Response to The Veldt
This is a response to the short story The Veldt by Ray Bradbury. The theme of The Veldt is that technology can be very useful in small amounts, but when technology is used in excess amounts it can lead to terrible consequences. Many literary elements were included in the development of this theme such as; conflict, character, setting, and symbolism. The Hadley family was a normal family until they moved into a new house that did everything for them. The house included a nursery for the children to use their imagination and creativity. The technology built into this house was meant to help the family with daily tasks but eventually had very bad consequences. Because the house did everything for everyone, including the children, George and Lydia were eventually useless as parents and their relationships with the children were fading away. As Peter and Wendy, the children, lost affection for their parents they began gaining affection for the nursery. George’s character is not fearful, he was not nervous about his relationship with the children, he just wants to do what is best for them, this leads to the progression of the theme. The nursery is the technology that overcame the children and it would not have been included in the home if George had not thought it was best for the children. Differing from George's feelings, Lydia felt like the house was affecting her motherhood greatly and she wanted to take a vacation and leave the nursery. George’s character is also very considerate and understanding, so he agreed with his wife. The children, once normal 10 year old kids, were now feeling things unimaginable towards their parents because they threatened to take away what felt like their parental figures. The room shows the hatred and resentment they felt because George began realizing the affect the abundance of technology in their house was having on the family and was slowly taking away the technology. The room was filled with lions and grasslands, other animals, and anything else the children imagined. The lions symbolized what the children wish to be. They want to be strong and dominant over their parents. The lions and the hot African setting portray the feeling and mood of George and Lydia being stuck and there being no way out, stuck in the deserted grassland. It represents the blazing hot death that Wendy and Peter wished upon their parents. The children, having created a relationship with the nursery, grew to hate their parents because they tried to take it away from them. The technology led to the children hating their parents so much, and loving the nursery so much, that they made the lions kill their parents. The setting of the story was very important. The fact that all of these events occurred in their home is a big factor. Usually a home is known to be a safe place, where loving families spend time together but in this case technology has ruined it. Technology turned a loving, caring place into somewhere filled with hatred toward each other. As seen in The Veldt by Ray Bradbury technology is acceptable in small amounts but as it is shown in this story, the abundance of technology made their entire family fall completely apart, with no way to fix it proving that too much technology leads to very bad consequences.