Death of the Literate World in Ray Bradbury's The Pedestrian

Ray Bradbury the author of the short story “The Pedestrian” purpose behind writing this unique story, was to show his audience the threat of technology and how in the future it may potentially take over our lives completely. In a city of 3 million people the crime rates have plummeted so dramatically that there is only one police car left. The author paints a picture of empty streets, dreary houses and dark windows with people stuck inside all night glued to their T.V screens. “It was not unequal to walking through a graveyard for only the faintest glimmers of firefly light appeared in the flickers behind the windows.” People have become so addicted to TVs that they don't emerge from their homes during the night, due to this the crime problems

the setting and society by using figurative language, such as symbolism and imagery. Using characterization, and imagery, Bradbury shows the reader how society has lost its humanity and how it goes hand in hand with the setting and characters of the short story. Society in 2053 has become dependent on technology, brainwashed by television and expected not to think differently, showing that society has lost it's grasp on humanity and human nature. The atmosphere established by Bradbury shows that the city is dark, paralleling to the surroundings of a graveyard. Mr. Mead's world is shown as blank, and his character can be viewed as divergent due to him

In Bradbury’s “The Pedestrian” the year is A.D. 2053 (Bradbury Page 642.) A narrator describes the world through the main character’s, Mr. Leonard Mead, eyes. Bradbury describes a future in which everyone is consumed by their televisions and there are only a few who are not. Bradbury uses a fictional tale to catch the reader's attention and to

Future society is an extremely unpredictable subject, because people all have different views on life. Charles G. Waugh author of the short story, “Long Way Home” tells a story about a caring father losing his son, due to the world's advanced technology. On the other hand in the short story, “The Pedestrian” by Ray Bradley, individuals are completely addicted to technology, allowing technology to over rule the world and take over people's minds. Although both stories show a possible outcome of the future, the more realistic future will most likely be “The Pedestrian”.

With the entire population attached to their televisions, the city is no more than a “graveyard” – there is no life. The energy that once roamed the streets was consumed by mankind’s technological progress. In this future, existence is rudimentary at best, and, even though people are still breathing, people cease to remain truly alive. Alternatively, the mood that Bradbury expresses in “August 2026” is one of detachment. The mechanical house cooks, cleans, and sets reminders for the family, creating a sense of aloofness between the family and its humanity. With constant reminders of the date, time, events, and even what the family has to do next, it is evident that in this future, technology has taken over common facets of human nature. This disengagement from common tasks, even simple, mental ones, is an omen to the idea that technology will ultimately come to demolish mankind’s sense of

“ To enter out into that silence that was the city at eight o’clock of a misty evening in November, to put your feet upon that buckling concrete walk, to step over grassy seams and make your way , hands in pockets, through the silences, that was what Mr. Leonard Mead most dearly loved to do.” Using the description of setting, such as the misty evening and the sensory details, Bradbury shows Mr. Mead does not always stay inside like others. “... The cottages and homes with their dark windows.” helps give details about how others houses look. “The cement was vanishing under flowers and grass.” Bradbury uses details of the setting to show the only one who has walked over this area in a while is Mr.Mead.

Ray Bradbury uses irony to display how the obsession of technology increases the possibility of losing connection with yourself. In The Pedestrian, he displays how an innocent man gets stopped and questioned by the police only because what he was doing appeared unusual. “‘What are you doing out?’ ‘Walking,’ said Leonard... ‘Have you done this often?’ ‘Every night for years.’ The police car sat in the center of the street with its radio throat faintly humming...The back door of the police car sprang wide. ‘Get in.’ ‘Wait a minute, I haven't done anything!’” (Bradbury pg2) Unexpectedly, Leonard Mead gets arrested for doing the unusual- walking around his neighborhood. What would normally seem fine is uncommon in Mr. Mead’s society, because he is the only one who wanders around his neighborhood while everyone else stays in, busy watching television. Bradbury focuses on Mr. Mead’s isolation and dissimilarity to everyone else by indicating how “He would see the cottages and homes with their dark windows, and it was not unequal to walking through a graveyard where only the faintest glimmers of firefly light appeared in flickers behind the windows.” (Bradbury pg1) Bradbury depicts a society in decline; where the houses are like coffins and the people are dead from their addiction to their screens. Mr. Mead is

In the short story “The Pedestrian” Ray Bradbury tells a story of Mr. Leonard Mead who is alone and isolated in newly innovated world of A.D. 2053. In this futuristic society Mr. Mead is no longer needed as a writer, so he then walks over uneven sidewalks for ten years capturing vivid images of the society he currently lives in which is strongly impacted by technology. Throughout the text, Ray Bradbury uses literary devices such as imagery, foreshadowing, and symbolism to reveal how societies may be strongly influenced by the new advances of technology.

