Examples Of Dystopia In The Veldt

Ray Bradbury gives us a dark look into a possible future where machines fill the gaps in broken families, in his short story The Veldt. The Veldt deceives its readers into believing the family exist in a utopia, when in reality, the book suddenly descends into dystopian horror. The book starts out as playful, showing just how much the house does for the family, taking care of their every want and need. As we learn later, the nursery isn't such a blessing. The nursery is a malicious seed planted in the heart of the family, infecting the children by spoiling them and entertaining their darkest fantasies. Inflicting cracks in the already distant family, tearing them apart. We never get a glimpse of what kind of world this is, we only know of the

futuristic technology (flying rocket, smart house, and the nursery). We can make the logical assumption that this story takes place in the distance future. We understand the children are spoiled and ungrateful for all they have, not understanding the consequences of their actions. The moral Ray Bradbury was trying to display through the children and their actions is that technology cannot replace human empathy. The parents passed off the responsibility of raising their kids to technology that cannot discipline or teach empathy; consequently their children are ultimately as cold as the technology that raised them.