The Illustrated Man- Technology
The Illustrated Man is a collection of short stories ranging from lives in outer space to families living on Earth. All the stories tell of event in the future, but they are all different. Ray Bradbury’s unique stories all have an underlying theme of technology and the psychology of people. Bradbury predicts technology as good as well as bad. However, he mostly depicts technology as destructive because people are dependent on it and take it for granted.
In the book, there is a short story, “The Veldt”, that describes users of technology in the future and their dependence on it. The family lives in a home filled with machines that do everything for its owners. It is called the Happylife Home. The two children, Peter and Wendy, become fascinated with the nursery which connects to the children telepathically and projects what they imagine. They soon become attached to the room and replace their parents with the electronics. The parents realize the home is taking away from their lives since they are not living to the fullest. They decide to correct their way of life by leaving the home, but it’s too late because the children became addicted and attached. Peter and Wendy kill their parents by locking them in the nursery and letting the machines kill them. Ray Bradbury predicts in the future, people will have luxuries of doing nothing at all because high tech electronics will replace them to do their work. It seems like the future makes peoples lives better because they are at ease and relaxing. However, it is actually wasting their lives away. They replace normal activities in life and even harm its owners. Despite the story being fiction, it can be related to the present and people’s dependency on electronics. “The Veldt” is a very good example of technological changes that deplete peoples’ lives.
Another story, “Marionettes Inc”, shows the bad side of technology changes, as well. “Marionettes Inc” begins when a husband, Brawling, orders himself a robot to replace
In the book, there is a short story, “The Veldt”, that describes users of technology in the future and their dependence on it. The family lives in a home filled with machines that do everything for its owners. It is called the Happylife Home. The two children, Peter and Wendy, become fascinated with the nursery which connects to the children telepathically and projects what they imagine. They soon become attached to the room and replace their parents with the electronics. The parents realize the home is taking away from their lives since they are not living to the fullest. They decide to correct their way of life by leaving the home, but it’s too late because the children became addicted and attached. Peter and Wendy kill their parents by locking them in the nursery and letting the machines kill them. Ray Bradbury predicts in the future, people will have luxuries of doing nothing at all because high tech electronics will replace them to do their work. It seems like the future makes peoples lives better because they are at ease and relaxing. However, it is actually wasting their lives away. They replace normal activities in life and even harm its owners. Despite the story being fiction, it can be related to the present and people’s dependency on electronics. “The Veldt” is a very good example of technological changes that deplete peoples’ lives.
Another story, “Marionettes Inc”, shows the bad side of technology changes, as well. “Marionettes Inc” begins when a husband, Brawling, orders himself a robot to replace