Jurassic Park

The group meets in the visitor’s building before the tour. The exhibits inside are unfinished and unkempt. Gennaro takes it upon himself to get on the stage inside the building and make an announcement. He reminds the group of Grant’s discovery of the “lizard” which seems to be related to the infant attacks and bites suffered by Tina. Gennaro wants to know if the dinosaurs are well-contained, if visitors are safe, and if these attacks stem from the experiments taking place in Jurassic Park. Hammond looks on with his arms crossed. Malcolm pipes up and says that some dinosaurs have likely escaped, but that the infant deaths and lizards are unrelated to that fact. He states that it is impossible to isolate nature in the way that Hammond has attempted. Hammond calls him an “arrogant little snot” (102), revealing that his friendly demeanour is likely an act. He tells Gennaro that he will not be shut down. A helicopter arrives moments later, and Hammond’s two grandchildren—Tim, age 11, and Alexis, age eight—climb out. Gennaro cannot believe that Hammond would willingly risk his grandchildren’s lives, and Hammond tells him to “take it easy” (103).

Both Tim and Alexis feel uncomfortable as they approach Gennaro and Hammond arguing. Meanwhile, Grant, Sattler, and Malcolm stand aside awkwardly. Tim instantly recognizes Grant, having read his books, and the two begin chatting about dinosaurs, but Tim is not yet aware of the fact that Jurassic Park houses live ones. Regis is assigned to watch the kids for the duration of their stay, and he is not pleased about it. As they begin their tour, Tim notices signs reading “closed area,” “biohazard,” and “teratogenic substances” (109). He is thrilled at the thought of a little danger, but Regis tells him to ignore the signs because the park is “perfectly safe” (109).

Ed shows the group the mission control room, from which the entire park is controlled. Next, he takes them to “see how [they] obtain dinosaur DNA” (110). A geneticist named Dr. Wu explains that the DNA is extracted either from a large amount of crushed up dinosaur fossils, or from “the fossilized resin of prehistoric tree sap” (111), also known as amber. Insects like mosquitoes that become trapped in amber may have the blood of an extinct dinosaur they bit inside their body, and Dr. Wu explains that they have figured out how to extract it.

Wu shows the group the Hood computers which analyze the genetic code of the samples to determine where repairs need to occur. The team then inserts new code to repair the DNA which will be used to create a living dinosaur. This process normally takes years, but InGen has figured out how to do it in a few hours.

Wu shows them the lab containing the manufactured eggs containing various embryos, and then leads the group to the hatchery and nursery. The dinosaurs in Jurassic Park do not reproduce, because they are sterilized with radiation and intentionally bred female by controlling chromosomes.

Malcolm asks Dr. Wu if they have bred any procompsognathuses, and Wu readily admits they have many, as well as a pack of female raptors that are not yet integrated into the park. The tiny scavenger procompsognathuses help keep the island clear of carcasses, he explains. Wu refers to them as “compys” (124) and notes that they are also used as a waste management tool for the large amounts of excrement on the island—because they eat it. When Malcolm questions Wu again about the lizard attacks, Wu insists that the dinosaurs could not possibly escape because they are “genetically engineered to be unable to survive in the real world” (127) and will literally die after twelve hours without a vitamin supplement supplied at the park. This makes the dinosaurs prisoners of the island.

Wu suggests that the group go visit the raptor pen. They walk past a pen of 50 or so goats, which Malcolm guesses are to feed the dinosaurs, and then spot a pen that appears empty. Suddenly, five raptors charge the fence, giving the three visitors a startle: “[F]rom beginning to end, the attack could not have taken more than six seconds” (132) and Grant can hardly believe it. Malcolm makes a keen observation that predators such as lions are not natural-born man-eaters; instead, they learn in their life that people are easy to kill, and “only afterward do they become man-killers” (134). Malcolm reasons that if the same is true for dinosaurs; the raptors that just attacked them must have learned the same lesson.

Hammond and Wu are in Hammond’s bungalow discussing an issue: Wu worries that visitors will be shocked and disappointed when they see how quickly the dinosaurs move and suggests replacing them with more domesticated versions. Hammond scoffs at this, proclaiming that people want to see real dinosaurs. Wu tries to explain that even the current dinosaurs are not real, they are a recreation with DNA partially filled in by Wu himself, and there would be no fundamental difference by introducing more docile ones. Wu is also concerned that the current safety equipment is simply too slow for the dinosaurs’ speed, but he painfully realizes that Hammond’s plan is too close to fruition for Wu to be able to get through to him. Originally, Wu agreed to work for Hammond because Hammond promised a life of scientific freedom, without the need for approvals and applications. Hammond also promised Wu as much time and money as he needed to “take a crack at the impossible” (139) and Wu cannot help but see the potential to make his mark on science. Wu begins to realize, though, that he is now no longer needed. His technology is successful and the dinosaurs are living. Hammond takes a phone call, and then tells Wu firmly that the real dinosaurs will be kept and maintained, scrapping Wu’s suggestion of more docile ones. He then shows Wu the door.

