The Veldt

In the article The Veldt there was a family of a husband, wife and two kids that lived in a super advanced house that did everthing for them. These people have no roles or responsibilities in life because everything was done for them. This short story seems as if it takes place in virtual reality. Nothing seems real. The parents begin to notice that their children are behaving suspiciously and call in a psychologist to try and pinpoint the problem and fix it. Their house is so fancy and advanced that they ae uncapable of doing anything for themselves. Their children also have a special nursery in which they can be involved in any scenario. The parents see this nursery as a  dangerous veldt in Africa. They believe this veldt is dangerous because their children disappear  for hours at a time and they always see and hear lions in this scenario. The parents begin to fret and forbid their children to go back to this place. To get away from everything the family decides to go on a vacation and actually experience things in the real world and do things for themselves.
At the end, one last time, the children invite their parents into the veldt and it seems that they disappear.


I didnt really understand this story but I believe the main idea or message it was trying to get across is that us humans depend on technology and other advancements so much that we have become incapable of doing things on our own. It was amazing to me how in this story these people lived inthis special house and did absolutely nothing for themsleves. As evidence of this, the mother starts to feel bad about herself. She begins to cry because she realizes that she doesnt have enough to do and that is why she has so much time on her hands to think and worry. She also realizes that she has become useless when she says, "That's just it. I feel like I don't belong here. The house is wife and mother now and nursemaid. Can I compete with an African veldt? Can I give a bath and scrub the children as efficiently or quickly as the automatic scrub bath can? I can not" (10). I feel that this is a good justifying example that humans have become to dependent and advancements in this world. I was always told that too much of one thing is good for nothing. These parents just tried to do something nice for therir kids by giving them a nursery, but it turns out that the kids take advantage of it and it backfires on the parents. The children start to misbehave, keep secrets and disobey they parents. I feel like this is a parallel to children using the Internet for social media networks.


Another idea that caught my attention was when Mr. McClean tells them what the problem is. He says "You've let this room and this house replace you and your wife in your children's affections. This room is their mother and father, far more important in their lives than their real parents. And now you come along and want to shut it off. No wonder there's hatred here"( 16). I agree that this is the reason for the hatred and misbehavior. You cant just give someone something and then try to take it away and not expect them to react. This story demonstrates how people are attatched to technology.