The Veldt Group

Question:

jojo54
jojo54
Student
High School - 12th Grade

What unusual technology in "The Veldt" suggests a futuristic setting and how does the nursery work?  Is it functioning properly in the story?

Rate question:

Posted by jojo54 on Thursday July 2, 2009 at 8:52 PM and tagged with nursery, questions, the veldt.

Answers:


  1. egraham17 Teacher

    eNotes Editor

    There are many examples of technology which suggest a futuristic setting. The entire house is equipped with devices that did not exist at the time the story was written, and many of which do not exist today. The house does everything for the family: makes all meals completely automatically, bathes & dresses everyone, even rocks them to sleep. In fact, it works so well that Lydia feels completely useless as a wife and mother. This prompts the idea for a "vacation": turning off the house & doing everything for themselves.

    The nursery is the prime example of cutting-edge technology. The machine works through telepathy. It reads a person’s thoughts, then projects them onto the walls to create the environment. Anything you imagine can come to life in the room. It does function properly at first, but soon only responds to the children. As the children's thoughts become more sinister, it somehow feeds on them and brings their creations to life, with horrific consequences for their parents.

    Sources:
    http://www.enotes.com/veldt/summary

    Rate answer:

    Posted by egraham17 on Thursday July 2, 2009 at 10:54 PM