The Veldt Symbolism

Essay 1: Technological Lions “Those screams - they sound familiar” says Lydia Bradley, not quite able to place her finger on why (Bradbury 6). Lydia and George Hadley, along with their two children, Wendy and Peter Hadley, live in an eerie technology-driven dystopian future. Ray Bradbury’s clever story, “The Veldt” is a short yet haunting piece that remains with the reader long after it’s over. Through the use of symbols, setting, and theme, Ray Bradbury employs the Hadley family to convey the dangers of technology and loss of family interaction. Symbols Bradbury utilizes include the Nursery, the Veldt, and the lions, all of which showcase loss of family interaction and normal values. Setting, specifically the African Veldt and the Happylife

“They live for the nursery” announces Lydia, frightened by the truthful thought (Bradbury 2). It is hard to admit painful truths, but Lydia manages to. She is, unfortunately, too late in her wake up call. The children already have a lot of “death thoughts” while in The Nursery(Bradbury 3).. It is sadly ironic that a place like the Nursery, meant to foster creativity, has the complete opposite effect on Wendy and Peter. They instead have “a tendency toward a slight paranoia here or there, usual in children because they feel persecuted by parents constantly” (Bradbury 7). The theme of death is a driving force throughout the story that exemplifies how technology can cause a tendency toward violence. There is a feeling deep inside the characters, especially the wife and husband, who realize that the way the children behave is not right. The wife, Lydia Hadley, helps her husband begin to see how negatively affected the children have become as a result of technology. It now does everything and “is wife and mother now, and nursemaid” (Bradbury 3). Since the house is completely automated, it does all of the housework as well as maintenance and care for each person. This causes both of the parents feeling unnecessary. One could say that their roles in the house are nonexistent, especially in the eyes of the

Bradbury guides the reader to the conclusion that families fall apart when they spend too much time with technology and not enough time with each other. ‘The Veldt” is more applicable in today’s technology-driven world than when it was written in 1950. The reader hopefully learns that technology must be limited and not replace human interaction and hard work. If technology does everything for people, then people become unnecessary. Family roles should not be taken over by computers and robots. The children seem have lost touch with human morality, due to the technology acting as parent. There is a fine line between helpful technology and hurtful technology. As the human race moves forward, we must be careful in not crossing that line. If the line is crossed, the human race risks losing its humanity. Lydia and George finally “realized why those other screams had sounded familiar” (Bradbury 10). But it is too little, too