Literary Analysis Essay on "The Veldt"

Introduction

"The Veldt" has two primary settings. One is the Happylife Home, where the Hadley family resides while the other set is the nursery, which provides a view screens under the setting of an African veldt. The Home would do everything to the Hadley family and never complains. "They walked down the hall of their sound-proofed, Happylife Home, which had cost them thirty thousand dollars installed, this house which clothed and fed and rocked them to sleep and played and sang and was good to them" (Pg. 1). Likewise, Lydia also admits the house can do everything for them when she says, "I feel I do not belong here" (Pg 4). According to her, the house is a wife, mother, and a helper. However, the underlying truth is that, as much as the house may not complain, it might eat one wholly when provoked beyond return. Also, for the Hadleys, the house seemed like a dream which has come to a reality, but when things took an unexpected turn, they realized that no matter how good the gadgets were, it was impossible to replace the old-fashioned parenting style. Besides, the author is able to send a nagging feeling to the reader in regards to the time setting of the story. Although the author does not mention the actual time setting, in a way, he seems to allude to the future, which ironically is the present time. A time when technology is vast and runs the world like a "global village," and its availability is within reach. We are going to have a clear look into the setting and the fashion in which the author artistically and dramatically used the setting to enhance the reader understanding of the meaning of 'the Veldt.'

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In essence, the nursery is the center stage setting of the story, "Virtual Africa." The author spends more time describing the nursery to make the reader more familiar with the setting. He uses the smell of grass and sounds of antelopes in describing the veldt to make the story more captivating. For instance, the author gives us insight detail about the scent of the place when he describes the scent of grass, calm green scent of unseen water point, the corroded odor of animals as well as that of dust in the hot air which resembles the red paprika. In the end, the smell invades the whole house, and the children become rebellious and more protective of the house and willing to hurt their real family to protect the home.

Too much freedom given to children can sometimes turn out to have disastrous outcomes. Seemingly, Peter and Wendy were given too much freedom by their parents which represent the social setting of the family. For instance, the children would throw tantrums at their parents when dissatisfied about a particular issue. According to the author, Peter wishes that his father was dead (pg 12). The author also uses the nursery to show how technology has overturned the role of parenting. Often, the children were in the nursery viewing scene of Veldt. A world in which rules of the jungle prevailed. The lion, as a dominant ruler, devours other weaker animals.

Consequentially, George admits that the nursery is a little too real since the machine does everything to them (Pg.1). Apart from being too real, the nursery is virtual. This simulated reality can be seen through its capability of responding to the children's minds through their behaviors. Therefore, its virtual ability enables the reader to understand the mental reality happening in the children's brain. Without a doubt, it is not a pleasant picture to imagine. The children are thinking about death: a world where no adult exists or any other person. Essentially, the children are thinking of a world governed with no rules similar to the jungle where they are the lions. In this case, technology is more powerful compared to humans. It, therefore, means technology beats humans to make it harmful, as seen in the story.

Moreover, the lions that were fifteen feet away and looked ready to attack as reflected in their terrible green-yellow eyes signify the threat the nursery possesses. The author describes the atmosphere as cruel and threatening at the time by stating it appears real, excitedly, and shockingly that one could feel shivering on their body. Further, the author claims the mouth of the children were full of dusty fabric smell from their warm coverings (pg 3). Even though the parents foresaw the threat, the children kept seeing the ruthless killing and feeding of the lions. In the end, this prompts the parents to be more concerned and plans to shut down the nursery. On one occasion, Lydia tells George to shut the house off. In this situation, Lydia meant that they should throw all the gadgets in the house so that they can go back to their previous life, a life free of technology. The nursery evocation of Africa provides a hostile setting, which, on the contrary, is the best way technology offers experience with nature. Indeed, the nursery has effectively brought into light how technology can bring an end to parenting roles.

The nursery represents technology, which has brought more negative outcomes, which appears that it is out of control. The children were always concerned with gory scenes and also death scenes, which made the parents call a phycologist. Given that the nursery was fixed in an African setting, the constant exposure of children in scenes where lion feeds on dead figures is a representational for power struggle. Symbolically, the lions feeding on the dead figures represent the children while the prey is their parents. Indeed, this shows what awaits George and Lydia in the future if they continue to expose their children in an "African Virtual" life. George and Lydia finally decide to request help from a psychologist, David McClen who advises them to move out of the happy-life house to avoid their children becoming addicted and dependable on machines. However, before they live, the children request to go back to the nursery one last time. After granting permission, they continue to watch the nursery where lions devour weaker animals. The screams coming from the room caught the attention of their parents once again, and before they reach the room, the door shuts. Finally, a happy house turns out to be a nightmare. The house and in particular, the nursery took over the children's mind, and they kill their parents since they had planned to shut down the nursery. Overall, the story aims in suggesting the family would have been much better without their happy-home life. Despite doing all the activity for them, the house did less in making both the parent and their children happier.

Work Cited

Ray Bradbury. "The Veldt." The Saturday Evening Post, 1950.