‘Jurassic Park’ is a sci-fi novel by Michael Crichton that explores what happens when dinosaurs are brought back to life through genetic engineering. Things are definitely spiraling out of control, but it is through this chaos that the conversation about man vs. nature emerges.
Man vs. nature is a powerful theme in Crichton's ‘Jurassic Park’ as many of the characters believe they can create and control a natural world. Clearly, Crichton demonstrated through the plot that man cannot control nature, nor can man live independently of nature. My Aha moment can help bring insight and develop the theme. Dr. Alan Grant is a paleontologist who is flown to Isla Nublar, an island off Costa Rica, as a consultant for InGen, an engineering firm. He is the protagonist in the novel and helps me uncover my Aha moment. It happened when Dr. Alan discovered that even with high-security technology and a perfect plan nature is still able to prevail. In the beginning, the team seemed to have everything under control with science backing them up, but I knew it was too good to be true. In a flip of a switch, nature turned the balance and took control. The dinosaurs had escaped their enclosures and were now hunting. A quote that helps demonstrate this was when Dr. Alan said: “God created dinosaurs. God destroyed dinosaurs. God created Man. Man destroys God. Man created dinosaurs. Dinosaurs eat man” (p.259). This shows how man vs. nature is constantly evolving and you never know when the tides may turn. This relates back to my Aha moment when we were sure something would happen, but not sure when it would or to what extent.
“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 edge of collapse” (p.93). Jon Hammond and his team recreate dinosaurs on an island, wanting the dinosaurs to have the look and feel of the real thing, but wanting to control their natural instincts in the same way that a zoo keeps animals. They quickly learn that nature, even if it is artificial, has its own way that cannot be governed by man. We see that happen when Dr. Wu claims that “all the animals in Jurassic Park are female” (p.67). Although the team has used technological interventions in an attempt to control nature, Dr. Wu made the error of not thinking about the ways that nature could overcome his team's efforts. Hence, the dinosaurs are able to reproduce because the DNA Dr. Wu used to recreate the dinosaurs allows for spontaneous sex changes. This helps develop our central conflict through the use of my Aha moment. This is the build-up to the Aha moment and it’s as if Dr. Wu and John Hammond foreshadow this Aha moment before it happens.
My Aha moment helps develop the theme of man vs. nature, as well as further developed and even foreshadows the major conflict that arises in the novel.