The claw is actually such a powerful visual metaphor. At the beginning of the film he's defensive and hostile to children. He's an old grumpy man. A dinosaur if you will, but through the events of the film he becomes something altogether different. He evolves, and because of those changes he doesn't need his defenses anymore. Him not being married to Dr. Sadler in the 3rd movie is such a slap in the face of his arc in Jurassic Park.