Technology In The Veldt By Ray Bradbury

Ray Bradbury’s short story “The Veldt” teaches readers that too much technology can have a bad effect on people. In the story, the Hadley family lives in a Happylife Home which has machines that do pretty much everything for them. The machines make their meals, brush their teeth and tie their shoelaces. There is even a nursery for the children that creates any world they could imagine. In the end of the story, the nursery and the family take a turn for the worse. The message that too much technology is not good for people is the main theme of the story. Both the children and the parents experience effects from using the machines to do everything for them. Also, the children are so spoiled from unlimited technology that they can’t live without

Lydia, the mother, started to feel insignificant because the house was doing everything that a wife would do. Lydia says, “This house is wife and mother now, and nursemaid. Can I compete with an African veldt?... I cannot.” In addition, the father, George, takes drugs because he feels unnecessary. George and Lydia start to see the house as a problem, but on the other hand, the children are so spoiled that they see no problem with the smart home. The children come to be so dependant on the nursery, they begin to think of it as being alive. “‘Don’t let them do it!’ wailed Peter at the ceiling, as if he were talking to the house..” This is one example of the children treating the house as if it were a human being. Another example is when George finally completely turns off the house, the children and even the parents refer to it as “dead” and “been killed”. So, these are some horrible effects that the children and the parents experience from being surrounded by too much technology. They have let it control their lives. A possible counter claim to this idea is that the theme of Ray Bradbury’s “The Veldt” is actually about family. “The Veldt” could be about family because in the story, the parents don’t spend very much time with their kids. Although this argument is true, it fails to account that the parents don’t spend time with their kids

This theme is shown in many instances throughout the story. For example, the parents and children experience many side effects from having everything done for them including depression and worthlessness. Also, the children become spoiled by all of the technology and the technology replaces their human relationships. Some people may introduce other themes for “The Veldt”, but the most noticeable theme is technology. What people can learn from “The Veldt” by Ray Bradbury is to not let technology overtake their