The story is told in sparse, dissociative prose, and the main astronaut, Hollis, contemplates his own life, hoping it will have made some kind of difference. Members of a crew in space speak and ponder the meaning of life as they drift in opposite directions to certain death after a critical malfunction in their ship. It is implied that they kill their parents after locking them into the nursery before it is turned off. When their parents, advised by a psychologist, decide to turn the room off, the children at first lash out in outrage, then calmly acquiesce. The children, concerningly, always have it turned to a scene of the African veldt, where lions feast on prey. One of Bradbury's most famous and terrifying stories, 'The Veldt' portrays a family in the future who have installed a virtual reality playroom for the children of the house, the walls of which can portray any environment they might wish. At the end, the narrator grows frightened of these tattoos, which seem to foretell his own death. These tattoos seem to be living: they tell stories and constantly change, weaving imaginative stories that celebrate and condemn. He is an ex-circus performer who received full-body tattoos from a mysterious old woman, changing his life. The eighteen short stories in The Illustrated Man are tied together with an overarching narrative, that of the 'illustrated man' himself. We are thankful for their contributions and encourage you to make your own. These notes were contributed by members of the GradeSaver community.

The illustrated man the man