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The Veldt

143 statements
27 feature instances
6 referencing feature instances

The Veldt	type	TVTItem
The Veldt	label	The Veldt
The Veldt	page	TheVeldt
The Veldt	comment	"The Veldt" is a short story written by American author Ray Bradbury. Originally appearing as "The World the Children Made" in the 23 September 1950 issue of The Saturday Evening Post, it was republished under its current name in the 1951 anthology The Illustrated Man.George and Lydia Hadley, two parents living in a futuristic society, worry about their children's mental health when their new virtual reality nursery, which can produce any environment the children imagine, continually projects an African veldt populated by lions feasting on carcasses. When they try to shut it down, the children do not take it well.Extremely widely read, as it is often included in English Literature textbooks in American schools between 5th and 8th grade.
The Veldt	fetched	2023-07-31T10:28:18Z
The Veldt	parsed	2023-07-31T10:28:19Z
The Veldt	isPartOf	DBTropes
The Veldt / int_1b38f6b7	type	Shout-Out Theme Naming
The Veldt / int_1b38f6b7	comment	Shout-Out Theme Naming: The children are named after Peter and Wendy from Peter Pan, and like them reject their parents in favor of living in a fantasy world.
The Veldt / int_1b38f6b7	featureApplicability	1.0
The Veldt / int_1b38f6b7	featureConfidence	1.0
The Veldt	hasFeature	The Veldt / int_1b38f6b7
The Veldt / int_1d3c92da	type	Failsafe Failure
The Veldt / int_1d3c92da	comment	Failsafe Failure: George and Lydia note that the playroom is supposed to be able to respond to anyone's commands, precisely to avoid turning it into a power play. George becomes concerned when it stops listening to him.
The Veldt / int_1d3c92da	featureApplicability	1.0
The Veldt / int_1d3c92da	featureConfidence	1.0
The Veldt	hasFeature	The Veldt / int_1d3c92da
The Veldt / int_20989d05	type	Parents as People
The Veldt / int_20989d05	comment	Parents as People: George and Lydia are a loving couple who care deeply about each other and their kids, but who unintentionally neglect them since the robot house does an inhumanly perfect job of looking after them than they do. To their credit, they realize this and resolve to fix things. Unfortunately, this ends up killing them; the kids throw such a huge temper tantrum that Lydia convinces George that a few more minutes in the playroom won't hurt them, and George finally agrees to shut them up.
The Veldt / int_20989d05	featureApplicability	1.0
The Veldt / int_20989d05	featureConfidence	1.0
The Veldt	hasFeature	The Veldt / int_20989d05
The Veldt / int_24321e44	type	Only Sane Man
The Veldt / int_24321e44	comment	Only Sane Man: Dr. McClean is this in the story. While George at first is amused at the idea that the playroom is going wrong and needs to see the evidence firsthand, and Lydia enables the kids' worst behaviors, the psychologist only needs to spend a few minutes in the playroom to see the red flags. He orders George to shut down the entire house and pack up what they need for an extended stay at his clinic. It's a shame that the kids threw such huge temper tantrums.
The Veldt / int_24321e44	featureApplicability	1.0
The Veldt / int_24321e44	featureConfidence	1.0
The Veldt	hasFeature	The Veldt / int_24321e44
The Veldt / int_25f088b8	type	Holodeck Malfunction
The Veldt / int_25f088b8	comment	Holodeck Malfunction: George fears this is happening with the nursery when it fails to respond to his commands to take on a different form than the African veldt, and when the lions appear to become real enough to actually hurt whoever visits the room. That last part is proven to be correct at the end.
The Veldt / int_25f088b8	featureApplicability	1.0
The Veldt / int_25f088b8	featureConfidence	1.0
The Veldt	hasFeature	The Veldt / int_25f088b8
The Veldt / int_2854b56d	type	Uncertain Doom
The Veldt / int_2854b56d	comment	Uncertain Doom: It's never confirmed if Peter and Wendy will also feed the child psychologist to the playroom. On the one hand, he wasn't the one that physically shut it off. They know, however, that he was coming to pick them up for extended psychological treatment.
The Veldt / int_2854b56d	featureApplicability	1.0
The Veldt / int_2854b56d	featureConfidence	1.0
The Veldt	hasFeature	The Veldt / int_2854b56d
The Veldt / int_2e338ce4	type	The Cavalry Arrives Late
The Veldt / int_2e338ce4	comment	The Cavalry Arrives Late: Dr. McClean comes just after the playroom has murdered George and Lydia. The kids nonchalantly offer him a cup of tea. He had warned George and Lydia not to turn it back on, under any circumstances. While one man wouldn't do well against lions, Dr. McClean could have unlocked the door to save the parents.
