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Ray Bradbury

Ray Bradbury is an American horror and fantasy author, whose writing had the ability to change the way people think. He was famously known for writing for several hours a day throughout his entire life, allowing him to publish over 30 books and hundreds of short stories, poems an plays. His unique stories were said to be drawn from personal experiences and his childhood in Illinois. Bradbury was most known for his books, Fahrenheit 451 and The Martian Chronicles, which helped prove him to be one of the true classic authors of the 20th century. He was awarded many medals for his achievement in literature such as: the National Medal of Art and the Distinguished Contribution to American Letters. Deadmau5's song "The Veldt" gives tribute to the late Ray Bradbury by bring his short story to life by giving the world a visual representation.

Definition of Gothic

What exactly does Gothic Literature refer to?

  • "A style of writing that describes strange or frightening events that take place in mysterious places"
  • "A style of fiction characterized by the use of desolate"
  • Essentially to be classified as "gothic", the elements must have a dark, twisted, or transgressive connotation associated with it.

Subversion of Normalities

  • House takes the role of the mother and father. It is not what you expect a house to be; the shelter for the family
  • Feeds the family
  • Cooks for the family
  • Protects family
  • Takes care of the children
  • Happylife Homes
  • Adds to the fact that the house is supposed to bring a "happy life" to the family
  • Normally, houses serve as a place of rest, family time and shelter
  • Ironic (causes unhappiness and death)
  • Constant screaming heard from nursery
  • Except for screaming to come from physical human beings, however, the replicated screams from the parents turned out to be from a projection
  • Nurseries are expect to be calm places, but this peace is subverted by the invasive screaming

Summary

Natural vs Unnatural

Analysis of Gothic Element in the Video

  • Children had a picnic (natural), but the picnic was while their parents were being eaten alive by lions (unnatural)
  • Children seem to be highly spoiled (natural for many children because they fight for what they want), but psychologist who visits the children to assess them believes their qualities are caused by mental illness
  • Lions are a natural element in the Savannah, however, they are a component of a synthetic nursery and the reason for the lack of peace within the house
  • Savannahs themselves are natural, however, the addition of humans (children) is not and children would seldom, if ever, be seen in a Savannah walking amongst carnivorous instinct without harm

The Veldt

The story begins with Lydia Hadley, the mother in the story, expressing concern to her husband, George Hadley, about their children's nursery. They had bought a "Happylife" house that feed them, clothe them and even rock them to sleep. The three-dimensional nursery they bought for their children could transport their children into a virtual experience whatever they imagined. The children had turned the room into an African Savannah. The Hadley's hear screaming and see lions in the distance. George and Lydia made various attempts to fix the scenery in the room to be more kid friendly. They even tried to change the room with their own thoughts but the room would only listen to the children. They even call a psychologist to look at their kid's obession with the room, who suggests that the Hadley's remove the futuristic nursery immediately and send their children to counselling. The Hadley's shut down the nursery, which cause the children into utter rage. The father decides to give his children one last minute in the nursery, but instead the children manipulate their parents into going inside the African veldt and locking the door behind them. The story ends with the children enjoying a picnic, while the lions are seen in the background feeding on their parents.

by Ray Bradbury

The video brings the children and the veldt to life and showcases the true irony of the nursery, as well as the underlying gothic elements. There are two major gothic elements portrayed in the video itself: darkness and blood. The characters in the video are all shadowy figures and very few colours are displayed other than red, orange, yellow - in addition to black and white. The dark faces of the children represent hidden emotions and over sinister ambience. As the children advance through the African veldt, they become lost in their environment and the darkness consumes them; this is exemplified by the motivation of the boy to push his sister off of a cliff signifying their leap into the darkness and evil. Not only can we sense darkness through the visuals and colour choice, but through symbolic elements such as blood and the glasses. Throughout the video, there are numerous times that carcasses and blood is shown, which foreshadows the murderous capabilities of the children. The glasses signify the death of the father and the and the zebra corpse represents the death of the psychiatrist. In the end, we realize that the trail of blood leads back to the lion which symbolizes that the evil lied within the children all along and that the nursery was never just a nursery, but rather an outlet for their selfish and malicious tendencies.

deadmau5 ft. Chris James -

The Veldt

Conclusion

Peter and Wendy

The children may have been driven to commit heinous acts against their parents and identify with gothic elements due to the fact they did not believe their parents to be parental figures in their lives. The house is what raised the children and therefore, they did not learn humanity. They were raised by technology and developed sociopathic tendencies because they could not relate to human emotions, other than frustration and anger, which is an automatic reaction when the children do not get their way. The humanity within the children disappeared which resulted in unnatural qualities, darkness, violence and destruction of their normalities.

Destruction of the children's character

  • Manipulative
  • They trick their parents into letting them into the nursery one last time, but in reality they were acting out their parents death
  • Emotionally detached
  • They no longer see their parents as parental figures, and views the futuristic house as their caregiver
  • Are seen to be having a picnic while their parents are being eaten by the lions
  • Primeval nature
  • The children's imagination creates a sovereign African veldt instead of a stereotypical kid friendly environment

Violence

  • When the parents enter the nursery they see lions feeding on a carcass, which foreshadows their deaths
  • Vultures set an eerie atmosphere and are used as a symbol of death
  • Blood is seen on the father's wallet and mother's scarf that mysteriously ended up in the nursery
  • The children's violent nature is amplified by spending hours on end in the African veldt.

Work Cited

N, Stephen. "Interpretation/Meaning." The Veldt by Deadmau5. N.p, May 2012. Web "Gothic." Merriam-Webster.

Weller, Sam. "About Ray Bradbury." Ray Bradbury. June 2011. Web. 29 October, 2016.

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