Ray Bradbury's Use Of 'Metaphors In The Veldt'

Children can be spoiled. Today, they have access to many modern conveniences, but these “conveniences” can actually tear a family apart. They can steal years from the lives of children and their parents. In the short story, “The Veldt”, by Ray Bradbury, this threat of modern conveniences is made understandable by imagery, tone, repetition, and symbolism. Bradbury uses imagery and tone to encourage the reader to make connections, reinforcing the plot and making the text more intriguing. His descriptive imagery transports readers to his elaborate settings. Other readers may believe that similes and metaphors provide more to the story. However, imagery, tone, repetition and symbolism appear more frequently and suggest a stronger message hidden …show more content…
The lions represent the children’s deathly thoughts, and the author uses repetition to display that symbolism. For example, the lions foreshadow events that come later in the story. “The lions were finished with their red feast. The lions were standing on the edge of the clearing watching the two men” (Bradbury 8). Later on, readers are able to make a major connection between the familiar-sounding screams that the Hadley parents had heard to the couple’s fate at the end of the tale. “The lions...Mr. and Mrs. Hadley screamed. And suddenly they realized why those other screams had sounded so familiar” (Bradbury 10). This is perhaps the most dramatic moment in the entire story, when readers should realize that the children had plotted their parent’s fate. The screams had been detailed previously, multiple times, in the story, hinting at the ending. This combined use of symbolism and repetition connects the plot from beginning to end and illustrates key points to the reader. In his short story, “The Veldt”, Ray Bradbury combines imagery and tone and symbolism and repetition to illustrate tragic coming events. The imagery activates the reader’s senses and lures them towards the plot, while illustrating the setting. Meanwhile, the tone that is used makes the text more stimulating. While others may believe that similes and metaphors provide enough for readers, the four dramatic types of craft used by the author suggest that the story has a deeper meaning and lead readers to finding

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