth: attained without discipline…. There is no mastery: old scientists are ignored. There is no humility before nature. There is only a get-rich-quick, make-a-name-for-yourself-fast philosophy. Cheat, lie, falsify—it doesn’t matter.”

Scientists, according to Malcolm, simply want to be first. They assume everything will eventually be discovered and thus take no moral consideration in determining whether to pursue a project or not. He is sickened by the way that scientists piggyback off the work of others and seem to care about nothing but making a name for themselves. Malcolm views scientists as people who take the quick route to recognition and who do so in the most despicable ways. In this competition to make the next great discovery, scientists will sell out to investors, steal, or falsify results. As a mathematician, Malcolm sees nothing but faults in the modern scientific method. Ironically, Arnold has the exact same view of Malcolm’s math.

“But now, science is the belief system that is hundreds of years old. And, like the medieval system before it, science is starting not to fit the world any more.”

There is an assumption among many scientists stretching back to the Enlightenment Era that science represents a form of progress that is distinct from religion, superstition, or other non-empirical modes of understanding the world. However, Malcolm casts science as simply another “belief system” that, while not as ancient as religion, is now centuries old. Thus, it is important to approach science with the same skepticism one might bring to any other ancient way of thinking.

“Largely through science, many of us lie in one small world, densely packed and intercommunicating. But science cannot help us decide what to do with that world, or how to live.”

Malcolm observes a deep absence of morality in the modern pursuit of scientific discovery. Science seems to be about competition, money, and creating a legacy more than it is about helping people or nature thrive. In this sense, what could be a noble discipline is wasted on shallow goals. While science may be useful in creating technology for communication, travel, or growing rich, it seems to be useless in discovering what it means to be a good person, causing the opposite result instead.

“You were dealing with something out of the past, something constructed of ancient materials and following ancient rules. You couldn’t be certain why it worked as it did; and it had been repaired and modified many times already, by forces of evolution, over eons of time. So, like the workman who makes an adjustment and then sees if the clock runs any better, Wu would make an adjustment and then see if the animals behaved any better.”

In Dr. Wu’s final moments before his death, he considers something he never had before: the uncontrollability of the dinosaurs’ behavior. As much control as Wu felt he had over the design and creation of the dinosaurs, he knows that there is no way to control the way they will behave. No human has ever worked with live dinosaurs before, and there is no historical information to base any type of prediction on. The dinosaurs that Wu created are from another time and another world; bringing them into the modern world was a huge mistake. Wu’s process of creating dinosaurs, observing their behavior, and then modifying random genes to see if he could change that behavior in future versions was a gamble, not a science. Wu’s creation destroys him when he is attacked by a raptor and eaten as he ponders their unpredictability.

“Your powers are much less than your dreams of reason would have you believe.”

Malcolm lectures Hammond about his delusion of having control over nature. Hammond’s idea was to bring back ancient creatures and contain them in a controllable environment, but Malcolm predicted from the beginning that this was a foolish dream. Nature is not a controllable force, and attempting to control it usually leads to a ripple effect whereby attempting to fix one problem leads to another. No matter what humans do or how far they advance, they will never be able to fully control the animals or natural forces around them. Hammond lives in a delusion of grandeur, and Malcolm knows this, calling him out on it regularly. Hammond continuously rebuffs Malcolm’s warnings, claiming to be surprised that things turned out so horribly.

“The planet is not in jeopardy. We are in jeopardy. We haven’t got the power to destroy the planet—or to save it. But we might have the power to save ourselves.”

Malcolm tries again to explain Hammond’s problem to him. Hammond claims that they averted the potential disaster of dinosaurs destroying the earth by bringing the boat back, and Malcolm laughs at his egomania. Malcolm does not believe that humans are capable of destroying the earth, not even through nuclear means, citing that it has lived through asteroids, volcanic eruptions, and shifting plates, and will likely live through humans, too. It is thus not the earth that is in danger due to human activity, but humans themselves.