In the novel, Hammond takes little responsibility for the park or its failures and instead blames others for anything that goes wrong. He concludes that the people he selected as the park's senior staff have character flaws that prevent his vision from being realized. During the events of the novel, he remains in the relative safety of the Visitor Center and his private bungalow, continuing to believe that he is in control, even as the surrounding situation grows exceedingly dire. When his grandchildren become lost in the park, he maintains his belief that order will soon be restored, and that the children are in no real danger. Near the end of the novel, it is revealed that he has no love towards his grandchildren. When the staff regains control of the park, he rationalizes the disaster in the cold manner of a corporate systems analyst, deciding that everything that has happened was merely a fluke, reflecting that everyone he hired had some personal flaw that prevented them from realizing what he was trying to achieve, and that next time he will do better. However, while outside, he is startled by a "Tyrannosaurus" roar, falls down a hill, and breaks his ankle. He is unable to climb up the hill and is subsequently killed by a pack of "Procompsognathus".