CONTEMPORARY RESEARCH IN INDIA (ISSN 2231-2137): VOL. 5: ISSUE: 1
81
MISUSE OF TECHNOLOGY IS A CHANNEL TO DESTRUCTION OF
PSYCHOLOGY IN RAY BRADBURY’S THE VELDT
Rajita Anand Singh,
Research Scholar, Department of English, K L University, Vaddeswaram, Guntur
Lecturer in English Department, St.Francis Junior College, Secunderabad, Hyderabad
Abstract: Science fiction is a genre of fiction in which the stories often tell about science and technology of the
future. It evolved from the industrial revolution that spawned notions of rockets, robots, time machines, computers,
satellites, and the like.“The Veldt” is a 1950 science fiction short story by Ray Bradbury. He is one of the most
celebrated science fiction and fantasy writers of the twentieth century. One of his best known short stories, “The
Veldt” is a cautionary tale about technology run amok, the difficulties and threats man can experience from
machines, intertwined with this are lessons of greed and inattention. In this paper an attempt is made to examine
the story “The Veldt” in which Bradbury portrays how disastrous it is to rely completely on technology. The main
theme is abuse of technology and the danger of imagination.The story also depicts the absence of communication
between the parents and children, which gradually leads to destroy the familial bond between them. Besides the
abuse of technology the are also lessons of greed and inattention. The author’s vision into future brings to light the
idea that technology is important to a certain extent to make our lives comfortable but overdependence on it can
make our lives disastrous. The author’s prediction that people will rely heavily on technology and make it an
indispensable part of their lives has come true. Bradbury has transformed the tragic theme of ‘The Veldt’ into a
broad satire about media addiction.
Keywords: Science fiction, fantasy, virtual, nursery, conjuring, veldt, satire.
Science fiction is a genre of fiction in which the
stories often tell about science and technology of the
future. It is important to note that science fiction has a
relationship with the principles of science—these
stories involve partially true-partially fictitious laws or
theories of science. It should not be completely
unbelievable, because it then ventures into the genre of
fantasy. Some well-known 20th century science fiction
texts include 1984 by George Orwell, Brave New
World by Aldous Huxley, and The Fountainhead by
Ayn Rand. In addition, the four most-popular and wellrecognized 20th century authors are Isaac Asimov,
author of the Foundation trilogy and his Robot series,
Arthur C. Clarke famous for 2001, a Space Odyssey;
Ray Bradbury, known for his Martian Chronicles, and
Robert Heinlein, author of Stranger in a Strange Land
and The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress.
As one of the most celebrated science fiction
and fantasy writers of the twentieth century, Ray
Bradbury has been credited with ‘bringing modern
science fiction into the literary mainstream’ by The
New York Times. In the words of Johnson, “Magic,
horror and monsters; rockets, robots, time and space
travel; growing up in a Midwestern town in 1920s, and
growing old in an abandoned earth colony on another
planet, these are some of the subjects of Bradbury’s
stories. Despite their varied themes, they contain a
sense of wonder, often a sense of joy, and a lyrical and
rhythmic touch that sets his work apart.”
The Illustrated Man is a 1951 book of eighteen
science fiction short stories by Ray Bradbury that
explores the nature of Mankind. A recurring theme
throughout the eighteen stories is the conflict of the cold
mechanics of technology and the psychology of people.
The unrelated stories are tied together by the frame
device of “The Illustrated Man,” a vagrant with a
tattooed body whom the unnamed narrator meets. The
man’s tattoos allegedly created a time travelling
woman, are animated and each tell a different tale.
According to Johnson, Bradbury’s focus nearly
always remains upon the human element in his stories,
but the hardware is a basic element in science fiction
and machines inevitably play an important role in his
tales about the future. Bradbury treats the difficulties
and threats man can experience from machines more
successfully. And one of his best known short stories,
“The Veldt” is an apt example for the same. It was
published originally as "The World the Children Made"
CONTEMPORARY RESEARCH IN INDIA (ISSN 2231-2137): VOL. 5: ISSUE: 1
in the September 23, 1950 issue of The Saturday
Evening Post. It is a cautionary tale about technology
run amok: it depicts a family’s totally automated house,
including a virtual reality nursery that entertains the
children by conjuring up the contents of their
imaginations.
