Student Question

In "The Veldt," what motivates Peter and Wendy?

Quick answer:

Peter and Wendy are motivated by their intense attachment to the virtual reality nursery, which offers them excitement and escape from real life. Their parents, George and Lydia, have spoiled them with technology, leading to a lack of imagination and dependence on the virtual world. When their parents threaten to shut off the nursery, Peter and Wendy's resentment turns to hatred, motivating them to use the nursery's technology destructively against their parents.

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In the HappyLifeHome of Lydia and George Hadley, technology serves the family at every turn, leaving them hours of leisure. Believing that "nothing is too good for our children," George and his wife have a huge virtual reality "nursery" installed for their children Wendy and Peter.

Now, with respect to the children, there seem to be two factors at work:

  • The children are surrounded by technological tools that do everything for them; therefore, they do not develop their own imaginations and use their own creativity, nor do they interact with their parents in any wholesome way.
They're insufferable—let's admit it. They come and go when they like; they treat us as if we were offspring. They're spoiled and we're spoiled."
  • Because of the children's detachment from their family in the nursery where there is no true reality, Wendy and Peter become completely absorbed in this virtual reality of the nursery...

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  • and find real life much less interesting. Thus, when their parents wish to interact with them, there is a growing resentment in the children because they perceive George and Lydia as attempting to deprive them of their excitement and enjoyment of the veldt. 

So, when George closes the nursery, Wendy and Peter let this action fuel their resentment into hatred. This hatred becomes tangible through the use of the technology of the vedlt.

But now, is yellow hot Africa, this bake oven with murder in the heat.

As the psychologist says, "

"In this case, however, the room has become a channel toward-destructive thoughts, instead of a release away from them."

These destructive thoughts, then, become the goal and motivations of Wendy and Peter who have become enthralled with the veldt to the exclusion of their real parents, whom they perceive as an intrusion in their virtual world.

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In "The Veldt," what are the motivations of the mother, father, Wendy, and Peter?

George and Lydia, the mother and father, bought a Happylife Home and a virutal animal nursery. The nursery is a virtual machine which recreates different, often exotic environments. The home itself is equipped to do just about anything automatically. George and Lydia purchased this home and the nursery because, as George said, "But nothing's too good for our children." 

However, after a particularly scary encounter with lions in the veldt, Lydia suggests closing the nursery for a while. She feels as if the house is taking over their lives. George agrees. 

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't. 

George tries to change the veldt from Africa to the world of Aladdin. When he can't, he assumes it is broken, but there is also the possibility that it has taken on a life of its own or that the children have manipulated it. George and Lydia realize that they have been letting all of the automatic technology of the house and the nursery do everything. They realize they've spoiled their children, so George considers turning the house off so that the children can learn to do things for themselves. When Peter hears this, he is horrified: 

That sounds dreadful! Would I have to tie my own shoes instead of letting the shoe tier do it? And brush my own teeth and comb my hair and give myself a bath?

Peter actually threatens his father, warning him not to shut off the house. At this point, the motivations are clear. George and Lydia want to turn the house off so they can be more self-sufficient and reclaim their lives. They also want their children to learn to do things for themselves. Wendy and Peter, on the other hand, do not want this. The nursery reflects the children's thoughts. The constant appearance of the lions indicates that the children's thoughts have become destructive and they will destroy anyone who tries to take the nursery away from them. 

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