Next, the group is led to the control room. There, they meet John Arnold, the head of controls, who shows them the grid which indicates every dinosaur’s position over the past several days. Arnold tracks the dinosaurs’ movements and habits using a computer program which utilizes motion sensors and image recognition to distinguish between species. The program also conducts a “category tally” (143) which ensures all 238 dinosaurs are always accounted for. Arnold boasts that the system would know if one was missing within five minutes of it being gone, but Grant finds this concerning knowing how fast the raptors move and how much can therefore happen within five minutes. Arnold goes on to explain that the current dinosaurs are Version 4.4; similar to software, they are updated and remade as glitches are discovered.

Arnold describes the amusement-style tour rides that will function in the park, including a river ride and a canopy tour. When Arnold shows the group a graph depicting a normal distribution of height and weight amongst the dinosaur population, Malcolm is the only one who seems to realize the horrible issue with that fact: it means Jurassic Park is more natural and thus uncontrollable than planned.

A line of Toyota Land Cruisers pulls up and Grant, Malcolm, Sattler, and Gennaro get into one vehicle while Tim, Lex, and Regis get into another. Through an intercom connecting the vehicles, Tim overhears Gennaro angrily lecturing Malcolm about the dangers of the park. The intercom begins narrating the tour, pointing out the foliage and providing random facts about the size, shape, and habits of dinosaurs. The vehicles pass hypsilophodonts, a gazelle-sized dinosaur, and tiny othnielias in the trees. The dinosaurs are sitting, relaxing, or eating, and Lex remarks that it is “pretty boring” (153). The intercom speaker announces that the next stretch of the tour will be to see much larger dinosaurs.

John Arnold sits in the control room smoking and worrying about the first ever visitors in Jurassic Park. He knows that any number of things could go wrong, and since staff rarely actually go out into the park, he is not even entirely sure what those mishaps might be. Arnold works for Hammond as a systems engineer. It was his job to get the park running from a technical standpoint, and he thus maintains general control over what happens there. Arnold views the entire world as one big amusement park, joking that “Paris is a theme park… although it’s too expensive, and the park employees are unpleasant and sullen” (155). Everything is designed to entertain the masses.

Hammond notices Arnold worrying and tries to downplay his concerns, but Arnold insists that Jurassic Park is the biggest feat of engineering ever attempted. The park has the problems of an amusement park (maintenance, food, accommodations, security, etc.), as well as the problems of a zoo (dealing with live animals, pests, infestations, disease) and the problems of trying to work with a species no human has ever dealt with before.

 Arnold insists that the park is “inherently hazardous” (156), which upsets Hammond once again, but Arnold explains that many of the species are either sick or unpredictable. Arnold’s partner in the control room, Dennis Nedry, notes that he has found “page after page of errors” (158) in the park’s programsIn the Land Cruisers, the group drives past a single dilophosaurus, one of the “earliest carnivorous dinosaurs” (159). Regis explains that it secretes a toxin which causes the victim to lose consciousness and calls it a perfect addition to the park. The group passes a group of docile triceratopses, and then the voice announces they will soon see the Tyrannosaurus rex.

There is a fantastical mood in the air as the Land Cruisers rumble through the tropical jungles of Jurassic Park. The group can see apatosaur necks in one direction, and the bath of sunlight that extends along the trees. It feels as if they have really been transported back to the time of the dinosaurs. The group arrives at the location where the T-rex is supposed to live, and the vehicles stop. In a clearing, cage bars are lifted, and a goat is tethered there.

Hammond and Arnold watch from the control room, noting that the visitors are clearly engaged and have “come for the danger” (162) of it all. With them is Robert Muldoon, a Kenyan-raised man who works as the park’s game warden. He shares Arnold’s apprehension as they watch the visitors wait for their dinosaur to appear. Muldoon is particularly worried about the velociraptors in the park since they are “at least as intelligent as chimpanzees” (164), and their claws allow them to escape places easily. This thought foreshadows the moment in the next chapter when Tim sees a raptor in the trees. Muldoon remembers the three workers who were attacked by an escaped raptor, confirming that the man Bobbie Carter attempted to treat weeks prior was in fact attacked by a raptor.

