Character Analysis
Money Can't Buy Happiness…But It Can Buy Dinosaurs
John Hammond is a rich old man who wants a theme park filled with dinosaurs, and he doesn't care if anyone gets hurt in the process. He seems like a cuddly old man, but underneath the grandfatherly warmth, John Hammond is the biggest villain in Jurassic Park. Everything that goes wrong can be traced back to his overzealous ambition and his disregard for safety.
John tells Ellie that the first attraction he ever built was a flea circus: "With [Jurassic Park], I wanted to show them something that wasn't an illusion. Something that was real. Something that they could see and touch," he says. He doesn't even consider that the dinosaurs can see and touch people, too…and touch them with their giant claws and sharp teeth.
John tells Ellie this as the two of them eat ice cream in the visitor's center while hoping Dr. Grant will return with Hammond's grandchildren, Tim and Lex, in one piece. He is worried about his grandchildren, yes, but here his primary feeling isn't for the potential loss of life, but the potential loss of his park. Stay classy, Gramps.
He isn't entirely selfish. He offers to fully fund Grant and Sattler's dig if they assist him, plus he states that "This park was not built to cater only for the super rich. Everyone in the world has the right to enjoy these animals." And be eaten by them. But if Hammond had taken his time, been patient, fairly paid his employees, and made safety a priority, Jurassic Park wouldn't have been a fatal disaster.
At the end of the movie, Hammond might have a smidgen more respect for human life, but one of the last shots shows him looking longingly at his amber-tipped cane. A half-dozen people have died but Hammond only mourns the end of Jurassic Park.