“The Veldt” by Ray Bradbury is a science fiction short story with the main theme being the consequences of technological advancement. This theme is carried throughout the whole story and is told by third person point of view. George and Lydia Hadley are parents of…
The Veldt Essay Examples and Topics
by Ray Bradbury
Essay Examples
Essay Topics
Brief overview
What would the world be like if technology did every task for everyone in the world? During the 1950’s Ray Bradbury wrote numerous short stories and novels that discussed the negative effect that technology had on society. In one short story, “The Veldt,” Bradbury describes…
Originally named “The World the Children Made,” “The Veldt” is a science fiction short story written by American writer, Ray Bradbury. It was the first story in his anthology, The Illustrated Man, published by Doubleday in 1951. According to Terry Heller, in the article “Ray…
In “The Veldt”, Ray Bradbery uses figurative language and details to effectively express the negative effects the house and nursery has had on the Hadly family. Bradbury presents that the two kids and parents rely on their technology- built house. Not only are they not…
Inevitable Insanity Philip K. Dick, an American novelist, once claimed, “It is sometimes an appropriate response to reality to go insane.” Humans, under certain pressures of reality, inevitably succumb to the natural instinct of their minds. The characters of The Long Rain, The Kaleidoscope, No…
Technological Terror “Today’s teens spend more than 7.5 hours a day consuming media — watching TV, listening to music, surfing the Web, social networking, and playing video games, according to a 2010 study of 8- to 18-year-olds conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation.” (Dailymail) Today…
The parents themselves are entirely responsible to the leading of their deaths indirectly. In “The Veldt” by Ray Bradbury, the children are set off in the nursery, and after they become possessive of their new house, it sets them in an attempt to kill their…
Technology has become integrated into nearly every aspect of our society, and many have come to wonder if that is a good thing or a bad thing. In the dystopian stories The Veldt, by Ray Bradbury, and Mr Penumbra’s 24 Hour Bookstore, by Robin Sloan,…
In “The Veldt”, Ray Bradbery uses figurative language and details to effectively express the negative effects the house and nursery has had on the Hadly family. Bradbury presents that the two kids and parents rely on their technology- built house. Not only are they not…
“The Veldt” by Ray Bradbury is a science fiction short story with the main theme being the consequences of technological advancement. This theme is carried throughout the whole story and is told by third person point of view. George and Lydia Hadley are parents of…
The two short stories, ‘I Sing the Body Electric’ and ‘The Veldt’ can be thought of as similar since they both apply to the same general topic: Technology- good? Or bad? However, since they both show opposing sides of the subject, they are actually very…
Best topics on The Veldt
The Veldt is a short story by Ray Bradbury that has first appeared in 1950's issue of The Saturday Evening Post. Even though it was published a long time ago,
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it is more than just relevant for the present times. A complex psychological story is a chance to be creative in your essay. Writing your take on The Veldt essay, it is good to think about what this short story means to you and how you understand Bradbury's idea. If you cannot start writing or do not know how where a thesis argumentation must be placed, check our essay example. It will show you how the author mixes information from the book with analytical thinking and comparisons.
Date
23 September 1950
Author
Ray Bradbury
Type
Short story
Genre
Science fiction
Major Characters
George, Lydia, Peter, and Wendy Hadley
Symbols/Motives
Machines, people’s nature, immersive entertainment
Influence
The story got adapted into the Illustrated Man for the cinema. It has also been adapted for TV several times.
Plot
The Hadley family owns a smart house. Robots and machines do virtually all house tasks, and the family members are left to enjoy their time. The two children can create a virtual scene from their imagination in the nursery. They choose a realistic scene from the African veldt, and the parents can smell the lion’s latest victim’s blood when they enter the room. The parents are so worried that they call a psychologist. David McClean, the psychologist, advises them to become more self-sufficient, move to the country, and turn the house off. Peter and Wendy resist that idea, and they convince their parents to leave them in the nursery for the last time. They lock their parents there, sending them to become victims of the pride of lions into their imagined virtual reality.
Why Is This Topic Important?
In this short story, Ray Bradbury predicted many technology advancements that we enjoy today. Augmented reality and immersive video games are among them.
Main Ideas
When people become too immersed into technology, they lose touch with their human nature.
Key Quotes
- “I don’t want to do anything but look and listen and smell; what else is there to do?”
- “Too much of anything isn’t good for anyone.”
- “Long before you knew what death was you were wishing it on someone else. When you were two years old you were shooting people with toy guns.”
Arguments for
This is one of Bradbury’s most recognized and critically acclaimed short stories. It’s a wonderful representative of the science fiction genre. The fact that the author predicted some technology advancements makes the story more interesting today.
Arguments against
The prose may seem too simplistic to readers used to complex works.
