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Essay Man Against Nature in Jurassic Park

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Man Against Nature in Jurassic Park

"The world was made for man to conquer and rule, and under human rule it was meant to become a paradise" (Ishmael 82). Much like this evolutionary mythological theory, the movie Jurassic Park tells a tale of man's attempt to rule over nature. Through the movie's description and imagery, the viewer perceives the arrogance of humans to control nature, and the consequences and failures of this flawed intention. John Hammond, park creator, uses state of the art technology and ideas to recover dinosaur DNA, fill in missing gene caps, and breed the previously extinct animals to exploit his accomplishment. This process is set into motion without regard to the ethics behind the research, and …show more content…

In an attempt to smuggle dino embryos off of the island for personal greed, the island's unhappy computer specialist shuts down the park's defenses to escape. Nature only needs this one small opportunity, breaks loose, and pure pandemonium on the island ensues. Those in control realize that they have none, and become the prey of their nonobedient creations.

Near the beginning of the movie, Dr.'s Grant and Sadtler are on a paleological skeleton dig, when one digger's boy remarks that the dangerous carnivore Velociraptor "doesn't look very scary, more like a giant turkey." This typical human response parallels many other naïve and arrogant conclusions made throughout the movie, and is essentially the main theme. In viewing nature from afar, a non-interactive position, the dinosaur is serene, picturesque, and non-threatening. The boy arrogantly assumes that the Raptor is not dangerous, simplifies his existence, and associates it to a creature that we breed, exploit, and control. Dr. Grant takes exception to this comment, and he tells the boy to "picture yourself in the Cretacious Period," and vividly describes the Raptor's normal hunting ritual. This description places the boy in nature, takes him off his arrogant objective pedestal, and rips away his born-in superiority. Suddenly the boy finds himself terrified, as within nature everything is

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