Themes

To a large extent, the themes of The Andromeda Strain derive from a combination of the social concerns, the nature of the characters, and the context in which the characters find themselves. Crichton's novel demonstrates the humanity of people who have "moments of great brilliance, and moments of unaccountable stupidity." This leads to questions about the survival value of human intelligence.

It also leads to a dissertation on the nature of crises and a discussion of the retrospective predictability of most human crises. Furthermore, throughout the novel there is a subtext that implies that much of what happens in the universe is accidental and beyond human control.

Although not obviously the focus of Crichton's novel, an interesting theme that develops, and at least through implication is to be considered, is that of the usefulness of technology in solving problems, as evidenced in the fly-by of Piedmont. Still, there...