Children’s stories have been a vital part of American society, and they play a major role in the attitudes of adults and children alike. While most think of children’s short stories as simply for entertainment, in many instances they hold much greater meanings than what is on the surface. In Margery Williams’ The Velveteen Rabbit, readers are presented with a heartwarming story of a stuffed rabbit who is a gift to a young boy on Christmas. Through trials and downfalls, the rabbit finds comes to accept who and what he is, and the boy finds a true friend in him. Upon first glance, this story may seem like simply a fictional one meant to make children believe in magic, but when looked at more closely, it holds truths and messages that span through all generations and walks of life. One concept that Williams touches on in this story is that of casting judgement on one another, and the idea that someone cannot define another’s ‘realness’ or purpose in the world. Through the confrontation of real rabbits in the forest casting judgement on Velveteen, Williams discusses this serious topic in a magical way through talking animals and stuffed toys brought to life. The author also incorporates the idea that children’s focuses are becoming more ‘temporary’ as our culture becomes more focused on newer, shinier things in life, which readers can relate to the shortening attention spans of young children, and how this cultural movement affects their minds. Williams uses the casting away of Velveteen by the boy on Christmas morning when newer gadgets are presented as a small but effective example of this societal phenomenon. Through the use of different outside sources and with further analysis of the text, a connection can be made between this children’s short story and the society we live in today.

In today’s world, we are subject to the judgement of others more than ever before. Through the use of media outlets that are so readily available to us, the presence of one person judging another on their actions or physical appearance is something that has become a sort of social ‘norm’, especially among America’s youth. Schools preach to young students the dangers of the Internet and how prominent ‘cyber bullying’ has become among the young people in this country, hoping to create a generation of students who are not so quick to judge one another. According to the Cyberbulling Research Center of America, “about half of young people have experienced some sort of cyber bullying, and 10 to 20 percent experience it regularly (Bullying). With this discouraging statistic, we are pressed to wonder what this stemmed from, and how far back in time this topic has been discussed. Margery Williams wrote The Velveteen Rabbit in 1922, long before the Internet or cyber bullying were even in the American vocabulary. However, she does touch on the subject of judgement in this short story, and the effect it can have on the victim. She uses the Velveteen Rabbit as her main character, a toy given to a young boy on Christmas. At one point in the story, the rabbit and his owner are outside, and some real rabbits from the forest come to confront Velveteen, mocking him on what they saw as his lack of ‘realness’ since he was a stuffed toy. They exclaimed of Velveteen; “He doesn’t smell right! He isn’t a rabbit at all! He isn’t real!” (Williams). Through this hasty judgement, these rabbits are representations of bullies in the real world, and how they quickly and wrongfully tend to judge others based on differences they know nothing about. While it is easy to throw around the term ‘bullying’ and not to take it seriously, the effect that it can have on the victim makes room for serious mental and physical damage done. The website, Stopbullying.com, provides readers with some different aftermath that can come from bullying, such as “depression and anxiety…health complaints…decreased academic achievement” (Stopbullying.com) and much more. These effects have the potential to carry into adulthood, and to make for lives that are not enjoyable to the people that live them. The website also states that in the 1990s, “in 12 of 15 school shooting cases…the shooters had a history of being bullied” (Stopbullying.com). This alarming statistic causes readers to think on the true outcome of idly standing by while children bully and taunt each other. Sadly, there are multiple adults who see teasing one another is just ‘a part of childhood’ with the indication that it should not be taken seriously. By doing this, after reading through the numbers on its aftermath, the question is raised of whether or not this attitude is aiding in the future of troubled people that pose a threat to others such as those who terrorize schools with guns. This brings forth an entirely new outlook on the idea of bullying and teasing, and how far it can be allowed to go before it becomes detrimental. 

While bullying on a one-to-one scale is certainly cause for concern, there is also the idea that this takes place on a more worldly level. In regards to the aforementioned defining of another person’s ‘realness’ and validity, readers could relate this to the widespread issue of immigration, and the opinions that some people express about people seeking shelter in a better country. Williams introduces a character known as the Skin Horse to bring light to this subject of ‘realness’ of oneself, and uses the talking toy as a sort of guiding light for those who feel victimized by this issue. She says of the Horse: “He was wise, for he had seen a long succession of toys arrive…and he knew that they were only toys, and would never turn into anything else” (Williams). As the Velveteen Rabbit approaches this wise figure and asks about the idea of being ‘real’, readers are presented with one of the story’s most important moments. Williams writes that, “Real isn’t how you are made…generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off…but these things don’t matter at all, because once you are Real you can’t be ugly, except to those who don’t understand” (Williams). Through this quote, an answer is given to how the judging of another person’s ‘realness’ should be dealt with. In this passage, Williams explains that people should not seek for validity through the opinions of others, but rather from how they feel inside. If a person feels loved and important just as the Skin Horse described, then it does not matter what any other person thinks about them. All who say otherwise are ‘those who don’t understand’. In relating this to the real-world issue of immigration, readers can then ask themselves what gives leaders, politicians, celebrity icons, etc. the right to validate a refugee or fleeing citizen, or to deem them unworthy of the same rights given to them? There are many people in power who view immigrants such as those from Mexico or Syria as scum of the Earth or ‘less than’ simply because they are different or unknown. Williams uses a simple lesson from a talking toy to shed light on this issue, and to make readers think of the large-scale affects that this negative mindset can have. 

