What is the connection between technology and nature in the Veldt?

The influence of technology on society and social relations is a common theme in many of Bradbury's works. Although Bradbury didn't necessarily dislike technology, he was concerned that technology had the potential to disconnect people from one another and lead to an undervaluing of knowledge. This is particularly true in his most powerful and widely read work, Fahrenheit 451, but it is also a very prominent element of the Veldt.

In the Veldt, the family initially appears to have all the modern conveniences of technology that are supposed to make their lives more convenient. The kitchen, for example, makes dinner for them, which frees them up to engage in more enjoyable activities. Of course, as is pointed out, if anything were to ever go wrong, they would likely starve because they don't know how to do anything for themselves.

The most prominent aspect of technology is the nursery used by the parents to occupy the children. The nursery is a simulation program capable of recreating any environment, which the children use to create a simulation of the African veld, a desert environment, complete with lions. As in many examples from Bradbury's work, rather than go out and experience nature, people are relying on simulations and technology. Like the kitchen, the nursery is a modern convenience that is supposed to free people up to go out and enjoy themselves, but instead they just stay inside and opt for a fake version.

The powerful disconnection from each other and from the real world comes to a startling conclusion when the children lure their parents into the nursery and allow them to be eaten by lions. The conclusion is something of a warning about how an over-reliance on technology and a disconnection from the world can have dire consequences.