The story begins with the Hadley family which
lives in an automated house called "The Happy
life Home," filled with machines that do
everything for them from cooking meals, to
clothing them, to rocking them to sleep.
They
walked down the hall of their
soundproofed Happy life Home, which had
cost them thirty thousand dollars installed, this
house which clothed and fed and rocked them
to sleep and played and sang and was good to
them ( Bradbury ,7 )
The two children, Peter and Wendy become
fascinated with the "nursery," a virtual reality room that
is able to connect with the children telepathically to
reproduce any place they imagine. The parents, George
and Lydia, soon realize that there is something wrong
with their way of life. They are also perplexed and
confused that the nursery is stuck on an African setting,
with lions in the distance, eating the dead carcass of
what they assume to be an animal. There they also find
recreations of their personal belongings and hear
strangely familiar screams. Wondering why their
children are so concerned with this scene of death, they
decide to call David Mc Clean the psychologist. After
observing the nursery, he tells them that the children
live for the nursery and it has conveniently replaced the
real parents. He suggests they turn off the house, move
to the country, and learn to be more self-sufficient.
The children, completely reliant on the
nursery, beg their parents to let them have one last visit.
The parents relent, and agree to let them spend one
more minute there. When they come to the nursery to
fetch the children, the latter lock them in from the
outside. George and Lydia look on as the lions begin to
advance towards them and scream. At that point, they
realize that what the lions were eating in the distance
was not an animal, but their own simulated remains.
When David comes by to look for George and Lydia, he
finds the children instead enjoying lunch on the veldt
and sees the lions eating something in the distance. The
82
reader realizes that George and Lydia died at the hands
of their own offspring, who had so often envisioned the
lions eating them that it came true.
One of Bradbury’s most famous machines is the
children’s electronic playroom in “The Veldt”.
The electronic playroom brings the children’s
fantasies to living, breathing three dimensional
life. When the parents realize that the kids are
spending too much time in the playroom, they
threaten to pull the plug. But before they can
accomplish this, the children conjure up an
African veldt, complete with hungry lions, into
which the parents are sent on a brief but fatal
safari. (Johnson, 80).
In “The Veldt”, the name of the children’s room is
important to note. It is not called the “playroom” but
instead—and
perhaps
more
symbolically—the
“Nursery”. The nursery reproduces images of the
children’s thoughts, in effect becoming their
imagination.
One of the original uses of these nurseries was
so that we could study the patterns left on the
walls by the child's mind, study at our leisure,
and help the child”
“In this case, however, the room has become a
channel toward-destructive thoughts, instead of
a release away from them. (Bradbury, 16)
In Ray Bradbury’s short story “The Veldt” he portrays
how disastrous it is to rely completely on technology.
Technology’s offering in this story is the Happy life
Home, which mechanically performs almost every
human function, including that of the imagination. The
house does every little thing for the family resulting in
the latter’s complete dependence on it. The parents have
bought the house to free themselves of the repetitive
and monotonous task, yet for this family that shift of
responsibilities also extends to nurturing their children.
This is a pointer to the fact that the parents devote very
little time to their children. On the other hand the two
children fail to perform basic task due to their
overdependence on technology. Without the guidance
of their parents, the children are left to their own
devices, and are guided by an indulgent technology that
the parents could never hope to retrieve them from.
As a result the house has become more
important to children than their parents. Both the
CONTEMPORARY RESEARCH IN INDIA (ISSN 2231-2137): VOL. 5: ISSUE: 1
parents fulfill all their wishes and pamper them to such
an extent that they eventually lose their control on them.
George and Lydia allow the children to exercise
freedom (their visit to the carnival), immediately yield
to their tantrums, and fail to enforce any rules of
conduct for them. The children in fact pay no heed to
their parent’s advice and become disobedient, stubborn
and revengeful. The parents allow the technology to
replace them. The children due to lack of
communication and parental guidance misuse
technology “the nursery” which becomes a channel of
negative thoughts for the children.
