Technology in Bradbury's Illustrated Man Stories

In Ray Bradbury’s The Illustrated Man, technology plays a large role in both stories “The Veldt” and “Marionette’s Inc”. For the first, in the mind of the children the technologically operated wall of the Veldt is used as a form of escapism from their parents. It’s made very clear through Bradbury’s tone of writing and the mood of the children whenever they are near that the parents are not wanted. Whenever they turn on the wall, they are taken into a Narnia-esque world that is nothing like their own which allows them to temporarily forget where they are from, and leave behind the people they know there.

When it is announced that the wall is going to be turned off forever, the children complain about having to do things for themselves, such as tying their own shoes. This shows that the dependence they have upon this other world and the house they live in is gradually making the parents a more and more obsolete part of their lives.

The house they live in can easily be related to a maid, constantly waiting to be told what to do and how to do it and who to do it for. The children have gotten so used to having an entity such as this around that they no longer feel that it is necessary to ask their parents to do anything for them, or do anything for themselves. Bradbury uses this to present the reader with the idea that technology in today’s society is slowly replacing the need for humans to do work.

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