Blade Runner and the Veldt: Thematic Comparisons

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All works of interpretive fiction have deep thematic elements. Several of these works can be viewed in relation to each other, as they have similar themes. Take, for example Blade Runner and “The Veldt” by Ray Bradburry. In both works, there are underlying themes of illusions of progress, desires to escape, and the inevitability of death. In Blade Runner, the Replicants were created for labour and entertainment purposes. They were meant to assist with manual labour in off-world colonies. They were seen as huge progress. However, the Replicants ended up becoming a threat to civilization and needed to be eradicated. The Voight-Kampff test seemed to be progressive in finding Replicants on earth. Nevertheless, it was rendered almost obsolete when the never Replicants developed more humanoid emotions. Similarly, in “The Veldt” the house was so ahead of its time that it couldn’t be viewed as anything other than progress. In spite of all the futuristic technology, however, the life the Hadleys lead is not a happy one. Their lives are so consumed by their technology that they depend on it too much and lose the basis of what it means to be a family. Another similar theme in both works is a desire to escape. In Blade Runner, the Replicants just want to be accepted as real people. They want to escape the prejudices that society has against them. Likewise, in “The Veldt”, the children were using the nursery as an escape. They are trying to escape their parents’ clutches. They are used to having a wide berth from their parents, so when their parents try establishing more control over them they take refuge in the nursery. Thirdly, something with which the characters both in Blade Runner and “The Veldt” have to deal is the inevitability of death. The Replicants in Blade Runner have to face, and live with, the fact that they only live for four years. The humans, too, seem to have

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