Character Analysis
Taken for Granted
Dr. Alan Grant is our traditional archaeologist. You know the type—covered in dust from head to toe, tiny little pick in one hand, brush in the other. He digs in the dirt all day, picking and brushing and maybe uncovering one tiny dinosaur bone a day, if he's lucky.
To some people, this might be a big snore. But to Alan Grant, it's his life. He hates computers and worries about the day when they become commonplace in archaeology. For him, technology's not making his job easier; it's taking all the fun away.
Like Dr. Ellie Sattler—with whom Grant is romantically involved even though the two only hug each other on screen, like, once (the mating dinosaurs are getting more action)—Grant is an expert on archaeology, which prompts John Hammond to invite him to Jurassic Park.
Although Grant is thrilled by the sights of live dinosaurs—who wouldn't be?—he's wary of their existence. Bringing back extinct creatures somehow seems against nature to him. And when the formerly-extinct creatures almost kill everyone, that just affirms his belief that this whole experiment was doomed from the start.
Grant is probably secretly glad that all the technology completely craps out in Jurassic Park. If he hated computers before, he definitely hates them after escaping Jurassic Park…or at least he hates the total reliance on technology. When it fails, people die.
Father of the Pride
Grant's opinion of technology doesn't change during his visit to Jurassic Park…unless you count hating it even more by the time he leaves. But one major aspect of Grant's personality does change: his attitude toward children.
Before traveling to Jurassic Park, Grant taunts an obnoxious kid at his dig site. The kid compares a Velociraptor to a turkey, and Grant pulls out a sharp raptor claw and tells the snarky little butterball that a raptor would have him for Thanksgiving dinner. Later, when Dr. Sattler says she wants a kid, Dr. Grant clearly does not want one: "They're noisy, they're messy, they're expensive. […] They smell. Babies smell." That's a very scientific observation, Dr. G.
So when they get to Jurassic Park, of course Dr. Sattler does everything she can to get Hammond's grandchildren, Tim and Lex, into Grant's way. Tim is a precocious dinosaur expert, and Lex likes computers. Maybe Dr. Sattler can use these kiddies to change Grant's mind.
After the T. rex attack, Lex and Tim are abandoned by the cowardly lawyer, so it's up to Grant to lead them to safety. "He left us! He left us!" Lex cries, enabling Grant to deliver the heroic line: "But that's not what I'm gonna do." All Grant really wants to do is survive, but he keeps the children safe and comforts them when they get scared along the way. Maybe he'd be a good dad after all?
One of the last shots of the film shows Grant and the kids asleep on the helicopter fleeing Isla Nublar. Sattler watches them, and she smiles—perhaps there will be a child in her future. It reminds us of what Grant says when he and the kids have to spend the night in the tree. Lex asks, "What are you and Ellie going to do now if you don't have to dig up dinosaur bones anymore?" Grant responds, "I guess we'll just have to evolve, too." Cue tender instrumental music. We're still unsure if dinosaurs are cold-blooded or warm-blooded, but the kids have definitely warmed Dr. Grant's heart.
Alan Grant's Timeline