Ray Bradbury depicts a rising concern of the negative effects of technology in the mid nineteenth century in The Veldt. Written in 1950, The Veldt takes place in a world filled with virtual realities and machines completing nearly any human need physically, emotionally, or spiritually. The concern in society continues to rise as technology has advanced drastically through the late nineteenth century and twenty-first century. As The Veldt represents, the quick advancement of technology since the industrial revolution poses a threat to human society and social interaction supported by late 20th century and present sociological studies and evidence. Several studies and authors support this claim stating there is an increased dependence on technology, society is becoming materialistic, and there is going to be a continuous decline of jobs. 

Technology in the present day includes one of the most complex and most universally used systems, the internet. The internet serves as source of nearly anything one can possibly imagine, including videos, pictures and information. One can virtually travel to any place in the entire world with the click of just one button. Ray Bradbury represents this virtual world as a nursery; being described as too real: “Perhaps they needed a little vacation from the fantasy which was growing a bit too real for ten-year-old children” (Bradbury 4). The internet is very similar to the world in the nursery. The children can imagine anything they want and see it in front of their eyes in seconds. Technology and the internet work the very same way; somebody can imagine anything and see it in front of themselves in a few seconds. During the time in which The Veldt was written the internet did not exist. However, Bradbury recognized how quickly technology was advancing and depicted a room—or the nursery—that performs many of the same functions as the internet. Bradbury also expresses a sense of addiction to the nursery that the children feel. They become dependent on it as the family generally does on machines within their house. In one study, “Some respondents reported more serious problems because of Internet use: trouble with employers or social isolation except for Internet friends—troubles similar to those found with other addictions” (Chou, Condron, Bellard 3). Here we see that technology use can lead to problems such as social isolation and can cause distractions in peoples’ everyday lives. The children in The Veldt are solely focused on the nursery for their everyday needs. They pay no attention to their parents or their surrounding world. The children are isolating themselves from all social interaction. This leads to a disconnection within the family. Technology causes some of the same problems. People become so engaged in their online lives and face to face interaction loses value. Society is becoming increasingly materialized.

 Bradbury conveys societies increasing materialization through the family in The Veldt. The children become less involved with their parents and rely on the technology within the house to perform their daily needs. Lydia—the wife in the story—states “The house is wife and mother now, and nursemaid” (Bradbury 3). Bradbury symbolizes the distant relationship that the children and parents have together. The children don’t need their parents for nearly anything at this point in the story. As society becomes more materialized, some family and social values have begun to diminish. People are increasingly replacing social interaction with technology such as cell phones, computer, and other material objects. Several studies have proven that materialism leads to decreased life satisfaction, reasons being: “The most accepted explanation for this finding is that preoccupation with material desires and wealth leads to the neglect of other life domains such as social relations and family, thus lowering psychological adjustment and social productivity” (e.g. Kasser & Ryan, 1993) (Kerabati, Cemalcilar 3). The children’s materialization with their technology in The veldt eventually causes them to choose their technology over their parents. In the end they end the children direct the technology to kill their parents. This symbolizes the liking some people have of their technology. For some, there is no need for human relationships when technology can serve most of their needs. The more society desires materialism, the more our other emotional and psychological needs will fall. 

Technology is becoming so advanced that machines can do many things humans can and even cannot do. Bradbury represents this idea in The Veldt. “The house is wife and mother now, and nursemaid” (Bradbury 3). The house that the family resides in can do almost everything that any parent could do. For instance, the house brushes the children’s teeth and ties their shoes for them. This problem is not only representative of materialism, but also to an increasingly concern with machines and the job market. Due to the fact that machines are becoming capable of doing more tasks and are becoming highly productive, there is a growing concern that the number of jobs available in the future will be scarce. In an economics study, Rotman explains the results of a study “beginning in 2000, the lines diverge; productivity continues to rise robustly, but employment suddenly wilts” (Rotman 1). The line Rotman describes is located on a graph that represents tow lines, productivity and employment. Employment remains constant as productivity rises. This is evidence that there is more productivity over all, however, no human labor to account for it. Technology and machines are producing more while there is no human labor needed. Rotman also explains “Technologies like the Web, artificial intelligence big data, and improved analytics—all made possible by the ever increasing availability of cheap computing power and storage capacity— are automating many routine tasks” (Rotman 2). The result of this is that many jobs are being depleted, such as customer service and analytics jobs. As we continue to see the increasing advancement of technology, more jobs are going to disappear. Technological producing is cheaper and can be much more productive. The Veldt represents this concept as the house performs nearly any task that the family pleases. 

I argue that The Veldt represents society today. The problems in The Veldt are analogous to many of the problems created by technology in the present world. First, people are fabricating their world through technology, specifically the internet, computers, televisions, and phones. This is analogous to the nursery in The Veldt. The nursery creates a virtual reality for the children as does technology for society today. Many events and activities are now being experienced second hand via technology. This is a cause of society becoming materialistic and wanting everything at its fingertips. Second, there is an increased dependence on technology, as also represented in The Veldt. The children once again represent society while the nursery symbolizes technology. Many people’s daily lives revolve and depend on technology, whether it be for work, recreation, or communication. Society’s dependence on technology could possibly lead to missing traditional friendship and family values. Third, technology is replacing many jobs at an increasing rate. As the house does everything for the family in the veldt, machines are beginning to do many things, never once imagined, for humans. This is leading to a decrease in the need for human labor. 

There are many sociological and economical downfalls to new technology. Ray Bradbury conveys this idea through The Veldt. Bradbury brings the issue of technology advancing too fast into the light. I argue that technology is indeed increasing too quickly. Bradbury wrote The Veldt in the year 1950. Now in the year 2016 we have lived up to the name Bradbury created for society. As technology continues to increase, we must be aware of the potential dangers it brings with it. 
