George Hadley's Character In The Veldt By Ray Bradbury

In “The Veldt” by Ray Bradbury, George Hadley is a father and husband who wants the best for his family at any means necessary. He and his wife Lydia purchased a home that essentially does any and everything for them; their only purpose is to simply exist in the house. While thoroughly enjoying the perks of his HappyLife Home, George Hadley embodies the struggles and eventually succumbs to the same perks at the hands of his very own children. “The Veldt” helps the audience to see that although parents love their children and want the best for them, giving kids the world is just not enough to them and is not worth dying for. The author focuses on George Hadley’s character slightly more than he does his wife Lydia Hadley and his children Peter

While talking about the nursery, Lydia mentions to George how he seems to be more nervous lately. “You look as if you didn’t know what to do with yourself in this house, either. You smoke a little more every morning and drink a little more every afternoon and need a little more sedative every night. You’re beginning to feel unnecessary too.” (317) From the story, you can see that George is a simple man who loves his family and wants the children to experience the best childhood. This was one of the determining factors in purchasing the home. However, his wife helps him to realize just how much the house does for them. It has now taken the place of them raising their children by bathing, feeding, playing with, and tucking them in each night. George is a very lenient parent and allows his children to do as they please to keep them from throwing a fit. He says things like “if they’ll only just shut up.” (323) while giving in to their demands. The children know exactly how to get their way when it comes to their parents, especially their father. George’s behavior depicts he is either naïve to the children’s deception or he is in denial. Psychologist David McClean also confirms that George and Lydia have allowed the house to take over their roles as parents. And because of this, the

At one moment during the story, George announces that he will be shutting down the house to allow them to learn to do things on their own because they have all lost themselves in the house. Peter yelled “I wish you were dead” (323) at the threat of George shutting the house down. The children absolute hate the ideal and immediately begin to beg George not to shut the house down. At this moment, George has a breakdown and begins to follow through with his threat. He has reached his breaking point and says, “…it stays off. The whole damn house dies as of here and now. The more I see of the mess we’ve put ourselves in, the more it sickens me.” (323) The audience sympathizes with George because he just cannot say no to his children. After the children would beg and plead for him not to shut the nursery down, he would repeatedly give in to their cries. Even when he would try to discipline his children, he failed to follow through. His commands such as “Go to bed…You heard me.” (319) and “I won’t have any threats from my son!” (321) fell on deaf ears with his children. One would conclude that of George’s weaknesses, the greatest would be his children and pleasing them. Unfortunately, his weakness and inability to deny his children led to his and Lydia’s demise. This weakness also caused internal, as well as external conflicts. Externally, he battled with turning the house off because