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Tuesday, September 3, 2013

Five Star Sci-Fi

The Veldt by Ray Bradbury was a very suspenseful and eye opening read. In this futuristic sci-fi short story, technology is far more advanced and the characters rely on machines to live their everyday lives. In the story, George and Lydia are concerned parents about what their children have been watching in the nursery, a room that simulates whatever or wherever you wish. The children have developed an obsession with this simulation room. George and Lydia wonder why their children are always watching African lions feeding on meat.



 

I give this story five stars because throughout the story, Bradbury sprinkles in attention grabbing motifs to keep the reader on edge. The uncanny motif is used when the parents move away from the closed nursery door after seeing the African lions, noticing how they “saw it tremble as if something had jumped against it” (367).  The sublime is prominent in how the children view the nursery as an important part of their life. George even says in an argument with his wife that “[The kids] live for the nursery” (266). At one point in the story, the psychologist says, “this room is their mother and father” (274).  Towards the end of the story, Peter talks to the house as if it could listen when he says “Don’t let them do it... Don’t let Father kill everything” (275).  The haunting sense of mystery is drawn out as George finds both his own old wallet and later Lydia’s scarf all bloody and torn up in the nursery (270, 275). Also, Bradbury laced in mystery with foreshadowing in the story when Lydia mentioned how the screams that came from the nursery sounded familiar, and they find out later they were hearing their own screams. Revenge is obvious as the children’s motive for killing their parents. The psychologist points out clues when he says “[the nursery] has become a channel toward--destructive thoughts, instead of a release away from them” (274).  The weather in the nursery is noted when the psychologist says, “No wonder there’s hatred here. You can feel it coming out of the sky” (274).  

 



Bradbury, Ray. “The Veldt.” American Gothic Tales. Ed. Joyce Carol Oates. New York: The Penguin  Group. 264-277. Print.

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