Submitted by CatoTheBarner t3_11yqman in books
Just reread the book for the first time in years, and it really struck me how everything is basically John Hammond’s own fault for trying to save a penny. I’m not talking about his God-complex or inability to recognize that anything bad could possibly happen (although both are major contributors to JP’s downfall). I’m specifically talking about his cost-cutting. The line “We spared no expense” is so iconic that it appears in both the book and the movie, and yet everything that happens at the park is a direct result of John Hammond “sparing the expense.”
1 - It’s mentioned that the staff on the island wanted to install a new dock that would have offered ships greater protection from storms. When a storm comes, the ship is forced to leave early before all their supplies are offloaded because John didn’t want to pay for the more expensive weather-proof dock.
2 - Scientist Henry Wu is nervous because the dinosaurs are too real (too fast, too deadly, etc) and wants to scrap them all in favor of slower, “safer” dinosaurs more in line with visitors expectations. John rejects this out of hand, citing both authenticity and cost.
3 - Game Warden Robert Muldoon warns repeatedly that they need more / heavier arms against the dinosaurs. John refuses and only reluctantly agrees to keep one launcher. When the dinosaurs escape, they are left defenseless due to the only launcher on the island being lost. In the same vein, they only have two gas-powered vehicles on the island and are left without transportation with Nedry taking one and the other already out in the field.
4 - The entire reason the phones are jammed is because of John. John had refused Dennis Nedry’s request of allowing his associates on-site so Nedry was forced to transfer the data back to the mainland via the phone lines. John also denied Nedry’s request of more personnel on the mainland, meaning the lines were down for an even longer period of time.
5 - Speaking of Nedry. The entire reason Dodgson chose him as his inside man was because of how dissatisfied Nedry was with John Hammond. John had Nedry working longer hours than agreed upon, refused his requests for additional resources, and then stuffed him on the overtime. This resulted in a disgruntled employee ripe for exploitation.
Just step by step, John Hammond’s penny pinching directly led to every major negative event that happened at Jurassic Park.