Importance of the bed

The bed represented the unwillingness of the old ones to try anything new. It was where the old ones spent the majority of the book. Unless they were floating about the Great Glass Elevator because there was no gravity, they were confined to bed. Any time they were offered anything, the old ones refused, saying they were too old and could not leave bed. Only at the end, when they were offered a trip to the White House in a helicopter, did they get up on their own volition.