The Theme Of Over-Reliance On Technology In “The Veldt”

Theme in a story is its underlying message or big idea which can be expressed in many ways. The Happylife Home is a home with the greatest technology. In “The Veldt”, Ray Bradbury effectively utilizes foreshadowing and irony to simultaneously develop the theme of over-reliance on technology can negatively affect humanity to show the consequences of too much usage of technology in life.

In addition, foreshadowing is used to develop the theme because it increases the momentum of the plot and keeps readers intrigued in the story. An example of foreshadowing is when, “George Hadley walked through the singing glade and picked up something that lay in the comer near where the lions had been. He walked slowly back to his wife. “What is that?” she asked. “An old wallet of mine,” he said. ….“He bent and picked up a bloody scarf. “This yours?” “No.” George Hadley’s face was rigid. “It belongs to Lydia.” (Bradbury 115). Finding the scarf and wallet in the nursery all bloodied makes readers think of death of the parents. The children takes the nursery as their parents and Peter and Wendy believe that the nursery is more important than their actual parents.

Also, this story not only foreshadows the destruction of the Hadley’s family, but it hints at the dangers of virtual reality that are a threat to people from friends and family in modern society. Similarly, irony is a multi-faceted literary device that a writer uses to point out the discrepancy between reality and how things appear in the story. An example of irony in “The Veldt” is, “Maybe I don’t have enough to do. Maybe I have time to think too much. Why don’t we shut the whole house off for a few days” (Bradbury 104). The Happylife Home takes care of all Lydia’s housework and in addition to that, the parents cannot compete with the automation for the affection and interest of their children for the house. The virtual reality of the home causes the children to become separated from their parents to the point of ignoring them as seen when George tells Peter that they are planning to go on vacation and Peter replies as, “I don’t think you’d better consider it anymore, Father” (Bradbury110). The nursery was meant to take away all the bad things happening in Peter and Wendy’s mind but instead, it was bringing up more horrible things and bad thinking.

In conclusion, evidence proves that Ray Bradbury is able to incorporate foreshadowing and irony successfully in his writing to develop an important theme in the story. As a result, his short story, “The Veldt”, is an amazing start into describing the future of our lovely planet.