BP5-The Commuter & The Veldt

Both “The Commuter” and “The Veldt”, have a mysterious, riddle-like element with a Surrealist undertone. They both start with a clue to the nature of the world being created, leading us into the story’s arc. We go along with the stories’ main characters into the surprising end, which shows both us and the main characters the stories’ pinnacle solution. Both lead us to alternate realities, “The Veldt” ends in a gruesome death, while “The Commuter” ends with a more satisfying conclusion (or at least more cheerful).

“The Commuter” and “The Veldt” both talk about families. They both discuss the relationships between parents and children. In “The Commuter” the family dynamic grows within the time frame of the story, and allows us to see our character’s reaction to his new role as a parent, and how he is going to deal with the challenges of his new world. In “The Vladt” we are introduced to a dysfunctional family dynamic, where the parents were replaced in all of their roles by the house they chose to raise their children, and their only input can be in upending their children’s way of life (the children are distraught that some people are trying to destroy their world).

“The Veldt” introduces a world filled with imaginary technologies, (tables that prepare the food served on them, and pneumatic elevators) that create a technology-saturated future. It requires the story to dedicate some of its time to explaining how the world works. “The Commuter” exists in our world (a couple of years back, but that’s when it was written), and therefore has more time to explore the plot, without explaining mechanics.