The Veldt Literary Analysis

does their work for them. Inside the house there is a room called the nursery which is a vr room capable of creating anything. The parents lose touch with the kids because they are always in the room and they set no limits. When they did set a limit the children murdered them because they saw the machine as parents to them. I strongly believe that the parents are at fault for their death.

​In The Veldt, Ray Bradbury exhibits the literary device of contrasting symbolism of the nursery to develop a theme of technology changing lives in a negative aspect. To begin, during the beginning of the story when the nursery is described, it’s described as, “The nursery was silent. It was empty as a jungle glade at hot high noon… Now the hidden odorophonics were beginning to blow a wind of odor at the two people in the middle of the baked veltland… And now the sounds: the thump of distant antelope feet on grassy sod, the papery rustling of vultures” (Bradbury). People associate nursery’s with babies and place a positive connotation of a nursery, however in The Veldt; Bradbury adds the negative symbol of the nursery as a veldt full of bloodthirsty lions and scavenging vultures that people normally do not associate with nursery’s. This nursery also symbolizes the kids beginning to lose grip with family and going from a family oriented life, represented by the nursery, to a more violent and animalistic life, represented by the veldt. The symbol of the nursery also signifies the parents beginning to lose their children and it displays how before the nursery was introduced everything was normal and peaceful but the nursery adds suspense and displays how the technology affected them. In

Ray Bradbury written a story about how technology made a perfectly normal family into a completely corrupted family which is called, The Veldt. The Veldt is a science fictional story featuring a nursery that change the appearance in the inside. The family in the house had two kids named Wendy and Peter who were abusing the nursery to the point of having Africa as the basis of the nursery’s appearance. This was until the mother and father of the kids, Lydia and George Hadley tried to stop this from actually happening and the children locked the parents into the nursery to only die after that. The theme of The Veldt is that relying on technology can destroy personal relationships. The tools that are being used is the characters feelings and actions,

“The Veldt” by Ray Bradbury is a short story about a husband and wife who buy a “Happylife Home” to do all of their daily chores. It includes a nursery that will respond to whatever a person thinks. In this short story, Bradbury suggests of technology is reaching a point where it is no longer helpful, but harmful. This theme is portrayed through Bradbury’s use of stylistic devices, and character.

“The Veldt” by Ray Bradbury deals with some of the same fundamental problems that we are now encountering in this modern day and age, such as the breakdown of family relationships due to technology. Ray Bradbury is an American writer who lived from 1920 to 2012 (Paradowski). Written in 1950, “The Veldt” is even more relevant to today than it was then. The fundamental issue, as Marcelene Cox said, “Parents are often so busy with the physical rearing of children that they miss the glory of parenthood, just as the grandeur of the trees is lost when raking leaves.” Technology creating dysfunctional families is an ever increasing problem. In the story, the Hadley family lives in a house that is entirely composed of machines. A major

After turning all the devices off, George sees the house as “full of dead bodies” (Bradbury 9), moreover, he constantly refers to it by saying “to kill”, “to die” and other verbs that can refer to something alive (Bradbury ? ? ?). He even asks, “I wonder if it hates me for wanting to switch it off” (Bradbury 8) thus confirming that, despite his words about nursery's artificiality, he considers it a living creature, something that constitutes danger. Peter, protesting from switching the house off, also address the house asking not to “let Father kill everything” (Bradbury 9). Technology becomes the essential part of the family's life, and they cannot separate it from another family member. It influences them so much that they animate it in their thoughts giving it power over their lives. However, it is not implied in the story that the technology is the one and only cause of the things going on. Definitely, Hadleys are responsible for everything as the parents do not pay enough attention to their children, thus alienating them and set on developing an addiction. The technology is a catalyst, while all the wrong actions are conducted by people themselves.

The nursery is a place where the kids’ imagination can be brought to life through a series of optical illusions and sonics. Usually, Wendy and Peter think about unicorns, fairy tales, or innocent fictional places and creatures. But then when George and Lydia venture into the nursery and nearly get mauled by what’s supposed to be a hologram of a lion, tensions rise between Lydia and George. Lydia wants to shut down the nursery and the house due to her paranoia, while George wants to keep it open because he is almost 100-percent positive that his design is foolproof and no harm would come from it. Later, when the kids come home for dinner, they give off a very eerie vibe; they come in with pinched pink cheeks, bright blue eyes and are holding hands (similar to the horror movie, The Shining). Then the two children act as if they do not even know what Africa is when George brings it up talking about the nursery. Afterward, when Lydia and George are in bed they both have a strange feeling that Wendy changed the nursery - and that Peter completely hacked into the system. When the parents finally break the news to the kids that the nursery and house are getting shut down for a little while, the story takes a dark turn. The kids go into a completel tantrum; begging and pleading to their father to keep

“I wish you were dead” (Bradbury 9). Peter told his dad this after he had told Peter and Wendy that he was going to shut down the house, including the African Veldt. The African Veldt was a virtual room that captures the family’s thoughts and turned the room into whatever they wanted. The African Veldt was one of many technological advancements in Hadley’s HappyLife home. The house did many things for them, like cooking their food. The parents feel the Veldt is taking over their kids lives. After talking to their psychologist about the kids, they decided that shutting down the house was the best idea (Bradbury). In “The Veldt,” Ray Bradbury develops a theme that spoiling your kids results in them disobeying their parents and eventually revolting; this theme is developed through the setting, foreshadowing, and different types of conflicts.

