A Literary Analysis of the Veldt by Ray Bradbury Essay

The Veldt by Ray Bradbury The story of "The Veldt", is a delving into the issue of how moderntechnology can destroy the nuclear family. The editor of the Encountersbook, John A. Rothermich comments that "This story is almost devoid ofcharacterization.", I agree with this statement and think it is key to theplot of the story. The story begins with the mother of the family, who has quite ageneric name. We are given no information of the characters background andhow they came to the point in time they are now. The lines "HappylifeHome" and the familiar room settings like the parent's bedroom and thenursery give you a sense that this is a typical suburban home of the time.The mother seems alarmed or confused about something, "the nurseryis...different now than it was", this at first might lead you to believethe mother has true individual characteristics. However, when you read on,you see the stereotyped reactions to every situation that comes about, theparents then say "nothing's too good for our children". Later in the story the parents discuss the problems of the incrediblehouse and nursery, "The house is wife, mother, and nursemaid, Can I competewith it?", and the father has a generic answer "But I thought that's why webought this house". The parents in the story look upon their children'sneeds as services instead of ways of expressing any love or care. In the story we never learn anything about the children except fortheir obsession with the nursery, "I don't want to do anything but look andlisten and smell what else is there to do?". When the parents tell thechildren the idea of shutting down the computerized house "for a vacation",the children react shocked and stay with their one, single characteristicgiven, they act shocked "Who will fry my eggs for me, or darn my socks?".You see then the children's primary relationship is to the house and notthe parents, the children exclaim "I...