Summary
A married couple (Linda and George) with their children (Peter and Lynda) move into a brand-new house with the latest technological advances installed in it. The house called the Happylife Home, however, conceals a threat to people’s lives. Lurking in the children’s room and disguise as a smart interface for creating landscapes according to the inhabitants’ wishes, it slowly transforms into a killing machine supposedly manipulated by the children. As Lynda and Peter become increasingly obsessed with the African veldt created by the room, the parents grow concerned. After George forbids the children from playing there, the room turns against the parents.
Setting
One of the most fascinating things about The Veldt is that it has not one, and not two, but three different settings. The first one is introduced by the “Happylife Home” (Bradbury, 1950, p. 1) loaded with a set of futuristic elements that were original at the time when the story was written but are nowadays repeated in any sci-fi novel. For instance, the kitchen, where the stove makes food without any human interference, the hall, where the lights go off automatically, etc. The second and the third ones are created and represented by the Veldt, which turns the reader nauseous with the eye-blinding sight of an African steppe and then lulls their vigilance by offering a background with Rima in the center of it. The use of the setting is perfect in the novel. The three different backgrounds contrast each other to create a perfectly creepy atmosphere by developing an element of suspension and foreshadowing a tragedy.
Characters
Although the size of the novel does not leave much wiggle room for developing a character, the ones introduced in the story are fleshed out fully. The kids are interesting, with their fascination with the veldt and their willingness to sacrifice their parents for the sake of staying in it. They can be poster children for getting addicted to new forms of drugs, which come in the shape of the technological progress in this world. The parents are very strong characters, as they deviate from the traditional image of a clueless parent and gradually develop the understanding of the situation – unfortunately, they do so not soon enough.
The wife, Lynda, however, can be viewed as a stereotypical portrayal of a woman as helpless and in constant need of support, as she barely does anything – it is the husband, who decides to check the room, and whom she asks to talk to the children: “You’ve got to tell Wendy and Peter not to read any more on Africa” (Bradbury, 1950, p. 2). Wendy, the daughter, does not break the female character tropes popular at the time, either, being assertive and submissive to both her parents and her brother: “’I don’t remember any Africa,’ said Peter to Wendy. ‘Do you?’ ‘No.’ ‘Run see and come tell.’ She obeyed” (Bradbury, 1950, p. 5). Nevertheless, the characters remain believable and three-dimensional throughout the entire story, mostly because of the unique interactions between them. The parents do not trust the children, and vice versa, which makes the two groups work against each other to settle the problem.
Conclusion
One of the most fascinating and at the same time petrifying stories, The Veldt remains powerful due to the unique settings and the atmosphere that they create. The characters being written cleverly, the novel is completely impeccable. It creates an environment of suspense that thrills the reader into paying attention and makes the story terrifyingly memorable.
Reference List
Bradbury, R. (1950). The Veldt. Web.