Technology And Individualism In The Pedestrian By Ray Bradbury

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

“...he was alone in this world of A.D. 2053, or as good as alone…” The Pedestrian by Ray Bradbury is a short story that focuses on the idea of how lonely it can be in a world of technology. Starting the story with Leonard Mead, the pedestrian, walking around the neighborhood and talking to the houses as if they were people not talking to the ghosts within the windows. During mid walk he ran into some trouble with the police leading him into being arrested for walking without a valid purpose. The Pedestrian by Ray Bradbury portrays this idea of how lonely it can be in a world of technology by using metaphors, dialogue and symbolism.

These details about setting reinforce the idea that technology has a negative effect on people. Setting shows the reader because of technology others stay inside and do not interact with each

Most often, people can be seen walking with their heads down, immersed in the technology in front of them, ignoring the whole world. Societies often contain a lot of technology, allowing people to use it in helpful or hurtful ways. Some technology can be lifesaving, but there is also technology that can destroy life in less than a second. Most often, people seem to not understand what technology is doing and how it is impacting their lives. Instead, they are blinded by the few positives of technology that actually hurt the society more than they can recognize. In Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, the society is heavily dependent on technology. Technology has a negative impact on the characters in Fahrenheit 451. People in the society become addicted to the parlor walls, cars go so fast that they don’t see anything outside and the mechanical hound instills fear in people.

“If you hide your ignorance, no one will hit you and you'll never learn.” (Bradbury pg.104) In Fahrenheit 451 and The Pedestrian, the main characters witnessed the rarity of social interaction and how inclined people are to their screens. Author Ray Bradbury describes how it has gotten to the point where people are more in touch with technology rather than each other. Through foreshadowing and flashback, Ray Bradbury’s short story, The Pedestrian, and his novel, Fahrenheit 451, explain how society has become more ignorant in a technology-obsessed world.

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.

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.

It is important to note that Technology leads to relationships being destroyed. One example that proves this how the main character in “The Pedestrian”, Leonard Mead is viewed as an outcast in society for opposing to use technology like everyone else. While Mr. Mead is walking back towards his house he is face to face with a bright light that “...held him fixed like a museum specimen, needle thrust through chest” (Pedestrian 1). Since Mr.Mead is the only person in his

The lives of almost everyone in this society revolves around technology. Everywhere in this society technology is used even out in the town. School systems are revolved around technology,

“As cities grow and technology takes over the world, belief and imagination fade away, and so do we”(Julie Kagawa). While technology spreads and completely takes over one’s life, the electronic wave cannot be tamed. Once society fails to take control of their lives over technology, they lose contact with our loved ones and reality, as well as the ability to think for one’s self. In the dystopian world from Fahrenheit 451 technology is found everywhere, and the people highly depend on it to do hard work for them or for entertainment purposes. Bradbury illustrates a society that has lost the ability to enjoy life without technology through a variety of characters that rely on unnatural and modern objects to fill the void of an emotionless society.

A machine determines what people will buy, how they will act or look and even date which could cause people to suffer from boredom and go tired of the same stuff as always. In the previous, society is controlled by a machine that surrounds their mind with the aspects they most like. When Tilly says “You are scheduled to attend the kickoff meeting for the Davis case at eleven, which means you’ll get a lunch paid for by the firm. I suggest you go light on the breakfast, maybe just a banana.” (Ken Liu, 1), When Tilly suggests Sai what to eat, reveals people possess a lack of thought, which produces people to become ignorant by being told how to act, they stop thinking how they live their lives. Society trust in what their phones tell them is best for them and what will make them happy, they believe and let themselves manipulate by artificial intelligence to feel they are making sure they are going to become happy with the decisions they make. The idea of people controlled by technology leads to depression after some time, because makes people feel alone. In Harrison Bergeron society tells the people how they have to look, when the author mentions And to offset his good looks, the H-G men required that he wear at all times a red rubber ball for a nose, “keep his eyebrows shaved off, and cover his even white teeth with black caps at snuggle-tooth random.”(Kurt Vonnegut) the previous reinforces the idea of a society manipulated and limited to look certain way, what the author says leads to loneliness because people can’t be themselves. People also have a lack of thought because they can’t have their own decisions which produces them to depend on

“Technology is a useful servant but a dangerous master,” said Christian Lous Lane. Technology is a powerful tool and as society continues to grow, the controversy over technology will become more of an argued topic. Two stories, “Harrison Bergeron” and “The Pedestrian”, demonstrate the negative impact of technology on individuality.

What if vehicles could talk? What if they didn’t need an operator but could also have a conversation with you? There have been many far fetched ideas relating to what the future could possibly hold, we have all dreamed up some crazy idea as to what we think the future will make for us. Ray Bradbury is no exception. In ‘The Pedestrian’ by Ray Bradbury there is some pretty interesting ideas of what we could be living in in the year A.D. 2053 and they don’t all seem to be for the better.

First of all, he shows the relationship that man is very dependent upon technology. In the story, there were many robots who each had a specific job to do. The main reason they had a job to do was because man

To this day technology is greatly impacting our lives, but in former years, with the help of interviewing my family members, I’ve realized that it hasn’t always been this way. My grandma, Rosalie, explains that as she was growing up, “...we didn’t have phones or computers. We had to actually go to a library and read books for information.” We have it easy now that technology is at our fingertips and it’s an option to read books. It is bad in the sense that we rely heavily on information that could be and opinion or just plain unreliable. My mom, Ana, has been around to see the change in society due to how as we get more, “... technologically advanced, the more isolated we become.” She has seen for herself that technology leaves an imprint on our lives and sometimes we are too entertained to see the truth. One of the positives of technology is that, “You can access information,” and Rosalie explains how it personally, “helps with navigating.” Technology helps us overcome daily tasks easier and some might say more efficiently which benefits us greatly. It seems to me that technology isn’t only navigating us on the road, but it navigating our lives.