Negative Effects of Technology in The Veldt Essay

In this short story written by Ray Bradbury, the author wants to emphasize the negative effects of the technology on the family.

In order to have a well written short story, the author must use many literary devices. During this tale, Bradbury uses metaphors, foreshadowing, dialogue, similes and tone levels to accentuate the emotional experience. One example of foreshadowing is right at the beginning of the story. Georges wife is so concerned about the nursery that she bothers to ask for a second opinion. This lets the reader know that something strange is about to happen in this room. This opening information also suggests to the reader that the central problem from The Veldt will be the chamber called the nursery. This place is usually used for playing and social interactions, but because of the childrens emotional attachment to it, this room becomes a mechanized beast. Another example of foreshadowing would be the use of these following words: the screams are awfully familiar. The author wants to show us that those sounds are both awful and familiar in the same time. An example of a simile used by Bradbury in The Veldt would be the following sentence: That sun. He could feel it on his neck, still, like a hot paw. The role of this literary device is to make the sun seem more tangible. The author also uses a metaphor near the end of the story: What prompted us to buy a nightmare? By using this figure of speech, the writer wants to show us that George has become extremely concerned with the house which became a modern mechanical monster.

During this take, we can see that the author uses short phrases to give details about what the characters are thinking. It is up to the reader to interpret these small sentences and to achieve certain expectations about the final turn-out of this story.

The Veldt is a short story, which explains the negative impact of the new technology on the life of the family. George and Lydia are two parents that are concerned about the images they see in the nursery, a room which has the purpose of displaying virtual videos based on what the characters that are inside that chamber are thinking. They threaten their children with the shut-off of the nursery after discussing with a psychologist. This means that they will have to do their own work such as brushing their own teeth, tying their own shoes, preparing their own food, etc. The two parents are out-smarted by their children as they fall into the trap of being locked up in the room where the images seem so real. We can deduct that the kids changed the setting of the nursery because they seem to be fairly intelligent. When we see the language that is being used by young boy, we can acknowledge that he has an I.Q. above our average ten-year-old point of view. However, the young kids are not that intelligent because they havent thought of two things: What is going to happen once the houses resources finish?; Who is going to pay the following bills?

As a conclusion, I would like to state that all those lives were ruined by the excessive use of new technology. George is very nervous and he smokes more than usually. Lydia is unhappy because the Happylife Home has left her with too much free time. In the end, they both end in the virtual room which has become so powerful that it has the power to physically kill them. The children are accomplices at the death of their parents, but they also are victims because their thoughts became destructive after the arrival of the new Happylife Home. With this tale, Bradbury tried to send a message to its readers about the development of the technology. He seems to think that although the mechanical industry has evolved a lot during the previous century, machines will never fully replace humans. I would like to end this essay with a quote from this author who was very worried with the fast evolution of the machinery: I dont try to describe the future. I try to prevent it.

Bibliography page

Websites:

www.answers.com/topic/the-veldt-story-7

www.bookrags.com/studyguide-veldt/essays.html

www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Veldt