Views of the veiled
The story the Velda written by Ray B, comes off as a strange story about the effects of technology. In the very beginning, the mother of the house tells her husband that there is something different with the nursery. Upon further investigation they find out that the images being projected are very life like to the point that they can even smell the air in the projections. This scene is important because it shows that people back in the 50’s predicted that our technology could one day be so advanced.
What’s more interesting to me then the idea of technology taking over is the idea of family in the future. In the story, parents are just there to pay the bills. In the Veldt the house did everything for the family from making breakfast to tying the kids shoe laces. When a house can do these tasks which kids usually relay on their parents for, in the minds of kids the parents are not important. But of course, we need our parents to teach us human interaction, life skills and so on, however when there is no conversation at all between parents and kids, they never learn this. It very obvious that the kids lack love for their parents when the little boy tells his father that he hates him for a simple turning off the house. It’s as if the technology features of the house is the only thing that is important to them.
What the parents thought would be a relief to them, took away their very purpose. This story should come as a shock to especially adults so that they do realize how valuable it is to have strong family bonds. In the past, families had dinner together and spent outdoor hours together, now we see both parents busy. What was predicted in the 50s is becoming a reality?
The story has an open ending where we aren’t exactly sure what happens to the parents. At first, I thought that the lions that the kids had imagined up in the veldt, had come out of the screen and had eaten them. This theory went along with the scene where the parents locked the room, but they could almost hear the lions scratching at the door. This scene was particularly confusing and is not the only scene that makes you wonder if the animals could really come out of the screen. When the father finds is wallet and the mothers scarf in the later scene, it also makes you wonder about the realness of the veldt. I would say over all this story made me more confused than anything else. I feel that all great stories should have a clear ending.
