Short Essay On The Veldt

Winston Tran

Mr. Oster

English 10 Honors

14 January 2014

The Illustrated Man Essay

The Veldt

While reading “The Veldt,” the story reminded me of another children’s story I must have read when I was younger. However, as this short story contains some graphic violence, the story that I had read when I was younger wasn’t “The Veldt.” There are probably many other stories out there modeled on “The Veldt” that don’t involve the parents being killed by their own children.

Another idea that struck me was how Bradbury predicted how we, as humans, would eventually have robots or machines that would perform every single one of our everyday tasks. In my opinion, as soon as technology was discovered, it was inevitable that the path would lead to the creation of robots meant to perform every single one of our tasks that we perceive as a waste of time. Humans are lazy by nature and will take the easy way out if they know that the end result will be the same.

Bradbury also criticizes technology’s ability to destroy social interaction. In “The Veldt,” the house cares for and protects Peter and Wendy; George and Lydia are no longer parents to their own children. In addition to this, the house gives Peter and Wendy the means to rid themselves of their parents and replace them with technology. In our own world, we are surrounded by the omnipresence of technology, whether it is in the form of computers, phones or tablets. Technology gives us the option to communicate without actually seeing each other or hearing each other’s voices. Therefore, I believe that social media actually deprives humans of the necessary interaction. Ultimately, technology is dangerous, due to its ability to erode interaction, but can be helpful or convenient when used in ...

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...pacity that imagination is capable of. Fiorello Bodoni and his family have come to believe that the dreams, beliefs and sights of traveling into outer space are far more significant than the actual expedition.

In “The Rocket,” after reading that Maria had a bad feeling that Fiorello would end up killing their children along with himself, I thought that “The Rocket” would end up a lot like “Rocket Man”: With at least one of the main characters dead after he failed to follow advice, and the rest of the characters scarred for life. However, after learning that they never left the ground, I knew that the story would end well.

The Illustrated Man has been the most enjoyable book to read of all of the books I’ve ever been assigned in English class. Learning about and analyzing the irony and social criticisms only added to the pleasure of reading such a well-written book.