Mead’s “theory of self” is based on the perspective that the self emerges from social interactions, such as observing and interacting with others, responding to others' opinions about oneself, and internalizing external opinions and internal feelings about oneself. The social aspect of self is an important distinction. That’s because other sociologists and psychologists of Mead's time felt that the self was based on biological factors and inherited traits. This was the normal and conventional type of mindset from psychologists at the time. According to Mead, the self is not there from birth, but instead it is developed over time from social experiences and activities.

In many communities, walking ‘behavior’ does appear to be unusual, because it looks so uncommon, despite the natural physiological aspect of walking. Riding in a car is seen as more normal, just like a robotic policeman is seen as more normal in the Bradbury story. Today, people do still walk, but often on a moving conveyor belt at the gym, rather in a real environment. This takes people away from nature and a sense of being part of something larger than themselves.

In the short story, "The Pedestrian," by Ray Bradbury, Bradbury uses imagery to depict a society where people are addicted to technology and warns about the loss of energy, life, and humanity that come with this way of living. Bradbury illustrates this by describing tomb-like houses. When Leonard Mead walks down the street, he describes the picture as such, "... the cottages and homes with their dark windows... it was not unequal to walking through a graveyard... there were whisperings and murmurs where a window in a tomb-like building was open." (Bradbury 1). The imagery in this quote helps the reader conjure up a scene where everyone is "trapped" in their houses, watching T.V., and technology has all but turned their house into a tomb. In

Technology is evolving more and more each day. If the number of people using technology is high now, what makes us think it won’t be higher later? In the short story “The Pedestrian” one person out of a population of three million walks the streets at night while everyone is inside their homes glued to technology. Leonard is arrested by a robotic police car and taken to a psychiatric center for his “regressive” tendencies. Bradbury is correct the way he talks about technology. People need to have limits to technology because too many people are addicted to it, and the numbers will keep increasing as technology gets better.

Has mankind managed to progress in a positive way? In “The Pedestrian”, Ray Bradbury shared his opinion about the situation. Using characterization and imagery Bradbury shows that if the world advances to the point where people lose all humanity then the world might as well not exist, although his opinion may not be the opinion of all mankind it is logical and understood. Rays opinion about the future and forces the reader to consider the possible reality of it.

“All kinds of creative possibilities are made possible by science and technology which now constitute the slave of man, if man is not enslaved by it” as quoted by Jonas Salk during a speech about the technological advances in modern medicine in the 1950s. In the short stories by Ray Bradbury, he illustrates how the characters are struggling to live with the futuristic capabilities of technology. “The Pedestrian” focuses on a man named Leonard Mead who is the only person in society who does not use the technology in his home, his hobby is to walk. However, he is viewed as an outcast. “The Veldt” focuses on how George and Lydia Hadley figure out how their children’s nursery is powered by their mind and how they use it to have a tragic advantage over their parents in the end. While technology can let people connect to others much more efficiently, Ray Bradbury shows how the characters in his short stories “The Pedestrian” and “The Veldt” prove how technology is capable of isolating people from reality.

In the stories,”The Pedestrian” by Ray Bradbury and “Long Way Home” by Charles Waugh, predict what the future will be like. Many authors of science fiction create stories that represent their opinion on how the future will turn out. Some authors may make the future seem miserable to live in and some make the future a desireable place to live in. “The Pedestrian” presents a society where people are not allowed to make decisions for themselves and technology takes over their lives while ,”Long Way Home” presents a story of a father and son with a relationship that represents a quote, “Home is where the heart is.” It is evident that the future will most likely be like the story,”The Pedestrian.”