{"id":1761,"date":"2026-04-24T15:08:15","date_gmt":"2026-04-24T15:08:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/openlab.bmcc.cuny.edu\/bmccreads\/?p=1761"},"modified":"2026-04-24T15:08:15","modified_gmt":"2026-04-24T15:08:15","slug":"a-cautionary-tale-by-ray-bradbury-the-veldt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/openlab.bmcc.cuny.edu\/bmccreads\/a-cautionary-tale-by-ray-bradbury-the-veldt\/","title":{"rendered":"A Cautionary Tale by Ray Bradbury: \u201cThe Veldt\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-1776\" src=\"https:\/\/openlab.bmcc.cuny.edu\/bmccreads\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/99\/2026\/04\/VintageBradbury-cover-190x300.jpg\" alt=\"cover of The Vintage Bradbury, featuring a headshot of a smiling Ray Bradbury\" width=\"190\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/openlab.bmcc.cuny.edu\/bmccreads\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/99\/2026\/04\/VintageBradbury-cover-190x300.jpg 190w, https:\/\/openlab.bmcc.cuny.edu\/bmccreads\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/99\/2026\/04\/VintageBradbury-cover.jpg 285w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 190px) 100vw, 190px\" \/>Reading \u201cThe Veldt\u201d by Ray Bradbury left me both fascinated and unsettled. The story portrayal of a futuristic home that caters to everyone inside in every way highlights how technology can weaken human relationships. I was blown away by the vivid imagery of the African veldt and the lions, the suspense and dread feel stronger as you read along. Bradbury\u2019s use of foreshadowing builds tension throughout the story and makes the story\u2019s climax shocking yet inevitable.<\/p>\n<p>The literary elements, such as clear imagery, help strengthen the story\u2019s message. The setting of the Happy-life Home and the nursery not only showcases Bradbury\u2019s imaginative world-building but also symbolizes the dangers of replacing emotional care with machines. The children, Wendy and Peter, are portrayed with unsettling realism; the detachment from their parents shows the consequences of how much they were relying on technology. Even the father, George, started drinking and smoking more to feel like himself, due to the house made of technology doing all the fatherly work. The story\u2019s tone, dark and cautionary, effectively communicates the moral lesson.<\/p>\n<p>Beyond the story itself, \u201cThe Veldt\u201d reflects influences that still feel relevant today. It made me think about modern society\u2019s dependence on screens and devices, and how this can impact family dynamics and personal responsibility. Bradbury\u2019s story acts as a cautionary tale, warning readers that imagination and technology, when combined without guidance, can have destructive effects on everyone. Overall, the story\u2019s combination of compelling characters, imaginative settings, and powerful themes creates a work that is both entertaining and thought-provoking, leaving a lasting impression about the balance between innovation and human connection.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><em><strong>Get the story!<\/strong> \u201cThe Veldt\u201d is included in <span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">The Vintage Bradbury: Ray Bradbury\u2019s Own Selection of His Best Stories<\/span>, which you can check out at <a href=\"https:\/\/cuny-bm.primo.exlibrisgroup.com\/permalink\/01CUNY_BM\/pafot\/alma990024021620106141\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">BMCC\u2019s Library<\/a>. It is also included in <span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">Ray Bradbury: The Illustrated Man, The October Country, and Other Stories<\/span>, which you can check out at the <a href=\"https:\/\/borrow.nypl.org\/search\/card?id=63f60f08-ea16-5ebc-853d-83b6cdfba474&amp;entityType=FormatGroup\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">New York Public Library<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/discover.bklynlibrary.org\/item?b=12570423\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Brooklyn Public Library<\/a>, or <a href=\"https:\/\/queenslibrary.org\/book\/The-illustrated-man---The-October-country---other-stories\/1189048\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Queens Public Library<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>About the author<\/strong> This review is by Liryia Ellison, a young student at BMCC who loves to write.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/\" rel=\"license\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i.creativecommons.org\/l\/by\/4.0\/88x31.png\" alt=\"Creative Commons License\" \/><\/a><br \/>\nThis work is licensed under a <a href=\"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Reading \u201cThe Veldt\u201d by Ray Bradbury left me both fascinated and unsettled. The story portrayal of a futuristic home that caters to everyone inside in every way highlights how technology can weaken human relationships.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5629,"featured_media":1776,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"portfolio_post_id":0,"portfolio_citation":"","portfolio_annotation":"","openlab_post_visibility":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,15],"tags":[69,10,64,37,87],"coauthors":[20],"class_list":{"0":"post-1761","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-blog","8":"category-reading-reflections","9":"tag-eng-201","10":"tag-fiction","11":"tag-science-fiction","12":"tag-short-stories","13":"tag-speculative-fiction","14":"czr-hentry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/openlab.bmcc.cuny.edu\/bmccreads\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1761","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/openlab.bmcc.cuny.edu\/bmccreads\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/openlab.bmcc.cuny.edu\/bmccreads\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/openlab.bmcc.cuny.edu\/bmccreads\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5629"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/openlab.bmcc.cuny.edu\/bmccreads\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1761"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/openlab.bmcc.cuny.edu\/bmccreads\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1761\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1778,"href":"https:\/\/openlab.bmcc.cuny.edu\/bmccreads\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1761\/revisions\/1778"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/openlab.bmcc.cuny.edu\/bmccreads\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1776"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/openlab.bmcc.cuny.edu\/bmccreads\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1761"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/openlab.bmcc.cuny.edu\/bmccreads\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1761"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/openlab.bmcc.cuny.edu\/bmccreads\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1761"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/openlab.bmcc.cuny.edu\/bmccreads\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=1761"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}