An Analysis of the Society in The Veldt by Ray Bradbury Essay

Since the history of mankind, humans have always created things that simplify life. These include basic things taken for granted such as tools, the wheel, and even shelter. Recently, however, the development of technology has exponentially accelerated. Many may think this is a good thing that can only make life easier but this is merely masking the dangers that also arise. Today, people are so dependent on technological advances including cell phones, e-mail, and methods of transportation that it is hard to think of what things were like without them. Nevertheless, people are directly communicating with each other less and relying on technology to perform all manual labor. These rapid and somewhat inevitable changes in technology leave the future of mankind unpredictable and possibly disasterous. One who foresaw this dark image years ago is author Ray Bradbury. With that, in 1951 he wrote a fictitious story about a possible, dark future called The Veldt. The Veldt is about a family of four who live in a unspecified future year in a house that does it all it cleans itself, cooks dinner, and can even project one in a fantasy world (done so in the nursery). Although this may seem like a bright future, the story has a twists and deals with many dark themes relating to technology. The Veldt is a short story that touches the surface of mankinds dark future and consumption by technology it does so by presenting themes of dystopia, mans dependency on technology, and mankind (as individuals) versus machines. All of these can be seen today in countless examples.Ray Bradbury carefully makes parallels the society in The Veldt to a dystopia. Dystopia is defined as a place in which people lead fearful, dehumanized lives. The Happy life Home is the main source of the dehumanization. The kids do not interact as well with the parents due to the technology in the nursery. This draws similar ties with the problem that families...

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