A lot of novels explore the human condition by throwing people into the wild and forcing them to contend with the natural world. Jurassic Park is a story of people who wrongly believe they can create and control a natural world—in the form of an amusement park, no less. They clone dinosaurs, place them on an island, and set control mechanisms to prevent the animals from breeding or escaping. The nature they create may be artificial, but it still bites back (literally) and proves too strong to control. In Jurassic Park, the natural world is stronger than man, even when man creates the natural world.
Questions About Man and the Natural World
- How are the dinosaurs able to breed?
- Why does Wu believe the animals cannot survive off the island?
- Which of the park employees most respects nature? How so?
- How does Jurassic Park change the natural world beyond its borders?