Moments later, a twenty-foot tall, square-headed T-rex creeps up through the trees. It smells of “putrefaction and death” (165) and stays hidden in the trees for a few minutes. Malcolm seems the most excited, as he keeps asking questions like “Can she see us?” and “What is she afraid of?” (166). After a few moments, the carnivore bounds out of the trees and kills the goat. It watches for a few minutes to see if any other predators are near, and when it realizes it is safe, begins devouring its prey. Lex finds the whole event disgusting to watch. Gennaro is pale with fright, and Malcolm concludes that it was fantastic.

On the tour, Tim spots something running through the trees and is certain it is a raptor. He demands that the car be stopped, but Regis denies the possibility that a raptor could have escaped. He explains that they cannot go backward because the cars are only programmed to go forward. Malcolm cuts into the intercom and asks Tim how big the raptor was, to which Tim replies that it was likely a baby. Malcolm sounds relieved, and Lex complains of hunger. Tim is certain he saw a raptor. Nobody in the control room believes what Tim saw either, and Hammond is preoccupied with his own disappointment that their “very first visitors are going through [the park] like accountants, just looking for problems. They aren’t experiencing the wonder of it all” (171).

The group arrives at the stegosaurus enclosure and find one specimen inside. The dinosaur appears lethargic and dumbfounded. Regis explains that the stegosaurus was tranquilized because it is sick, and the park vet, Dr. Harding, is treating it. Sattler notices that there is a foul smell “like rotting fish” (174) coming from the dinosaur. Sattler reasons that perhaps the stegosauruses are swallowing poison berries unintentionally.

Meanwhile, Gennaro asks Malcolm about chaos theory to gain a deeper understanding of what his predictions entail. Malcolm explains that “there are great categories of phenomena that are inherently unpredictable” (178). He already reasoned that animals that lived millions of years ago would become sickly in today’s environment with completely different diseases and weather, as well as less oxygen in the air. Malcolm concludes his thoughts by stating that life tends to break free of all barriers and find a way to evolve, although this is often a dangerous process. A few feet away, Grant stumbles across a piece of a velociraptor egg. Harding, the vet, assures him that it could not possibly be, as the dinosaurs were designed not to breed, but Grant is certain that that is exactly what he is holding.

Back in the control room, Hammond is skeptical at the possibility of a dinosaur egg. He thinks it is impossible, but over the communications Malcolm asks Arnold to run the tally regardless. The computer finds 283 dinosaurs, more than there should be. Wu cannot believe it at first, but after he is shown the normal distribution graph, he begins to panic. The dinosaurs are somehow breeding, despite Wu creating them all as female. Grant is on the other line, and he believes that it is not just the compys who are breeding since he just found a velociraptor shell.

Grant reasons that the dinosaurs might be reproducing due to the use of frog DNA in their creation, allowing them to change their sex and reproduce with one another.

The group starts to head back as the rain is coming in, and Gennaro and Sattler stay behind with the vet. In the Land Cruiser, Malcolm and Grant begin discussing the impending danger. Malcolm starts by explaining fractal geometry, which Grant has a very hard time understanding. Fractal geometry describes shapes in reality, such as mountains or the events of a life, which seem to be the same regardless of size. In other words, as Malcolm tells Grant, “Your whole life has the same shape as a single day” (190). Furthermore, one singular event can change the entire shape of the rest of one’s life.

Just then, Lex spots a boat in the distance with two animals on board. When she gets a hold of some night vision goggles, she finds two raptors on their way to the mainland. Grant attempts to radio the control room to alert them, but the radios in both vehicles are out due to the storm. The power goes out on the section of the island where the group is located, and the Cruisers halt immediately.

Back in the control room, Dennis Nedry admits to tying up the phone lines for his transmissions to the mainland and casually apologizes. It is revealed that Nedry is annoyed with the financial behavior of InGen and unhappy with a job he felt forced into. He takes advantage of the chaos and panic to slip away to the fertilization room and steal the embryos. Nedry opens the freezer, takes five embryos, and slips them into the shaving cream can. He goes out to the parking lot where the Jeep is parked, gets in, and starts making his way down to the dock. On his way, Nedry shuts down the security systems so he can escape without being seen. In doing so, he unwittingly shuts off the electric fences containing the dinosaurs as well. Meanwhile, Muldoon is worried about the visitors in the Land Cruisers and runs for the Jeep to go help them get back safely and warn them about the fences. When he gets to the parking lot, the Jeep is missing, and all Muldoon can think is, “What the hell [is] happening?” (198). Everything on the island is breaking down at once, dinosaurs are escaping off the island, the power is out, and it is discovered that there are about 50 more dinosaurs than the control room thought. Nobody is safe.