Rather than charming fairylands, the children
create the veldt, where the bloodthirsty lions
consume their parents. This is where the
children are nurtured. Ultimately the new toy
becomes the instrument of their inner rage.
(Mogen, 98)
The house itself becomes a living presence in the story;
it is designed to provide services that should have been
left to humans. It’s the children’s favorite “toy”, one
with more richness and reliability than their parents
exude, and so they become aligned with the Nursery
and against their parents. They reach to level where
they fail to differentiate between technology and
parents.. Stripped of their parenting duties, they have
forgotten how to communicate with their children. In
every interaction between parents and children, the
children receive what they want. These negative
interactions emphasize the importance of inter-family
communications. Bradbury in this story very effectively
brings out the aspect of inattention which the children
face due to their parents strong desire to set themselves
free of the monotony in their day to day lives.
In this story, Bradbury writes a precautionary
tale of the advancement in technology and the
importance of maintaining communication during these
technological advances. In the Hadley's "Happy-life
Home," all of their needs and desires are fulfilled by the
house. At the outset this turned out to the advantage of
the Hadley's and a primary reason for the desirability of
the home, but ironically has now become a point of
stress rather than happiness. Both parents struggle to
find fulfillment in their everyday life because their
traditional roles as mother and father have been
replaced by the house. The house has now become the
83
parent for the children which feeds, nurtures and
entertains them. The children depend on it to such an
extent that they have reached a stage where they no
longer need their parents as the house takes care of their
every little need.
In The Veldt, George and Lydia allow their
‘Happy Life Home’ take on their own parenting
responsibilities. Through this story the author reveals a
frightening idea. He starts to insinuate that the children
prefer the house to their parents because it has assumed
their roles. Neither parent is involved in any aspect of
their lives because the house can do it all. At different
points in the story, both parents contemplate going back
to a "normal" house even though it would mean extra
work and tasks for them every day. Both George and
Lydia are facing an identity crisis as parents.
Technology has usurped their roles and they are
struggling to find means of making their presence felt in
the lives of their children.
Lydia tells George, "That's just it. I feel like I
don’t belong here. The house is wife and
mother now, and nursemaid. Can I compete
with an African veldt? Can I give a bath and
scrub the children as efficiently or quickly as
the automatic scrub bath can? I cannot. And it
isn’t just me. It’s you. You’ve been awfully
nervous lately.(Bradbury, 10).
The parents, were lavish and extravagant in providing
the children with all the comforts by buying a fully
automated house but failed to devote time and give
personal care to their children. They have allowed the
nursery to usurp their role as parents while becoming
the childish dependents of their house. The children
view the home as the caregiver, not the parents.. The
elder Hadley’s also participate in this dehumanizing
process. They too, have refused to grow up, to accept
their duties as parents. Their avoidance of responsibility
reduces them to the level of prey to lions.
You've let this room and this house replace you
and your wife in your children'saffections. This
room is their mother and father, far more
important in their lives than their real parents.
(Bradbury, 16)
In the story, the parents in the story allowed the children
to have their way and did not restrict the time they spent
in the nursery. Through this strong impact of the
CONTEMPORARY RESEARCH IN INDIA (ISSN 2231-2137): VOL. 5: ISSUE: 1
nursery on the children, that the author brings to light
the idea that the parents have lost their control over
children as a result they are no more the authority
figures but obstacles in their children’s eyes. It also
points out the fact that technology can provide us
comforts but cannot perform our daily chores,
especially take over the role of parenting. Parenting is
not merely fulfilling the wishes of children but
something much more than that. Besides the fact that
technology cannot replace love, affection and parental
guidance.
The abuse of technology is a frequent theme of
Bradbury's and is evident in almost every story
in this collection “ The Illustrated Man” in one
way or the other - not a surprise, since this is
ostensibly a collection of science fiction tales.
In the short story as in "The Veldt", technology
has taken over too many human roles.
