“The Veldt” Questions
Directions: Answer the following briefly. These questions are focused on the plot of the
story.
1. Describe what the Happylife Home can do.
The Happylife Home does everything for the family, like cooking, cleaning, dressing
them, and even entertaining the kids with a super advanced virtual reality nursery.
2. How do George and Lydia Hadley treat their children Wendy and Peter?
They spoil Wendy and Peter, giving them whatever they want and not really disiplining
them. They let them have too much control, which makes the kids act entitled.
3. What is Lydia worried about?
Lydia is worried that the house is replacing them as parents. She feels like she’s not
needed anymore and that something about the nursery is just off.
4. Describe the veldt in the nursery.
The veldt is a virtual African grassland with lions, super hot sun, and vultures flying
overhead. It feels too real, and the lions always seem to be eating something but they dont
say what it is
5. In the past month, three things have caused Wendy and Peter to be angry with their
parents. What are those three things?
- George said he might turn off the nursery.
- The parents wanted them to take a break from the house and go on vacation.
- George actually did shut off the nursery, which made them REALLY mad.
6. What do Wendy and Peter do to their parents?
They trick George and Lydia into going inside the nursery and then lock them in. The
lions attack, and it’s pretty clear the parents don’t make it out.
Directions: Respond to the following questions using details from the text or direct quotes.
1. The Hadleys live in a house that does practically everything for them. Why has this
become a problem?
The parents don’t really parent anymore because the house does everything. They feel
useless, and the kids have basically stopped respecting them completely. George starts to
realize this when he says, “Maybe I don’t have enough to do. Maybe I have time to think
too much.”
2. In what ways do Wendy and Peter act like typical ten year olds?
They whine, throw tantrums when they don’t get their way, and try to manipulate their
parents. But they take it way too far by actually turning on them. Peter even tries to act
innocent, saying, “I don’t remember anything about the nursery.”
3. The children have created the veldt over and over again for months. Why?
It shows how much they actually hate their parents. The veldt is their way of expressing
their anger, and it’s kinda like them fantasizing about getting rid of them for good.
George notices, “I don’t imagine the room will like being turned off,”meaning the kids
thoughts have made it come alive in a dangerous way.
4. What is the significance of George finding his wallet and Lydia’s scarf in the nursery?
Both items are bloodstained, which means the nursery has already been imagining their
deaths. It’s basically foreshadowing what’s about to happen. “There were drops of saliva
on it, it had been chewed, and there were blood smears on both sides.”
5. What has led to the main problem between George and Lydia and Wendy and Peter, and
how does the technology in this story further affect their relationship?
The kids don’t see their parents as people to look up to anymore because the house takes
care of everything. The nursery lets them have whatever they want, so when the parents
try to stop them, they see them as the enemy. Lydia points out, “You’ve let this room and
this house replace you and your wife in your children’s affections.”
Directions: Respond to the following. This is your opinion!!
1. Ray Bradbury wrote this story in 1950, just around the time when Americans were first
beginning to have televisions in their homes. At the time, technology such as the
Happylife Home and the nursery in “The Veldt” was considered a very far off possibility.
In 1950, there was no color TV, video games, personal computers, cell phones, YouTube,
Skype, Twitter, Facebook, or Google. Although today, there still aren’t Happylife Homes
or this kind of nursery, there are automatic lights and doors, voice-command devices,
computer controlled heating and cooling, and virtual reality games. The Happylife Home
with a nursery seems possible in the near future. Explain why or why not you think
people would want a Happylife Home or nursery like the one in “The Veldt.” Considering
the negatives of the technology mentioned above, do you think a Happylife Home or
nursery would pose any problems?
Yeah, people would probably want a house that does everything for them, but it would make
them lazy. A nursery like this would be a really bad idea because it gives kids way too much
power. If a kid is mad, they could imagine something dangerous without even meaning to, and
that could be super unsafe. The story shows that relying too much on technology can actually
ruin families instead of helping them like intended in the story.
