Compare And Contrast The Veldt And A Sound Of Thunder

Advanced technology in “The Veldt” and “A Sound of Thunder” Advanced technology has the power to psychologically and physically cause issues that overall affect the way people live and act. In both of the short stories, “The Veldt” and “A Sound of Thunder”, Bradbury is able to convey a negative connotation of technology overthrowing the world. Some think that technology is a huge improvement to the world, but in reality, it has the ability to kill and permanently change the human race. In both of the stories, Bradbury uses death and killing to convey the dismissive effects of artificial intelligence. In “The Veldt” it states, “Death thoughts. They were awfully young, Wendy and Peter, for death thoughts.” Throughout the whole story, death

This shows that all of the advanced technology that the children are exposed to has affected their thoughts. The use of “awfully” portrays a sense of pity toward his children. George seems worried about his children, as he rightfully should be, but in order to justify their actions, he says that all kids just play around with the idea of death. So even technology has distorted the way George thinks about life. Death and killing are also greatly represented in “A Sound of Thunder.” It states, “He scrabbled at the golden butterfly with shaking fingers. "Can't we," he pleaded to the world, to himself, to the officials, to the Machine, "can't we take it back, can't we make it alive again? Can't we start over? Can't we­." Bradbury uses the word “scrabbled” to show the frantic state that Eckles is in. It represents his anxiety and his inability to do basic tasks because of the catastrophic event. This chunk of the story has the ability to give the reader a piece of sympathy toward Eckles. Because of the fact that he is begging, the author exemplifies the fact that just the minuscule death of a butterfly was able to change the whole course of human existence. Both of these

For example in “The Veldt'' it states, “They walked down the hall of their soundproofed Happylife Home, … this house which clothed and fed and rocked them to sleep and played and sang and was good to them.” All of the jobs that their home does for them are basic everyday tasks. Bradbury later explains how they don’t even tie their own shoelaces. This comes to show that these basic life skills that should be done regularly are now just something that a computer can do for a little amount of money. When Bradbury gives examples of what the house does for them, it is almost like the house is taking over the responsibilities of the parents. It shows that real parents don’t have to worry about raising their children or doing anything for them; they just leave it up to the house. Though the parents might not realize it, their dependency on their computer house is the main reason that their children act the way they do. The ability of that technology is also represented in “A Sound of Thunder.” It says, “Eckels felt himself fall into a chair. He fumbled crazily at the thick slime on his boots. He held up a clod of dirt, trembling, "No, it can't be. Not a little thing like that. No!" Bradbury is able to convey how Eckels is feeling through his word choice. If Bradbury would have just fumbled, it wouldn’t have been able to show the urgency that