I first heard The Veldt as a song by deadmau5, one that makes me cry every time I hear it. I’ve been fortunate to hear it played live twice by the man himself. The story behind the song is one of amazement, in itself. Joel Zimmerman (aka deadmau5) released the instrumental of the track and asked people to submit their own vocal. And alas, what we have today was the very first vocal he ever heard. There’s even video of him discovering it.
And then, I learned the song’s concept is based off a short story called The Veldt by Ray Bradbury. Once I read the story, everything about the song and the video made so much more sense and gave me an even greater sense of meaning and emotion toward the song.
What stands out to me about this story is how ahead of it’s time it was. It’s a science fiction story that starts with details about a home cleaning and cooking itself. As the characters move in their home, the lights turn on and off by themselves. Originally published in the Saturday Evening Post in 1950, there isn’t the slightest possibility this story was routed in the reality of its time. It is soon discovered the parents in the story have a “nursery” in their home which will become the main subject of the story. It’s a two-dimensional box that somehow changes into a real African veldt, complete with sun and heat, essentially virtual reality in the 1950’s.
As the story continues, a sense of uneasiness develops. While the home the couple have chosen to live in can do everything for them, they begin to not feel at home. They want to do everything again for themselves, the housekeeping, the cooking, the taking care of their children. They begin to contemplate the idea of “turning off” their home including the nursery. The father begins to contemplate the nursery and how it’s taken over his children’s lives. In his thoughts, you realize that the landscape/theme of the nursery is a direct result of what the person inside of it is thinking about, meaning that the children have though up this African veldt.
The parents decide to consult a psychologist because they are concerned about their children’s well-being. He recommends they shut it down as the nursery is becoming a channel toward destructive thoughts instead of a release. At this suggestion, the family decide it is time to leave their home, to leave the place where everything is done for them and to leave the nursery that has turned their children away from them.
After learning of this, Peter and Wendy, the two children are not happy and beg to go to the nursery one more time. The parents finally agree and not long after, their children call them to the Sahara. The door slams as the children lock them in and soon lions surround them. All they can do is scream. The very last scene in the story is the two children and the psychologist in the nursery eating a picnic lunch. The psychologist asks where the parents are as lions feed in the background. Wendy says, “Oh they’ll be here directly.”
The first time I read the story and even as I read it again just now, I was shocked. Just the right amount of details are provided to point the reader to the conclusion that the veldt was real and Wendy and Peter wanted their parents dead. Reading it in 2021, I see it as a commentary on technology, how we’re so reliant on it and we would go to extreme lengths to keep it, very Black Mirror-esque. I still can’t get over the fact that this was written in 1950. It makes me wonder what the people of that time thought when they read it.
It’s only a 13 page story but I can still get all of the elements of a good story out of it. The beginning, middle and end are clear. I root for the parents to figure out their lives so then can become happy again. And there becomes a very clear conflict that needs to be addressed. Ultimately, it is addressed but not in the way you would think.
EXSM 3989 - Digital Storytelling Class Blog 