Bradbury shows that the family lives in a high tech house when he writes, “…this house which clothed and fed and rocked them to sleep and played and sang and was good to them…” (Bradbury 1) which shows the house does almost anything for this family. The point of this house was for the house to do all the work so that the time that the parents would be working they could spend with their children. However, everything changed when the mother said, “Maybe I don’t have enough to do. Maybe I have time to think too much. Why don’t we shut the whole house off for a few days and take a vacation?”(Bradbury 4) which shows that the mother was getting overwhelmed and feeling like she was completely useless. Once the mother feels this way the parents decide to shut down the nursery which causes chaos between them and their children when they say, “They screamed and pranced and threw things. They yelled and sobbed and swore and jumped at the furniture...” (Bradbury 13) which shows that the family has actually been torn apart because of house/veldt.

Imagine you 're in a silent dead house The only noise you hear is yourself breathing. You hear yourself breathing in and out as you walk around with everything off. You turned everything off and it feels like there 's dead body everywhere. Your kids are begging you to turn everything back on not wanting to leave the nursery. This is what happens in the book “The Veldt” by Ray Bradbury is about the family and their kids have this room that is called the nursery. In the nursery the point is to travel where ever you want but you stay in the house you just see what is looks like. Their kids Wendy and Peter don 't use it for that reason. They only go to one place and one place only and that is Africa. One thing that happens in this book is that the kids are too obsessed with technology like the nursery which is to learn about other places and what they they look like and what it feels like, but that’s not what they do and things are getting out of control with them always visiting Africa.

“...The more I see of the mess we’ve put ourselves in, the more it sickens me. We’ve been contemplating our mechanical, electronic navels for too long. My God, how we need a breath of honest air!” states George. After the blindfold over his eyes has been removed he comes to the realization that how he has spoiling his family has deteriorated their relationship. As the character develops, Ray Bradbury emphasizes that George truly does care about his family which in the end put him into this situation since he wanted the latest and greatest for his family. “He cares more for his family than he does for the convenience the automated house can provide; and therefore, he has no problem turning off the house” (Milne.) Sadly, George is blindsided by his own logic as the true hazard catches him off guard. Due to the fact that he cares for his family he is willing to sacrifice their lives of luxury to undo the self inflicted damage of the nursery. When DAvid McClean comes over he states, “...You’ve let this room and this house replace you and your wife in your children’s affections. This room is their mother and father, far more important in their lives than their real parents.” Being the family’s psychologist David is able to explicate the complications plaquing the family. “He is astute when it comes to recognizing the threat

One would be the happylife home where Hadley family resided in. In the beginning of the story, Bradbury states, "This house which clothe and fed and rocked them to sleep and played and sang and was good to them."The house took care of everything for the family. None of the family members barely knew how to do anything. Another threat would be the parents spoiling their kids. On page 6, it states, "We've given everything to our children everything they wanted." When George Hadley threatened to shut the house and all the machines down, the kids would have listened to them if they weren't spoiled. This is supported by the psychiatrist who states, "Where before they had a Santa Claus, now they have a Scrooge" . The most dangerous component of The Veldt is the nursery. The psychiatrist tells George on page 8,"You've let [the nursery] and this house replace you and your wife in your children's affections." When George tried to close the nursery down, the children felt like their father was killing their "parents". One will feel mad and upset if they've witnessed their parents death. That's how to children felt, which led to their thoughts of killing. Another way that the nursery is dangerous is that any thought thought long enough, it will become reality. This occurred when the children imagined lions eating and killing their parents. The lions became real and in fact, did eat their

“All sins tend to be addictive, and the terminal point of addiction is damnation” (brainyquote.com). Stated by the renowned English author W.H Auden, the quote illustrates the results of the addiction in Ray Bradbury’s “The Veldt”. The story, first published in 1950, illustrates the evils of unhealthy addictions and the lack discipline in a futuristic setting. The author illustrates his purpose with excellent diction, imagery, and suspense. George Hadley had unknowingly allowed the children to become addicted to the nursery. As with any addiction, the lack of discipline, inability to accept change, and the emotional and mental effect of the change caused serious damage.

“The Veldt” is a short story written by Ray Bradbury concerned somehow the family has trouble getting along with each other and the breakdown of family relationships due to technology. In the story, the Hadley family (George, Lydia and their two children) live in a house that are filled with machines and a major facet of the house is the nursery where is able to connect with the children’s imaginations to reproduce. Laziness and Technology can break up families are the main theme that Ray Bradbury develops.

Nevertheless with all great technology there has to be some weighty drawbacks. Human relationships is irreplaceable, but that's exactly what the house is doing to the Hadley’s as Lydia Hadley says “ The house is wife and mother now and nursemaid……..Can I give a bath and scrub the children as efficiently or quickly as the automatic scrub bath can” (Bradbury). The children, Peter and Wendy, do not need their mother anymore and it is tearing Lydia apart so much she wants a vacation away from the house that she and her husband bought so they wouldn’t have to do anything. The nursery has crystal walls that play images controlled by the user’s mind. When the parents, George and Lydia, go into the nursery and see Africa everything becomes realistic and they can feel the sun, smell the grass, etc.