The Veldt Literary Analysis

Ray Bradbury explores the idea of a culture where technology is used by everyone for everything. When people rely so heavily on technology they forget entirely who they are, and lose not only themselves but their families. "The Veldt" is a short story written by Ray Bradbury that explores the affect technology has on society, especially children. In "The Veldt" the Hadley children have all they could ever want, however they lack true parents. Instead they rely solely on a house that does their bidding. When faced with the fear of turning the house off, they put all their pent up rage onto the parents, and end up murdering them. "The Veldt" uses symbols throughout the story to represent how relying to heavily on technology can influence a development,
change a person for worse, and all in all lead to downfall.

The sun plays a vital role throughout "The Veldt" to give the readers an inside view of the children's emotions.
As the story continues the suns heat grows, as does the children's anger and hatred for the parents. Ever since they were young the children have been given everything they have wanted. "But nothing's too good for our children," George had said." The Hadley's have given their children anything they could want. They have never had rules or consequences, which has led them to become spoiled. "They come and go when they like; they treat us as if we were offspring. They're spoiled and we're spoiled. They've been acting funny ever since you forbade them to take the rocket to New York a few months ago." Due to them being so spoiled, they act out whenever they are unable to do what they please. They throw temper tantrums, lash out, or yell at their parents. These tantrums, are even worse because of their lack of empathy towards the parents. The children have become completely reliant on it. It cooks their food, washes them, and rocks them to sleep. "The house is wife and mother now, and nursemaid." The children rely completely on the house, and end up loving the house as a parent. This has given them a reliance on a machine that has no emotional tendencies instead of on their parents. This has caused them to
have no moral code. Without this moral code they don’t understand the difference between wrong and right, or how to treat people. They end up hating their parents for laying down the law and threatening to shut of the house. Yet, "The Veldt" does not completely come out and say this. To keep the mood on edge Ray Bradbury uses the sun to represent the strong sense of hatred felt by the children. "The ceiling above them became a deep sky with a hot yellow sun. George Hadley felt the perspiration start on his brown. Lets get out of this sun, he said." The suns strong rays burn into Mr. Hadley's back representing the thoughts of the children. The thoughts full of hatred, anger, murder and death. The hatred that is so profoundly there, the nursery is able to pick up on it, and use it as a part of the African allusion. The parents feel the sun, but they do not sense that something is wrong. They do not as their desperation to shut off the house grows, so does the suns heat. Their ignorance is able to prove their innocence. They did raise their children with the parental love needed for proper growth. Unfortunately, they are unable to comprehend the negative affects, and how it will influence their lives. The sun also represents the abnormal qualities of the children. Normally for children the sun represents happiness and positivity. It is something that brings warm weather, sunshine, and summer. However the Hadley children associate the sun with negativity. The choice to use the sun to represent hatred, conveys how the children are abnormal, and unable to show empathy. But, the sun is not purely positivity. The rays can be harmful, and when exposed to high dosages can lead to cancers or death. "No wonder there's hatred here. You can feel it coming out of the sky. Feel that sun." The rays coming from the sun however are different. They are hate and wishes of death. The suns powerful rays are able to represent the thoughts of murder found deep in the children's minds.

