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Familial Relationships in The Veldt

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As young children grow up, their attitudes dramatically transform. They translate from loving their parents to disliking them. When their lifestyle is adversely affected, this universal process accelerates. Ray Bradbury, an acclaimed writer and a known opponent of Silicone Valley, comments on this recurring motif, technology. According to Ray Bradbury’s official website, he has won the 2000 National Book Foundation Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters and the 2007 Pulitzer Prize Special Citation (HarperCollinsPublishers). He is the author of the critically acclaimed books Fahrenheit 451, Martian Chronicles, and Something Wicked This Way Comes (HarperCollinsPublishers). In Ray Bradbury’s “The Veldt, ” George and Lydia Hadley purchase a state-of-the-art house for their children, Peter and Wendy Hadley. The house performs all the duties for the children and parents. The children revolt and murder their parents using the multi-dimensional nursery which allows them to enact anything they imagine. Ray Bradbury develops his theme that technology affects quality of familial relationships in his short story “The Veldt” through the use of foreshadowing, conflict, and imagery.
To begin with, Bradbury develops his theme that technology affects quality of familial relationships through the use of foreshadowing. Foreshadowing is ample in stories with sinister climaxes and endings. Since “The Veldt” culminates in the murder of two adults, it has quotes that foreshadow the death of George and Lydia Hadley. Bradbury introduces foreshadowing in the short story to exhibit George’s and Lydia’s fear and the defiance of Peter and Wendy Hadley. In the beginning of the story, when the parents are in the multi-dimensional nu...

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Caldwell, Tracy M. "The Negative Effects Of Parent And Child Conflict." Literary Theme: The Negative Effects Of Parent & Child Conflict (2006): 1-5. Literary Reference Center. Web. 21 Jan. 2014.
Hart, Joyce. "Critical Essay on 'The Veldt.'" Short Stories for Students. Ed. Ira Mark Milne. Vol. 20. Detroit: Gale, 2005. Literature Resource Center. Web. 21 Jan. 2014.
Kattelman, Beth. "Critical Essay on 'The Veldt.'" Short Stories for Students. Ed. Ira Mark Milne. Vol. 20. Detroit: Gale, 2005. Literature Resource Center. Web. 21 Jan. 2014.
Ray Bradbury. HarperCollinsPublishers, n.d. Web. 5 Mar. 2014. .
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