The Veldt / int_2e338ce4	featureApplicability	1.0
The Veldt / int_2e338ce4	featureConfidence	1.0
The Veldt	hasFeature	The Veldt / int_2e338ce4
The Veldt / int_3d038b36	type	Rhetorical Question Blunder
The Veldt / int_3d038b36	comment	Rhetorical Question Blunder: When George suggests taking a break from the house, Peter asks semi-sarcastically if that means he would have to paint his own art and brush his teeth. His father gives a Blunt "Yes", much to Peter's horror.
The Veldt / int_3d038b36	featureApplicability	1.0
The Veldt / int_3d038b36	featureConfidence	1.0
The Veldt	hasFeature	The Veldt / int_3d038b36
The Veldt / int_3f11ef74	type	Parental Substitute
The Veldt / int_3f11ef74	comment	Parental Substitute: Child psychologist David McClean warns George and Lydia that their children have come to view the nursery, and on a larger scale the house, as this, and see their actual, biological parents as a threat to this substitute parent
The Veldt / int_3f11ef74	featureApplicability	1.0
The Veldt / int_3f11ef74	featureConfidence	1.0
The Veldt	hasFeature	The Veldt / int_3f11ef74
The Veldt / int_49f20c6a	type	Gory Discretion Shot
The Veldt / int_49f20c6a	comment	Gory Discretion Shot: The story tastefully cuts away from the moment where George and Lydia realize they are going to be eaten by lions, and that their kids were fantasizing about this for a while. Instead, we see Dr. McClean arriving and seeing the grisly aftermath.
The Veldt / int_49f20c6a	featureApplicability	1.0
The Veldt / int_49f20c6a	featureConfidence	1.0
The Veldt	hasFeature	The Veldt / int_49f20c6a
The Veldt / int_514491f	type	Job-Stealing Robot
The Veldt / int_514491f	comment	Job-Stealing Robot: Lydia has come consider their fully automated house to be this.
The Veldt / int_514491f	featureApplicability	1.0
The Veldt / int_514491f	featureConfidence	1.0
The Veldt	hasFeature	The Veldt / int_514491f
The Veldt / int_5f9d7299	type	EnfanteTerrible
The Veldt / int_5f9d7299	comment	Enfante Terrible: Peter and Wendy, who murder their parents because they've threatened to cut off their holographic nursery.
The Veldt / int_5f9d7299	featureApplicability	1.0
The Veldt / int_5f9d7299	featureConfidence	1.0
The Veldt	hasFeature	The Veldt / int_5f9d7299
The Veldt / int_63389b0b	type	Kids Are Cruel
The Veldt / int_63389b0b	comment	Kids Are Cruel: Your parents want to shut down your favorite playroom? Kill them! Even worse, they've been fantasizing about lions eating their parents long before George is worried about the playroom and instead had grounded Peter for a different misdemeanor.
The Veldt / int_63389b0b	featureApplicability	1.0
The Veldt / int_63389b0b	featureConfidence	1.0
The Veldt	hasFeature	The Veldt / int_63389b0b
The Veldt / int_7286e96d	type	Idiot Ball
The Veldt / int_7286e96d	comment	Idiot Ball: Despite being the first one to realize how worrying their children's behavior and the scene in the nursery was and being very fearful of it throughout the story, Lydia lets the kids play in the nursery one last time after George turned it off, saying she doesn't see the harm in it.
The Veldt / int_7286e96d	featureApplicability	1.0
The Veldt / int_7286e96d	featureConfidence	1.0
The Veldt	hasFeature	The Veldt / int_7286e96d
The Veldt / int_7453bc5b	type	Spared by the Adaptation
The Veldt / int_7453bc5b	comment	Spared by the Adaptation: The X Minus One adaptation notes that the parents survive, but the experience traumatized them.
The Veldt / int_7453bc5b	featureApplicability	1.0
The Veldt / int_7453bc5b	featureConfidence	1.0
The Veldt	hasFeature	The Veldt / int_7453bc5b
The Veldt / int_77ed6b7d	type	Troubling Unchildlike Behavior
The Veldt / int_77ed6b7d	comment	Troubling Unchildlike Behavior: The children's fixation on playing in an African veldt, while lions kill and eat something in the distance disturbs their parents enough to call a child psychologist, and is a sign that there is something seriously wrong with them. Of course, it gets clinched when the kids use the playroom to murder their own parents.
The Veldt / int_77ed6b7d	featureApplicability	1.0
The Veldt / int_77ed6b7d	featureConfidence	1.0
The Veldt	hasFeature	The Veldt / int_77ed6b7d
The Veldt / int_780a078e	type	Self-Made Orphan
The Veldt / int_780a078e	comment	Self-Made Orphan: At the end of the story, Peter and Wendy trap their parents in the nursery and have the (holographic) lions eat them. Then they host a tea party on the veldt just as Dr. McClean arrives.
The Veldt / int_780a078e	featureApplicability	1.0
The Veldt / int_780a078e	featureConfidence	1.0
The Veldt	hasFeature	The Veldt / int_780a078e
The Veldt / int_79a0e313	type	Bolivian Army Ending
