Inside the Veldt

Written by Ray Bradbury, "The Veldt" (also known as "The World the Children Made") is a story about an automated house and its inhabitants, a family of four. The house does all the work; there is nothing for the parents and children to do except enjoy themselves. Except the parents aren't enjoying themselves. The nursery, a virtual reality room that changes according to the children's imaginations, is stuck on an African veldt setting, which worries the parents. In the end, the parents decide to shut down the house and go on vacation, but the children protest, asking to see the nursery one last time. The kids then trap their parents in the nursery, leaving the veldt's lions to devour the parents.



The general consensus on the story's message is that when technology replaces family bonds, things go awry. Because the children are closer to the nursery than they are to their actual parents, the house becomes the children's parents. As a result, when the actual parents try to shut down the nursery, the kids feel no remorse in eliminating them. Most readers view the story as a warning against advanced technology that has the potential to replace humans.

However, there is another way to read this story. What if the parents were actually the antagonists, and the children and the nursery, which I will interpret as representative of the environment (albeit virtual), prevail as a force of good? It seems highly implausible, but some of the details support this theory. On the very first page, it is written, "This house which clothed and fed and rocked them to sleep and played and sang and was good to them." Already we get the impression that the house (and the nursery) is perfect and good. It provides everything for the family, yet the parents fail to appreciate its benevolent deeds.

The parents disapprove of the house's most special feature, the nursery. Lydia Hadley, the mother, calls the animals inside "filthy creatures." Furthermore, the parents fear the nursery simply because they do not understand it. They do not know why the environment is stuck on the African setting, nor do they see what the lions are eating. This fear drives the parents to attempt to control this virtual ecosystem, as evidenced by George's words, "Come on, room! I demand Aladdin!" When this environment refuses to bend to his will, George decides to shut the nursery down.

At this point in time, unfortunately, the nursery has already supplanted the parents as the children's mother and father. In an attempt to pry them from "nature's" grasp, the parents hurriedly plan a vacation to "civilize" the kids. The irony is evident; the technology-worshipping children are in this case uncivilized, and the old-fashioned parents are the civilized ones. The kids, being young and close to nature, recognize their parents' plan and oppose its realization. The nursery and its children ultimately prevail and prevent the Hadleys from controlling the environment.

In this interpretation, because the nursery is a symbol for nature and the environment, "The Veldt" takes on a completely new meaning. Rather than a warning against technology, this becomes a story about human exploitation of nature.

Click here to read "The Veldt"