Ironically, the technological marvel that was to
provide a safe and carefree environment for the
Hadley’s creates instead the violent world of
the veldt. “The story focuses not on the
machine itself, but on the disturbing psychology
of the family that has unwittingly enslaved
itself to it. (Mogen, 99).
At the time the story was written, many American
families were acquiring their first television sets, and no
one was sure exactly how this new technology would
impact the relationships among family members. This
fear is directly reflected in "The Veldt," but in the story,
Bradbury heightens the odds by creating a machine that
not only allows children to detach emotionally from
their parents, but one that can also physically destroy
the parents, as well.
The Veldt,” perhaps Bradbury’s short –story
masterpiece on this theme, provides a haunting,
complex image of ultimately self destructive
over dependence on technological comforts.
The title itself eloquently expresses this theme,
since the “veldt” refers to the savage center of
an immaculate high tech home of the future- the
“nursery” where a technological toy designed to
enhance children’s playful fantasies instead
destroy its owners. (Mogen, 98).
In his article on science fiction, “Fantasy, Science
Fiction, and the Teaching of Values” James Prothero
84
writes, Bradbury’s story “The Veldt” in The Illustrated
Man is about two children addicted to technologically
sophisticated room that can reproduce in sight, sound,
and smell any place a person can imagine. The room
replaces the parents. The story is a chilling fable, kind
of exaggerated warning to the sort of parents who
might, in an earlier age have let their children watch too
much television.
Ultimately the Veldt warns not about the danger
of technology itself but about the human
consequences of substituting technological
marvels for basic human needs. Though they
apparently murder to preserve their beloved
machine after the father decides to shut it down,
their deeper motivation stems from parental
deprivation; they identify so fiercely with the
nursery because the parents substituted it for
themselves. In spoiling their children, the
parents have actually deprived them of the
necessary human contact-just the parents in
turn, realize they secretly hate the efficient
modern home that satisfies their every desire,
yet leaves them feeling depersonalized and
useless. (Mogen 98).
The story is a satire on the modern consumer society
from a traditional, humanistic viewpoint in the style of
several other Ray Bradbury works, such as Fahrenheit
451 (1953) and The Martian Chronicles (1950). In all
these stories, technology, backed up by commercialism
and a utilitarian philosophy, tries to remove the
inconveniences, difficulties, and challenges of being
human and, in its efforts to improve the human material
condition, impoverishes its spiritual condition. Through
this story Bradbury warns us about the disastrous
consequences of being over dependent on technology.
In this technologically driven world, the importance of
inter personal communication in families, and parental
guidance to children by allowing them to access the
gadgets for a moderate time plays a pivotal role.
The Veldt is a cautionary tale which reminds
us that technology can be a boon to mankind by
providing us with all sorts of comforts and make our
lives luxurious but can never replace a human. This is
what happens with George and Lydia in the story. One
should not be too dependent on it that one fails to
perform their basic task. Technology should never reach
CONTEMPORARY RESEARCH IN INDIA (ISSN 2231-2137): VOL. 5: ISSUE: 1
a stage where people prefer it to human interaction.
This is true especially in terms of the role of parenting.
To conclude, Bradbury has transformed the tragic
theme of the veldt into a broad satire about media
85
addiction. He believed that science and technology
should never come at the expense of human life.
Bradbury’s short story “The Veldt” clearly
demonstrates his belief.
Works Cited
Bradbury, Ray. “The Illustrated Man”, Bantam Books, New York: 1952.
Johnson, L Wayne. “Ray Bradbury”, Frederick Ungar Publishing Co., Inc. U.S.A: 1980.
Mogen, David. “Ray Bradbury” Twayne Publishers: 1986.
Prothero, James,” Fantasy, Science Fiction, and the Teaching of Values” The English Journal, Vol. 79, No. 3 (Mar.,
1990)
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ The Veldt_(short _story)>
www.gradesaver.com › Ray Bradbury: Short Stories
www.enotes.com/topics/veldt
digitalmediast.com/2013/.../the-veldt-there-will-come-soft-rains-analysis/