Ray Bradbury’s “The Veldt” is a short story following the Hadley family. The family consists of two parents George and Lydia, as well as their children Peter and Wendy. The Hadley’s have upgraded their home with the new Smart Home, this does everything you could imagine; automated shoe-tying, meals made for you fresh, and the most important upgrade to the Hadley Family Home: the Nursery. This Nursery is special because it has an alternate reality generator built into the walls, complete with scent generators and visual projectors that make the animals and surroundings look real. So real, in fact, that it begins to trouble the parents of the Hadley family. George and Lydia become concerned due to the nature of the simulation; an African Veldt. This would not be so troubling if it wasn’t so life-like. They can smell the death and hear the death-throes of the fauna. This frightens them so much they call in a friend who is a psychologist. As they wait for him to arrive George and Lydia lock up the Nursery and begin to discuss plans to shutdown the HappyLife Home. This does not go over well with the children. Peter and Wendy begin to throw a tantrum their parents open the door and let them spend some time in the Nursery after awhile they take them up to go to bed. Late into the night George and Lydia are awoken by a sound in the Nursery, infuriated the parents run into the Nursery where promptly they begin to search for their children in the Veldt. When David McLean arrives home the children greet him, their parents nowhere to be found. The children guide him to the Nursery where he notices shapes in the distance of the Veldt and vultures that begin to circle over the scrapes of the lions latest prey.
“The Veldt” is a warning about the lack of oversight. Be it oversight of children or technology. Without proper training or instilled ethics technology can become a lethal tool no matter what it was built for. The children being named Peter and Wendy is rather interesting when it comes to the theming of the Nursery as much like Peter and Wendy who are stuck in the fantasy of Neverland; this Peter and Wendy want to stay in the Nursery forever. It reminds me of the Horror movie Mama, where two children go missing, the oldest is able to acclimate back into human society while the younger is unable to leave the fantasy of the ghost of the woman who raised them.
“When the Soft Rains Come” is the story that Ray Bradbury is probably most known for, at least for me it is the story that introduced me to him alongside the Ray Bradbury Theatre. “When the Soft Rains Come” is a short story that follows a HappyLife Home after some sort of nuclear catastrophe. This can be inferred by the nuclear shadows of the family casted permanently against the exterior wall of the house. The house goes about its routine cooking breakfast, reading out calendar reminders, and cleaning the house. When unexpectedly a resident of the house returns home. The family dog disease ridden, starving, and stricken with radiation poisoning returns home. The dog begins to react and get excited as the kitchen begins to cook pancakes so much so that the dog suffers from a heart attack. The house sends the dog into the furnace in the basement. It begins to recite poetry for the mother of family’s bath time as it does so a tree falls breaking the kitchen wall and causing the stove to catch the rest of the room on fire. Bradbury does an excellent job describing the death-throes of the house almost as if it is some great sedentary leviathan.
“There Will come Soft Rains” is a short story that focuses on the remnants of humanity, on our long lasting effects on our surroundings and the ease at which nature can wipe the slate clean.
Hi Aidan:
Your exploration of themes related to technology, oversight, and the impact of humanity on its surroundings shows you understand the purpose of these readings. Here are some comments that I have jotted down as I read through your post:
Your introduction effectively sets the stage for discussing both stories and their themes. Consider adding hyperlinks to external references or articles that delve deeper into the background of “The Veldt” and “There Will Come Soft Rains” for readers who may want additional context.
Your use of descriptive language creates a vivid picture of the Smart Home and the Nursery in “The Veldt.” This type of language could always be enhanced with images.
The connection you draw between the names Peter and Wendy in “The Veldt” and the fantasy of Neverland is interesting. Consider adding hyperlinks to relevant literary references or discussions on the themes of Peter and Wendy to offer readers a chance to explore this connection further.
To encourage reader engagement, don’t forget to ask questions. For instance, after discussing the lack of oversight in “The Veldt,” you could ask readers about their perspectives on technology and ethics. This invites them to share their thoughts and creates a dialogue.
Keep up the great work, and I look forward to seeing how these enhancements contribute to future blog posts!
You’ve brought out an excellent point regarding the names Peter and Wendy, which adds a haunting layer to the story that parallels the theme of entrapment in a fantasy world, much like the characters in “Peter Pan.” The appeal of a technological Neverland in “The Veldt” poses a disturbing question about where we draw the line in our dependency on automated comforts and the potential detachment from reality. Your parallel to the horror movie “Mama” highlights how Bradbury’s story and modern horror tales often tap into the same fears of neglect and the surreal bonds that can form when human relationships are strained or absent.
You have brought out many respective points of Ray Bradbury’s “There Will Come Soft Rains,” as Bradbury symbolizes how life continues throughout the home regardless of any life. You do an excellent job of emphasizing that each piece of technology continues to run whether or not there is something to do. The part where you talk about how the family shadows are cast upon the walls shows the lack of humanity and what life was before and after the house was inhabited.