The Veldt / int_79a0e313	comment	Bolivian Army Ending: The story ends with the therapist Dr. McClean coming to pick up the kids, and he sees them calmly having a tea party in the Veldt, with their parents nowhere in sight, although some lions and vultures are feasting on carcasses in the distance. Peter and Wendy offer him a cup of tea, and we don't find out what happens after that. The reader has to decide if Dr. McClean figured out what happened and forces the kids out of the playroom or escapes to alert the authorities, or if they will kill him in turn. The Ray Bradbury Theater adaptation opts to remove some of the ambiguity by having the episode end with the door to the nursery close and lock behind McClean.
The Veldt / int_79a0e313	featureApplicability	1.0
The Veldt / int_79a0e313	featureConfidence	1.0
The Veldt	hasFeature	The Veldt / int_79a0e313
The Veldt / int_ad1db87c	type	Oh, Crap!
The Veldt / int_ad1db87c	comment	Oh, Crap!: Dr. McClean has this reaction when he arrives at the house, with George and Lydia nowhere in sight, and the kids are in the unlocked playroom. They offer him a cup of tea as he tries to see what the lions are eating.
The Veldt / int_ad1db87c	featureApplicability	1.0
The Veldt / int_ad1db87c	featureConfidence	1.0
The Veldt	hasFeature	The Veldt / int_ad1db87c
The Veldt / int_bfc84d44	type	Calling Parents by Their Name
The Veldt / int_bfc84d44	comment	Calling Parents by Their Name: Peter and Wendy call their father by his first name when he turns off the nursery, signifying they contempt they feel for him.
The Veldt / int_bfc84d44	featureApplicability	1.0
The Veldt / int_bfc84d44	featureConfidence	1.0
The Veldt	hasFeature	The Veldt / int_bfc84d44
The Veldt / int_cfc52d52	type	Spoiled Brat
The Veldt / int_cfc52d52	comment	Spoiled Brat: Both Peter and Wendy have become very, very spoiled due to living in the futuristic house and being allowed to do pretty much whatever they want.
The Veldt / int_cfc52d52	featureApplicability	1.0
The Veldt / int_cfc52d52	featureConfidence	1.0
The Veldt	hasFeature	The Veldt / int_cfc52d52
The Veldt / int_def7c6ec	type	Artificial Outdoors Display
The Veldt / int_def7c6ec	comment	Artificial Outdoors Display: The nursery has virtual reality capability. It can project on its walls, ceiling and floor a simulation of an outdoor setting. The setting the children like most is an African veldt.
The Veldt / int_def7c6ec	featureApplicability	1.0
The Veldt / int_def7c6ec	featureConfidence	1.0
The Veldt	hasFeature	The Veldt / int_def7c6ec
The Veldt / int_f0e85546	type	Unbuilt Trope
The Veldt / int_f0e85546	comment	Unbuilt Trope: The story is one of the first to explore the idea of a Smart House...while also dissecting the negative social ramifications and psychological effects it can have.
The Veldt / int_f0e85546	featureApplicability	1.0
The Veldt / int_f0e85546	featureConfidence	1.0
The Veldt	hasFeature	The Veldt / int_f0e85546
The Veldt / int_f32d85ab	type	20 Minutes into the Future
The Veldt / int_f32d85ab	comment	20 Minutes into the Future: The supposed year isn't stated, but it's culturally identical to 1950 except with more advanced technology. In addition to the smart house, there's mention of transportation by rockets.
The Veldt / int_f32d85ab	featureApplicability	1.0
The Veldt / int_f32d85ab	featureConfidence	1.0
The Veldt	hasFeature	The Veldt / int_f32d85ab
The Veldt / int_f3d5d15f	type	Creepy Child
The Veldt / int_f3d5d15f	comment	Creepy Child: Peter and Wendy Hadley, who've replaced their parents in their minds with the AI controlling the house they live in and who fantasize about lions killing their real parents. Even the child psychologist who sees them is creeped out.
The Veldt / int_f3d5d15f	featureApplicability	1.0
The Veldt / int_f3d5d15f	featureConfidence	1.0
The Veldt	hasFeature	The Veldt / int_f3d5d15f
The Veldt / int_ffa0ee7c	type	Smart House
The Veldt / int_ffa0ee7c	comment	Smart House: The Hadley family is living in one called "The Happylife Home". It cost a fortune, and by the end of the story the parents are completely creeped out by it and plan to move out.
The Veldt / int_ffa0ee7c	featureApplicability	1.0
The Veldt / int_ffa0ee7c	featureConfidence	1.0
The Veldt	hasFeature	The Veldt / int_ffa0ee7c
The Veldt / int_name	type	ItemName
The Veldt / int_name	comment
The Veldt / int_name	featureApplicability	1.0
The Veldt / int_name	featureConfidence	1.0
The Veldt	hasFeature	The Veldt / int_name
The Veldt / int_name	itemName	The Veldt

The following is a list of statements referring to the current page from other pages.

The Veldt	hasFeature	Holodeck Malfunction / int_a66cc809
The Veldt	hasFeature	Job-Stealing Robot / int_a66cc809
The Veldt	hasFeature	Raised by Robots / int_a66cc809
The Veldt	hasFeature	Short Story / int_a66cc809
The Veldt	hasFeature	Smart House / int_a66cc809
The Veldt	hasFeature	Troubling Unchildlike Behavior / int_a66cc809

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