Jurassic Park

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Characters

Ian Malcolm

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Characters Ian Malcolm

The reason Hammond hates Malcolm so fiercely probably has as much to do with the way the mathematician presents himself as it does with his gloomy forecast for Jurassic Park. Malcolm represents a new kind of academic, an outgoing, cocky mathematician. He wears all black, flirts with Sattler, and generally acts as if he is the star of the show. The smart-ass, holier-than-thou attitude with which he constantly condemns the park makes us somewhat understanding of Hammond's annoyance. Although Hammond and Gennaro are the only characters who are visibly annoyed by Malcolm's smug self-righteousness, even Grant seems put off by the mathematician's flippant and relentless espousal of chaos theory. Arnold attempts to put Malcolm in his place, claiming he is just another new age science hack who thinks he knows everything because he happens to be an expert on a theory that has recently become trendy and fashionable.

Despite his personality defects, Malcolm is correct in every prediction he makes about the park. It seems odd, then, that Malcolm dies, sharing the same fate as several villainous characters such as Nedry and Regis. Nonetheless, Malcolm's death does, ironically, further support his own confident chaos-theory predictions. His I-told-you-so forecast for the island ends up proving truer than he has perhaps even told himself.

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