Ray Bradbury, an American author, is best known for his dystopian novel, Fahrenheit 451. Aside from that his other most famous works are his multiple short stories, which are largely made up of stories of either the science fiction or horror genres. Today we’ll be discussing two of Bradbury’s most famous short stories. While The Pedestrian and The Veldt are both very similar in theme and message, they contain many differences in tone, style, and setting. Both The Veldt and The Pedestrian (as well as many other of Bradbury's short stories) focus on the theme of technology taking over life as we know it. While The Veldt expresses this concern through the idea of a fully automated house (predominately the nursery) which slowly takes over and destroys the lives and relationships of the family who lives in it, The Pedestrian shows us a world where people become completely consumed with watching television, so much so that simply walking “just to walk” is considered “regressive” and can earn you a place in a psychiatric center. These stories both issue a warning on how technology - if left unchecked - can entirely destroy a community, whether that community is a four-member family or a city of three million. …show more content…
The Veldt has a suspenseful tone that leaves you feeling on edge and unsettled for the entire story. You know that something is about to happen, and you’re dreading it...but you’re not completely sure what it is that’s leaving you feeling that anxiety. Is it the house? The children? The psychiatrist? The story remains vague and ambiguous, even though the ending, giving us little to no resolution. In The Pedestrian, however, the tone is ominous, but straightforwardly so. While we are faced with a clearly unsettling idea, we know exactly what the problem is and why it’s unsettling. The overall tone of the pedestrian is dark and melancholy, but I wouldn’t go so far as to call it