Structure

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Middle 

Tension is created as Lydia hears screaming coming from the veldt (p. 16, l. 28), and the spouses are attacked by the realistic lions in the Southern African landscape (p. 17, ll. 11-15). After they escape, George notices the door “tremble as if something had jumped against it from the other side” (p. 18, ll. 33-34), foreshadowing that the lions are no longer just holograms.

Then, other tension points are created as George discovers that the virtual reality nursery no longer responds to his commands (p. 20, ll. 15-25), and finds one of his wallets and Lydia’s scarf, covered in blood, in the veldt (p. 22, ll. 9-16; p. 27, ll. 2-4). These are also foreshadowing elements for George and Lydia’s death in the room. Other tension points are created by Peter threatening his father (p. 24, l. 20), and by David McClean’s observations on the nursery and the children’s potential mental issues (p. 26, ll. 6-11), which also foreshadow them killing their p…