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The Veldt by Ray Bradbury

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Were there lions in the room? Ray Bradbury was raised in a small town in Illinois. He gets the setting for many of his stories from Green Town. When Bradbury was young, he spent time listening to the radio and going to the library. He received inspiration from a magician, “Mr. Electrico.” Bradbury wrote many science fiction books and short stories. Some of his most famous works include Fahrenheit 451, The Martian Chronicles, Something Wicked This Way, and more. “The Veldt” is about a family who lives in a technological house. The parents, George and Lydia Hadley, bought the house because they wanted the best for their children, Wendy and Peter. The house does all of the normal activities people do for themselves, such as tying their shoes or taking a shower. The “Happy Life Home” contains a “nursery” which is a room that conveys what the kids are thinking so they do not have to use their imagination. The family relied too much on technology and forgot to spend time together. The children thought they were in control, and with the house’s help, trapped their parents in the nursery. Ray Bradbury develops his theme that technology does not replace family in his short story, “The Veldt,” through the use of imagery, figures of speech, and symbolism.
Ray Bradbury conveys his theme by using imagery. While in the nursery, Bradbury describes how “Africa” looked and smelled. “The hot straw smell of lion grass, the cool green smell of the hidden water hole, the great rusty smell of animals, the smell of dust like a red paprika in the hot air” (Bradbury). This helps describe how real the nursery made “Africa” appear to be. The children relied on the nursery to imagine everything for them. “His description of the electronically produced Afri...

... middle of paper ...

...he power of a family.

Works Cited

Bernardo, Jr., Anthony J. “The Veldt.” Masterplots II: Short Story Series, Revised Edition (2004): 1-3. Literary Reference Center. Web. 29 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. 29 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. 30 Jan. 2014.
“Overview: ‘The Veldt.’” Short Stories for Students. Ed. Ira Mark Milne. Vol. 20. Detroit: Gale, 2005.Literature Resource Center. Web. 30 Jan. 2014.
“Ray Bradbury.” Contemporary Authors Online. Detroit: Gale, 2012. Literature Resource Center. Web. 30 Jan. 2014.
“’The Veldt’(1950).” University of Minnesota. N.p., 8 Mar. 2004. Web. 30 Jan. 2014.
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