Post 6: 5 Reasons Alan Grant from Jurassic Park is a hero

5 Reasons Alan Grant from Jurassic Park is a hero

Dr. Alan Grant, protagonist of Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton, is flown to a Costa Rica island to Jurassic Park by its founder, John Hammond. He uncovers countless problems with the park, but Hammond refuses to acknowledge them. When the tour group ventures into the park, and gets attacked by dinosaurs, Grant is the one to save the day. 

1. He saves children.
            Everyone loves a guy who loves kids, but this guy manages to save them from dinosaur attacks. The founder of the park, John Hammond, decides to fly his grandchildren to the island for a first look at kids' reactions to the park. Obviously, this was a terrible idea, and Grant is constantly looking out for them when Hammond is not. "Tim picked up his goggles as Grant grabbed both the children's hands and began to run" (217). The fact that Grant grabbed their hands clearly shows that he cares and that he wanted to make sure they escaped from the dinosaur attack.

  

2. He kills velociraptors with dinosaur eggs
             When Grant and the kids return to the lodge and control room, there is a pack of raptors waiting for them in the cloning lab. Grant is a paleontologist, so his knowledge of the dinosaurs he encountered was vast. He also sees the deadly toxin that will kill any dinosaurs in the lab, so he decides to inject the toxin into eggs that the raptors will surely eat. "He held the egg carefully while he stuck the needle through the shell, and injected the contents of the syringe" (355). If Grant hadn't killed these vicious raptors, they would have killed everyone else first.

3. He keeps his cool in tough situations
             Obviously getting attacked by dinosaurs can be a little bit stressful, but Grant manages to keep calm when everyone else is freaking out. Without him, the other people in the park would have died. There's always that one person in the story who seems to do everything, and that person is Alan Grant. "The tyrannosaur bellowed angrily, and then the big hind leg came up and crashed down on the roof of the car; the claws slid off with a metal screech, barely missing Grant as he stood there, still unmoving" (190). Despite the T-Rex being within arm's reach of Grant, he doesn't move a muscle. I'm pretty sure most of the human population would run away screaming, not stand there awaiting a sure death.

4. He's the moral compass
              Without Dr. Grant, the many people in Jurassic Park would be dead. He guides them in times of crisis. The other characters have many flaws, such as greed, idiocy, and many more; but Grant brings out the best in people and leads most of them to escape. Their flaws would have led everyone in the park to a sure death, and eventually the dinosaurs would have escaped and took over the world. Obviously, it's a good thing he was there.

                                                    

5. He's the only one with common sense

              I hate to say it, but this is painfully true. Besides Ellie Sattler, his student, Grant seems to be the only one with any shred of concern for the real problems of the park. Hammond is only worried about his money, Lex and every other person there is too busy screaming, and the scientists are too busy being science-y. "'That's it,' Grant said, slapping Tim on the back. 'That's it! You did it!" (Crichton 362). Dr. Grant saved a group of people awaiting their death-by-velociraptor, exterminated the rest of the raptors, and aided Tim in turning the power back on. Without Grant, none of this would have happened.