The document provides background information on Ray Bradbury's short story "The Veldt" and summarizes key elements of the story. It was written during a time of racial segregation in the 1950s when television was becoming more common. The story involves a family living in a high-tech home with a virtual reality nursery the children use to play out savage scenes from Africa. This leads to increasing conflict between the passive, technology-reliant parents and their children seeking adventure, culminating in the children threatening the parents. The nursery comes to symbolize the dangers of replacing human relationships and purpose with passive technology.

1. The Veldt by Ray Bradbury

2. Background
 This is written during the 1950’s and
during a time of racial segregation
in the United States.
 Technology was quickly developing
and televisions were becoming
common place for children to be
entertained by.

3. What is a Veldt?
Veldt (also spelled veld ) is a
term used to refer to certain wide
open rural spaces of Southern
Africa.

4. Before you read- Agree or
Disagree
___ Parents should control all of their
children’s choices.
___ Technology is a threat to humanity.
___Freedom over structure is better for
children.
___ Technology makes people lazy or
disconnected.
___Children are naturally more savage than
adults.

5. Review of Pertinent Literary
Elements
Setting- the where + the when + the
scene.
Characterization- a description of the
qualities or peculiarities or significant
details of a character creating their
identity.
Conflict-the tension between what the
main character or protagonist wants
and what is in his or her way.
Theme-a recurring idea throughout a
work

6. Setting in The Veldt
Basic Time and Place= Futuristic suburban home
in the US. This is called the Happy Life Home.
Secondary Setting= The children in the story are
able to use a high tech nursery to create natural
settings to play in. The children repeatedly play in
an African savage land.

7. Characters
Main Characters
 George Hadley- Typical father “knows best” He is
very straight forward and seems to want the best for
his children, but fails to connect at all with them
emotionally or personally.
 Lydia Hadley- A stereotypical suburban housewife
who seems to have concern for the children, but
fails to set boundaries or structures.
 The Children- Peter and Wendy Hadley. Smart and
cagey kids who want the freedom to create and play
in their own world and have become dissatisfied
with the quiet yet paralyzing nature of the Home
they live in.
 David McClean- Obvious “Clean” reference here is
a psychologist hired to fix the kids or the nursery or
both,

8. Conflicts
 The major conflict in the story is between the
parents and the children. The parent’s nature is
to protect the children while the children are
trying to seek adventure and power through their
use of the nursery.
 Another conflict in the story is the usefulness of
humans in advanced technological world. Often
the parents feel they have little or no purpose
since the children are taken care of by the house.
 There is also the conflict of man vs. machine
throughout the story as the parents are
eventually threatened by the Nursery.

9. Themes
 Comfort of Technology vs. Man’s Purpose-
The Veldt presents technology as something that
makes life so easy that the humans become soft
and spineless.
 Fear of the Savage- The use of Africa and the
parent’s fear has some racial implications as the
story is written during a time of Jim Crow laws
and segregation. The story explores the
established white-European cultures fear of
African cultures and the projection of savagery
even though slavery which was savage in nature
(initiated by white Europeans) created a
comfortable life for many white Americans.

10. Symbols and Figurative
Language
 The nursery in "The Veldt" isn't just an awesome
virtual reality room where parents can park their
kids. If it were, everyone would want one in our
house. But the nursery in "The Veldt" is basically
the scariest room that has ever existed. It also
becomes a symbol of the passive nature of
television.
 Lions-They represent the nature of power and
hunger in the story. Bradbury’s descriptions of the
lions seem to parallel the children at times, and
the children begin to hunger a passive prey. The
parents have become that passive prey.

11. Key Questions for consideration
 What is the most genuine fear in the story? Is it of the
technology, the children, or of the savage image of
Africa? Choose one and use evidence from the story
to support your answer.
 The story is both predictive of the future and
descriptive of the role of television and technology in
the lives of children. Do you think this story is more
predictive or descriptive? Give examples to support
your position.
 What mistakes have George and Lydia made in
raising their children? Use evidence from the story to
support your position.