Money Cannot Buy Happiness and Peace of Mind (The Veldt by Ray Bradbury Essay Example)

Many people foolishly spend lots of money to buy materialistic things that do not necessarily bring happiness and unfortunately can lead to problems. Is this desire for more stuff in life really necessary or beneficial? In the short story, “The Veldt,” by Ray Bradbury, Lydia and George Hadely buy a high-tech house that does everything for them.  They also buy a room for the kids that has a hologram that projects anything the children think about.  While the Hadely parents think this is a great idea at first, Lydia and George find it to be their worst nightmare.  In the futuristic story, Ray Bradbury shows how the Hadely’s house leads to nothing but problems and that their money and home does not bring them happiness.  Bradbury presents the theme through dialogue, showing the room is so realistic that it makes the characters very lazy, and ultimately makes them scared and nervous, confirming that money cannot buy happiness and peace of mind.

The author supports the theme through dialogue by showing Goerge and Lydia’s fear and uncertainty when they talk about the kids’ room.  The Hadely’s had been living in the house for many years, and it was all fun until difficulties started to occur. An example of this is when George sees the holographic lions in the room, and is unable to turn the dangerous scene back to a peaceful background.  George fiercely starts talking to the room like it can respond to him.  “‘Come on, room!  I demand Aladdin'- and nothing happened” (5), reflecting how George is acting crazy by personifying a room by talking to it as if it were a person. When George fails to get a reply from the room, he says, “The fool room’s out of order.  I won’t respond!” and his wife Lydia angrily comments, “or… it can’t respond” (5).  This dialogue between the husband and wife shows that both of the adults in the house have been strongly and negatively affected by the holographic in the home, which is causing them to lose control.  Because George is certain that the room will respond to him, he is frustrated and angry when he finds he is unable to communicate with it.  Lastly, George says, “I don’t know anything, except that I’m starting to be sorry we ever bought that room for the kids'' (7).  Showing that although the room at first brought the kids happiness and perhaps made their lives easier, the end result leads to conflicts for George and Lydia.  Because the kids get obsessed about the lions and stay in the room too long, their parents’ discussions about the lions reflect fear and worry that they can no longer control the room.

Secondly, because the room is so realistic, it starts to scare Lydia and George because they could not separate fantasy from reality.  The first example is when Lydia and George were talking while walking through the hallway toward the room, where they see “the lions now, fifteen feet away, so real, so feverishly and startlingly real that [they] could feel the prickling fur on [their] hand” (2).  Although the holographic lions weren’t real and the children were therefore not in danger, the lions’ appearance was so detailed and accurate that their parents are unable to accept the images are simply a projection.  Over the years, George and Lydia have been in and out of the room for so long that they are unable to tolerate the sounds, picture and realism of the lions that they believe to be dangerous.   Secondly, when Lydia and George look away from the lions for one second, the lions continue to stare at them, and when the two parents glance back again, Lydia screams, “Watch out” (2) as the lions come running towards them.  Equally afraid, George replies  “Lydia, my poor dear.  They almost got us” (2), showing that he also has forgotten that they are just holograms.  AFter living with the holographic lions for so long they become so real to George and Lydia that the Hadely parents can no longer differentiate reality from fantasy.  Lastly, George reminds them that they are just “walls, Lydia; crystal wall, that’s all they are, there is no need to worry” (2), saying this not only to convince his wife but perhaps himself, too. With this evidence, the author shows that the room has scared George and Lydia because the imagery projected on the wall is so real to them.

Lastly, Bradbury shows that money and expense do not necessarily lead to happiness and instead can often cause problems. George meets with a physiatrist who asks him, “What prompted you to buy a nightmare?” and  George replies “Pride, money, and foolishness, it does everything for us” (11), admitting that the futuristic house would make them happy by making their lives easy.   Because the house does everything  for the family, they have forgotten what living and doing things on their own is actually like.  Another example to support that the family became lazy is when they are eating dinner and complain how they “forgot the ketchup,” and the small voice of the house replies, “sorry” (5).  Lastly, when Lydia announces that they are going on a long vacation to get away from the house, her Peter is in shock, saying, “That’s dreadful, you mean I would have to tie my own shoes?” (8), showing how the kids have become addicted to the technology of the house.  They are unable to appreciate the things they already have and are unable to complete simple tasks for themselves, reflecting that their dream house really did not make them happy.  

Even though technology can make human lives easier, Ray Bradbury’s futuristic story shows the downside of technology.  The theme, when people allow technology to control their lives, they willingly give up their own ability to control themselves is emphasized through the family’s dialogue that shows their increased fear and anxiety, the realism of the tech-controlled house, and their regret for buying the house because they believed they could buy happiness.  While some people believe that the advanced use of technology has no flaws, because a world where everything done easily and quick is nice, Bradbury’s story shows that technology can have a downside to it, by emphasizing the theme with dialogue, showing the family’s concern in the end, and showing how it made them lazy.