Introduction
The veldt is a science fiction work of art by Ray Bradbury. The short story was authored has, "The World the Children Made," but was later edited for the title, "The Veldt." The film version of the story was adopted in the 1970s by Nasim Tulykhodzhaye. The story revolves around a couple that has a scientifically modified home for two kids. The house they live in is automated and has advanced installations of technology. Written and visual literature has some similarities and differences, given that their mode of transmission is different, even if the two works of art are derived from the same script. Literature that is to be read by the audience cannot be the same as that meant to be viewed. The Veldt book and film share some similarities, but they contrast in some aspects of the story's blueprint. This paper compares these two genres by exploring how they share some similarities and how they are different by using the short story and the film, The Veldt.
The two narrations explore the ecosystem of Africa. In the story, Lydia tells George they need to bring in a psychologist to assess the kids because they have become a menace. George takes Lydia to a big screen where they see the Savannah Africa that has so many lions. The description of the scenario in the storybook and the film is the same. The book reads the "hot straw smell of lion grass...The thump of distant antelope feed on sod grass…" (Bradburry 1). The African setting is described as having antelopes and lions and other tropical wildlife. When Lydia sees the lion on the big screen, she screamed hysterically and ran away from the scene. In the movie, this is what happened. The audience sees Lydia screaming with horror and running away towards the outside of the movie room, and the husband pursues her. George, her husband, assures her that she shouldn't get terrified because it was just on a big screen. "Walls Lydia, remember crystal walls."
The storyline in the book and the film have the same main characters that are; Lydia and George. George and Lydia are a couple that has a home for kids called The Happylife Home. As parents, they are suspicious that there could be something wrong with their home, and that is why Lydia suggests that they get a psychologist for the children. In both the storylines, Lydia is doubtful that she can be a good mother for the kids because she cannot offer them the best. In both, she says," can I give a bath and scrub the children as efficiently…?" (Bradburry 3) Lydia is facing an internal conflict because she is not sure that she is capable of being stuck in that home all her life as a mother. After all, she is not an African.
Both the book and the film explore the theme of the dangers of technology. Lydia and George children who have and your logical disorder and they have installed a nursery that is meant to help them stay bless their condition. The nursery is automated and has a pink screen that changes depending on the wishes of George. The current display is showing the African continent with the lion feeding on the carcasses and other wildlife. The children spend all their time in the nursery working on this big screen. Everything in this house is automatic. Some machines perform every household function, such as cooking for the family, bathing them, transporting them to bed, and even dressing them. When Lydia suffers from the Lions' traumatic experience, there is an automated machine that performs a massage to release the tension in her. In both the film and the book, there is a machine that announces everything at designated times. For instance, in both the book and the movie, The Machine says, "It is time for breakfast," and the household goes for breakfast (Bradburry 6). The nursery has replaced the role of the parents in raising Wendy and Peter. The children stare at the screen all the time and let the machines perform everything for them, and the time they get too much attached from the parents. When the nursery is supposed to be shut down, the kids detest and conspire to kill their parents. Through their thoughts, they animated the lions of the screen, which devoured their parents, because of technology, the kids their parents, Peter confessions, by telling his father that he hated him. Since this is in the book and the film, then it is clear that the purpose of the writer was achieved.
On the other hand, the two genres are different. The short story is textual, while the film is visual. The words in the text are enacted in the movie. For instance, the nursery that is in the house has a screen that portrays the African setting. The wildlife is displayed in the film, but, described in word in the text. In the story, the narrator has used the first-person voice while in the movie, the characters It is the characters that speak. Give difference changes the way the message is deciphered by the audience. Themes of Visual appeal to the audience, the scene in the film become more educated than those in the text.
Another difference that exists is that in the film, there is a voice that introduces the film. It tells the audience about what to expect in the movie, Such as the setting and the nature of the relationship that exists between Lydia and George, and what inspired them to start the home. However, in the text, this is lacking as the book opens up with a conversation between the couple. "George, I wish you'd look at the nursery," these are the text's opening remarks (Bradburry 1).
There is a contrast in the plot of the film and that of the text. When George and Lydia are in the nursery room, Lydia fears that the lion may attack them, and when the lion roars angrily, she runs out his hysterically, thinking that the lion is after them. She is traumatized by this incident, and George promises therapy for her, which is never explained further in the text. However, in the film, a scene where Lydia is receiving a body massage from a machine is depicted, whereby she gets better afterward,
Film and text display their messages differently. Even if the movie had been adopted from the book, not everything would have been adaptable, while some additions were necessary to that to make it fit for a film genre. However, some similarities have been maintained in the film as they are in the text. With all the similarities and contrasts, the message is still the same. Scientific innovations should never be replacements for humans.
Work Cited
Bradbury, Ray. The veldt. Dramatic Publishing, 1972.https://books.google.co.ke/books?hl=en&lr=&id=9YP_awFRqToC&oi=fnd&pg=PA3&dq=veldt+film+&ots=PwiiVIlJpZ&sig=DAx3V0hqhOB8dkHO8z0tic9cpX8&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=veldt%20film&f=false
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The Veldt: A Sci-Fi Tale of Technology & Literature - Essay Sample. (2023, Aug 25). Retrieved from https://proessays.net/essays/the-veldt-a-sci-fi-tale-of-technology-literature-essay-sample
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