The African Veldt is a terrifying place for many, but is home to some of the worlds most beautiful landscapes.
A continent that runs wild with beasts, beasts that are found in "The Veldt". The animals of the "The Veldt carry a strong resemblance towards the characters. The lions carry a striking resemblance of Peter and Wendy Hadley. Lions which are a strong and brutal animal, that can kill with a swipe of its paw. An animal that will protect its cubs, it pride a whatever cost. The lion effortlessly in captures the emotions and characteristics of the children. The Hadley children had grown up spoiled and extremely dependent upon the House. They did nothing for themselves, and let the house wash them, cook for them, and even rock them to bed. That is why, when the idea of shutting down the house surfaced, Peter was so upset. "That sounds dreadful! Would I have to tie my own shoes instead of letting the shoe tier do it? And brush my own teeth and comb my hair and give myself a bath?" He has no idea how to take care of himself, and with the house being shut off would have no one, to care for him. The children have also formed a strong emotional connection to the Nursery. Because the house takes care of them the way a parent would, they have grown to rely on it, trust it, and love it. "You've let this room replace you and your wife in your children's affections. This room is their mother and father, far more important in their lives than their real parents." Dr. McClean,
plainly states when examining the Nursery. He explains that the children have replaced their real parents with a machine, and no longer love them as they should. They are so connected to the house, that the nursery answers solely to them, and disregards the children. So when, the parents decide to completely shut down the nursery, the children are terrified and angry, and vow to stop them. Just like the lions, they have a lack of empathy or attachment towards their prey, the parents. This makes it easy for them to end their lives. They violently killed Mr. And Mrs. Hadley, with the help of the lions. The lions symbolize the children, because they are simply working out of fear and anger. They must protect the house because it is the only family they have, that they truly care about. The lions delve deep into the children's character because although the murder was cruel, it was seen as the only way to protect something they love. The zebras symbolize the parents. Zebras are normally prey to lions, just like the parents were prey to the children. Although zebras can be strong, and have surprising strength. However, the parents, were symbolized as weak zebras. The youngest or frailest of the herd. They were naïve, and weak-willed. When faced with the decision to not let their children back into the nursery, they concaved. They knew that the children had negative feelings aimed at them. They know the Nursery was full of death, and blood, and hate. However, they ignored those feelings and let the children go back in. They were weak-willed and continued to spoil they children, even when they knew they shouldn’t. Their weakness was symbolized through the zebras, and their ability to fall prey to the children. The relationship between the zebra and the lion symbolizes the child parent relationship, or lack of. The lion ended up eating the zebra, just like the children killed the parents. They were able to ensnare them in their plot and devour them.
The Nursery symbolizes true childhood, and innocence, while representing the steady decline of the children's mental health. When the Hadley's first bought the house, the Nursery was used for stories or a jaunt through an imaginary lands. Instead, now it is used to escape their parents, or even imagine their death. "How many times in the last year had he opened this door and found Wonderland, Alice, the Mock turtle, or Aladdin and his Magical Lamp, or Jack Pumpkin head of Oz, or Dr. Doolittle, or the cow jumping over a very real-appearing moon-all the delightful contraptions of a make believe world." Recounts Mr. Hadley as he slowly realizes how much his children had changed. He remembers them being young and innocent, as children usually are. Yet, a lack of parental love along with the threat of taking away their 'parent' has turned them cruel. Simply, the children grew older, lost their innocence, and because of that the nursery's atmosphere changed. Mr. Hadley realizes this. "Death thoughts. They were awfully young for death thoughts, Peter and Mary." He realizes that the children's mind has changed into something cruel, and full of hatred. Gruesome thoughts began to plague the nursery. "The thoughts of death plagued the Nursery, the screams and the smell of blood was ever present." The Nursery is able to put these thoughts into so much detail because of the children. The children commonly think these thoughts, which allows for the Nursery to perfect its imagery. The Nursery's downward spiral is able to represent just how far the children have fallen, and how the technology has affected their health. The Nursery is able to show just how the childrens minds played a role in the murder of the parents. The nursery is able to represent the gradual decline of the children's sanity. How their dependence on the house caused them to commit unspeakable acts. How their reliance on technology affected their growth, and how it will affect their lives later on.
Overall, the symbolism throughout the story is astonishing. It is carefully planned to represent the most inner workings of each character’s head and heart. It helps the reader truly understand their characters, and thus allows them to relate. The sun, lion, zebra, and nursery are all part of an in depth analysis of the characters. The sun represents the burning hatred of the children, and how it grows each day. The lion represents the ferocity, but determination, of the children, to protect what is theirs. The zebras or prey is weaknesses of the parents, and how eventually those weaknesses will ruin them. Lastly, the nursery represents lost innocence, and the gradual decline of the children's sanity. Together they all flow, to create a harmony of warning. These symbols show that when technology is depended on entirely, it can break you, and destroy you. In "The Veldt" Ray Bradbury uses symbolism to show, technology when relied on entirely can cause you downfall, affect your relationships, and change your life.