The Vedlt Essay, Research Paper

The Veldt

In the book The Illustrated Man by Ray Bradbury, there are many short stories one of these being “The Veldt.” The story is told by tattoos on a traveling man’s body. Another man watches the stories occur during the night. Peter and Wendy are convinced that they can do anything to get what they want no matter what the consequences.

Peter and Wendy are brother and sister, they live with their parents in a happy life home. The house is electronic and fully automated. The children’s room has the ability to create whatever event or place they think about. The children have the power to turn their room into whatever they want just by think about it whether it is Alice in Wonderland or the plains of Africa. The parents, George, and Lydia, of the children do not have any rules or regulations on the children’s behavior and the children do whatever they want.

Having no limits or bounds, the children do as they please. When they are told not to do something they cry about it and do it anyway. George would not allow Peter to take a rocket to New York, Peter became extremely angry with this and never forgave him.

One day Peter and Wendy turn their room into Africa and keep it that way for a long time. The Santa Clause in the room was turned into a Scrooge. The children’s parent became worried because the room was becoming more realistic and had a darker feel to it. Peter and Wendy had the power to change the room environment but they never did anymore. The children not changing the room showed that they wanted it to be the plains of Africa and this scared Lydia and George. Therefore, they decided to close down the nursery, when this happened Peter and Wendy cried until they were allowed back in one last time. When George and his wife did not hear any noise from the room, they entered and trapped in the nursery by their children. The lions suddenly became real and killed them.

Peter and Wendy replacing the Santa Claus with a Scrooge shows that a dark unhappy side of the children was emerging. Peter and Wendy being giving everything in their life became very spoiled and obnoxious. When they did not get what they wanted, they did anything to get it. Peter and Wendy depended so much on the nursery and its sense of security that when George locked the room, it scared them. The only thing they wanted to do was be in the nursery, they did not care how they got in. Peter and Wendy were so determined to get in that they went to extremes to regain entrance to the nursery. Using the loins to kill their parents allowed Peter and Wendy full access to the room anytime they wanted and now no one had the power to stop them. Not even their parents lives meant more to them then the nursery. Peter and Wendy grew up getting what they want and will now do anything in life to get anything else they want.