Early in the story, what evidence are we given that the Happylife Home system has not made either of the adults particularly happy? What message might...

Lydia Hadley begins the
story, expressing her concern and desire for her husband, George to take a peek into their kids'
room. She declares that she wants either him or a psychologist to look at it. For her to suggest
that something is wrong with the room and to request that a psychologist examine it certainly
implies that there is a problem; one does not request the services of a psychologist unless
something is amiss. When the couple enters the room, George declares that "'This is a
little too real,'" and they see vultures"'Filthy creatures,'" Lydia calls
themcircling overhead. The lions approach them, and Lydia screams in terror. Both Lydia and
George run from the room, and Lydia feels that the lions almost got them, and she weeps. The
narrator has said that such rooms "occasionally [...] frightened you with their clinical
accuracy, they startled you, [and] gave you a twinge [...].'" Certainly, the level of
concern and fright that Lydia feels must gives us pause.

Bradbury seems to be
laying the groundwork for the idea that we can certainly go too far with our creation of new
technologies; perhaps there's a dash of be careful what you wish for in
this story as well. There also seems to be a theme regarding the proper way to raise children:
when we allow someone or something else to parent them, they will have no respect for their
actual parents.