Practice Book Review: The Veldt

The Veldt, by Ray Bradbury, is a story of a family in the future, who become very dependent on the technology in their house.They have a nursery that is controlled by the minds of the people using it. Lydia, the mom, decides that something is wrong with the nursery. When they go down there the room is a veldt, or a African savanna, and they hear a scream. Then the lions charge them and Lydia gets scared and runs out of the room. She thinks the rooms is to real. Lydia decides that they should lock up the nursery for a few days. They do and right after the door trembles as if something terrible jumped against it from other side. George Hadley, the dad, waits a while and then goes back in. He tries to to change the scene around him but can not. He thinks the that their son, Peter, might have tampered with the machine and set it to remain as the veldt. When Peter and his sister, Wendy, come home they lie that the room is not a veldt and Wendy goes to check but finds it as a forest.When they go back to the nursery later they find George's wallet and Lydia's scarf both covered in blood. Later that night, they wake to the roars of lions and two familiar screams. They think that peter and Wendy had broken into the nursery. In the morning George decides to lock up the nursery and Peter gets so angry he threatens him. A psychologist comes and says that the nursery must be turned off. The kids through a tantrum and demand one more minute. He gives in but this time when they hear peter and Wendy calling for them they go down. The kids lock them in the nursery for the loins.

One of the main themes of The Veldt is that spoiling your children can have a very bad effect. My first example of this theme is when they agree that the nursery is very fancy but that it was not too good for Peter and Wendy. They say, "but nothing is to good for our children." Second of all, when they start suspecting Peter and Wendy to have changed the nursery and deciding that the nursery should stay closed they say"We've given the children every thing they ever wanted. is this our reward-secrecy, disobedience." Lastly, Peter says " that would be dreadful! Would I have to tie my shoes instead of letting the shoe tier do it? This proves that he is very spoiled with all of the technology. Thees are three examples of why this is one of the main themes in The Veldt.

I would definitely recommend this story to people who like good twists and really awesome technology. This story is short but is very interesting and full of action. It is a must read.