Parenting In Ray Bradbury's 'The Veldt'

Most children cannot use their use their toys to murder their parents, yet the Hadley children are a rare exception. “The Veldt” by Ray Bradbury is the story of George and Lydia, who spoil their two children, Peter and Wendy by purchasing them an expensive virtual reality nursery that bends to the whims of whatever the children are thinking. The children then rebel, and use lions they conjured in their nursery to kill their parents. “The Veldt” sends a message through the incompetency of George and Lydia as parents. Bradbury warns that poor parenting could lead to dangerously entitled children. This is demonstrated through George and Lydia’s ignorance of household occurrences, their inability to discipline their children, and the family’s

The Hadley family lives in a Happylife Home, which takes care of all household responsibilities including cooking, cleaning, and bathing. The home is so effective in it’s purpose that it leaves the parents absent from the lives of their kids. Lydia tells George, “I feel like I don’t belong here. The house is wife and mother now, and nursemaid. Can I compete with an African Veldt?” Both parents no longer feel needed in their home. This is a primary example of how technology could affect parenting in the near future. Since an inanimate object took over parental roles in the home, the opportunity for Peter and Wendy to be disobedient and entitled became accessible.
The untimely deaths of Lydia and George at the hands of their ten year old children was a culmination of their various parenting missteps. They did not take extensive action when they observed troubling behavior, were unwilling to reinforce the rules they had set up, and let technology outsource their jobs as leaders of the household. Bradbury’s tale is a cautionary one that warns parents not to underestimate their children or take the task of raising them too lightly. After all, children can change the future, yet the future should not be be allowed to change