Another concept that Williams brings up in this story is that of the rapidly-shortening attention span of America’s youth. Long gone are the days when children sat in front of radios or read books for their entertainment; now there are numerous amounts of stimulus all day every day surrounding their growing minds. In The Velveteen Rabbit, the author chooses to address this phenomenon in a way that is relatable for most children and adults alike: through the casting away of a stuffed animal on Christmas morning. The rabbit is given to the young boy as a present, and is soon tossed away due to the discovery of more advanced gadgets. Williams writes that “in the excitement of looking at all the new presents the Velveteen Rabbit was forgotten” (Williams). While this example may seem small and insignificant, it stems from a real-world issue regarding the shift in the attitudes of America’s youth and the way their minds work. This great change was studied and tested by a professor at Monash University in Melbourne, Michael Abramson, who used predictive texting to test the minds of young people. An article written about it states that the study “showed that those who used predictive text messaging the most were more likely to give faster—but less accurate—responses to IQ test questions (Telegraph). Through further analysis of this finding, we can conclude that the idea behind it is that technology has made for somewhat lazier, less precise children. With smartphones and the entire Internet at their fingertips, children these days are more subject to the negative effects technology has to offer than any before have ever been. They are growing used to the idea that advances such as predictive texting and spell check will correct their mistakes for them, leading to a lack of strive for accuracy, which can then overflow into their everyday lives offline. For example, tasks such as going to the grocery store have been made ‘technological’ so that all a customer has to do to get groceries is click a button and wait for their food to be delivered to their house via sites like Amazon.com. This all leads to the question of what this is teaching our children to grow up to be like. The American Dream has been a stereotype for this country since its founding, yet that strive for greatness that drove our forebearers has suddenly begun to halt due to all of the technology that has been provided. While some advances have been beneficial to our health and well-being, what are things like spell-check doing for our minds besides making them lazy? One Stanford Professor named Dr. Elias Aboujaoude expressed his opinion on the matter, and stated that through all of this technology, we “might lose the ability to analyze things with any depth and nuance. Like any skill, if you don’t use it, you lose it” (Aboujaoude). What he is alluding to is the idea that without the demand for the honing of skills such as editing, analytical thinking, etc., we are subject to lose them altogether, which, through the idea of evolution, may mean that later generations may not even be born with this skill at all. Williams uses a simple childhood Christmas morning to open the Pandora’s Box of issues that too much technology could bring to this country and the minds of its people.

Stemming from this idea of a technology-overridden world and the shortening attention spans of American youth, the issue of Attention Deficit disorders are also brought to light. According to an article by Time Magazine, “In the U.S., 6 million children have been diagnosed with ADHD, making it the most common childhood behavioral condition” (Time). It also states that in the past 10 years, the number of children diagnosed with this disorder has risen 50% from what it used to be. This startling statistic leads readers to wonder what has caused such a surge in this attention-related disorder, and if children’s minds today are affected more negatively by technology than previously thought of. With young children growing up around this technology-centered world, their minds are forced to intake information much faster than those of children who were brought up reading or listening to a radio broadcast. For example, playing games such as Candy Crush or Minecraft are feeding a child’s brain with dopamine when a prize is won or a level is cleared, the article explains. This neurotransmitter released into the brain is directly correlated with ADHD, what with medicines used to contain the disorder containing the exact chemical. With the enormous amount of stimulus that comes from these games and other forms of media, children’s stimulus levels reach an all-time high, causing more slow-paced activities like reading and writing a struggle to complete. This cultural phenomenon that is alluded to in Williams’ short story is a very real, very dangerous one. Since, as mentioned before, we are becoming a lazier society due to technology, parents may not want to work with children on the same face-to-face level as was so common decades ago. Through this neglect of the social well-being of their children, they are indirectly driving their children to technology as entertainment, which will then cause the children to become as ‘sucked in’ to the media as they are. This vicious cycle does not stand out as a focal point in The Velveteen Rabbit, but by tying it to one element that the story contains regarding attention spans, an entire world of attention—or lack thereof can be brought to light. 

While some of the points made in this essay may not have been noticeable upon first reading the short story, once further analyzed and connected to outside resources, these seemingly small lessons are brought to a much larger, worldly scale. Margery Williams uses the light, magical story of talking animals and toys come to life to make real-world issues understandable to both children and adults alike. Her discussions of judging one another based on outward appearances and defining one’s ‘realness’ along with the idea that technology could be creating a less ambitious youth in America are made to be much more enjoyable to learn about when a stuffed animal is involved. Just as many authors before and after her, Williams invites readers in with a quirky story line, but includes lessons that cause them to question the world around them. Short stories—children’s stories in particular—are sometimes seen as simply for entertainment purposes, but just as was found in this essay, there is always more than meets the eye when close and careful reading is applied. 
