The short story “The Pedestrian” written by Ray Bradbury,
depicts the society in which the main character lives. The world described is a
futuristic one, as it is familiar to the author’s tendency to write. Within the
story, the author reveals the loss of humanity and lack of communication as a
result of the technology development pointing out the regress of the society.
The whole story is a description of a regular evening walk “for hours and miles” that Leonard Mead (the main character) used to do. It happens in November, year 2053 somewhere in US, 11 South Saint James Street. As this activity was a habitual one “for ten years of walking”, every evening he chose a new direction and “on this particular evening he began his journey in a westerly direction , toward the hidden sea”. He was walking for air, walking to see the empty streets and houses. So, this evening seemed to be like any other evenings but everything went on differently. His promenade was interrupted by the police car which arrested him because of the misunderstanding of his action.
As far as the author is a science fiction writer, the story dwells on a future society in which “everything went on in the tomblike houses, where people sat like the dead, the gray or multicolored lights touching their faces, but never really touching them”. Anyway, in order to show that there was still a hope, R. Bradbury, in his short story tried to embody the “humanity” of mankind in the main character - Leonard Mead. In other words, Leonard Mead was only one representative of a human being in that city with feelings and emotions which were alive. It was he, whose personality and values weren’t touched by the progress indeed. Therefore, the author reveals such theme as loss of humanity as a result of technological disaster leading to a lack of communication. The message resulting from the story and the theme is that technology which was designed for making lives easier, actually becomes a threat of the humanity.
The author reflected the kindness and humanity in Leonard Mead. He depicted him as a bright, intelligent and well-bread man. As he “could feel the cold light going on and off”, it means his heightened senses prevail his rationality. He was feeling every move, rustle and noise that surrendered him while walking. The only thing he could notice was “the silent, and long and empty street” as it was usually during his “ten years of walking”. It dwells on his opened soul that passed through years looking how the society regressed and he couldn’t do anything. When he was asked his profession, he answered doubtfully he was a writer because he “hadn’t written in years”. Yet, “magazines and books didn’t sell anymore”, “everything went on in the tomblike houses”. By telling all these, he intended to reflect the disdain that progress showed for mankind and his position towards it. Concluding his feelings, it can be deduced that the progress done was only for the sake of progress and for nothing else. He’s the only exponent in that very society who survived no matter what. To maintain his idea, the author gives another argument, describing Mead’s shadow as “a shadow of a hawk” that reveals his free spirit of his soul, ready for feeling the atmosphere but not acting like zombies.
As a contrast to the humanity, the author brings as an example the portrait of the police car who is a representative of a senseless machine who could speak. In order to show it had no emotions and feelings, R.Bradbury depicted it as having “a metallic voice”. It also didn’t understand the need of a human being “to walk…to see”. Moreover, when Leonard Mead told his profession, the car didn’t recognize it as a profession at all, saying “no profession” – totally denying the existence of a mankind. As the car was a representative of the “progress” it wasn’t interested in the man’s feelings or to clarify the situation; it just ordered to put him in a “black jail” and drive him to “the Psychiatric Center for Research on Regressive Tendencies”. It was the main argument of describing the inhumanity of the car who while speaking, acting like a human being, still having no emotions and intellect.
In order to catch the reader’s attention and to fulfill the meaning, to establish the idea and to create an understanding message, R. Bradbury used a set of stylistic devices for making the text alive and captivating. Among the most used ones, there should be noticed the enumeration, and namely the Asyndeton as in the example “Mr. Leonard Mead would pause, cock his head, listen, look, and march on, his feet making no noise” that highlights and emphasize the actions made by Mr. Mead. Another SD that prevails in the text is the frequent use of Simile: the comparison of the cottages and homes to a "graveyard" creates a supernatural, hyperbolical meaning . This is a comparison that is continued throughout this paragraph as "firefly light" that "flickers" is observed, and "sudden grey phantoms" appear as the main character passes. All the Stylistic Devices used by the author, was for the sake of creating a lively, interesting and overwhelming atmosphere in the text.
Throughout the story, light and dark were always contrasted and contradicted themselves. By “light” the author reflects the Leonard Mead’s “humanity” and the “dark” side – is a representative of the police car’s “senseless” and “useless” progress. By pointing this, R. Bradbury highlights the danger of the technology to the society and humanity. He indirectly depicted how life may change if mankind abandons its humanity to progress. It would be a terrible thing to see how the next generation grows in a society surrounded by selfish, cold “police cars” rather than in a warm, loving and human as “Mr. Mead’s" one.
The whole story is a description of a regular evening walk “for hours and miles” that Leonard Mead (the main character) used to do. It happens in November, year 2053 somewhere in US, 11 South Saint James Street. As this activity was a habitual one “for ten years of walking”, every evening he chose a new direction and “on this particular evening he began his journey in a westerly direction , toward the hidden sea”. He was walking for air, walking to see the empty streets and houses. So, this evening seemed to be like any other evenings but everything went on differently. His promenade was interrupted by the police car which arrested him because of the misunderstanding of his action.
As far as the author is a science fiction writer, the story dwells on a future society in which “everything went on in the tomblike houses, where people sat like the dead, the gray or multicolored lights touching their faces, but never really touching them”. Anyway, in order to show that there was still a hope, R. Bradbury, in his short story tried to embody the “humanity” of mankind in the main character - Leonard Mead. In other words, Leonard Mead was only one representative of a human being in that city with feelings and emotions which were alive. It was he, whose personality and values weren’t touched by the progress indeed. Therefore, the author reveals such theme as loss of humanity as a result of technological disaster leading to a lack of communication. The message resulting from the story and the theme is that technology which was designed for making lives easier, actually becomes a threat of the humanity.
The author reflected the kindness and humanity in Leonard Mead. He depicted him as a bright, intelligent and well-bread man. As he “could feel the cold light going on and off”, it means his heightened senses prevail his rationality. He was feeling every move, rustle and noise that surrendered him while walking. The only thing he could notice was “the silent, and long and empty street” as it was usually during his “ten years of walking”. It dwells on his opened soul that passed through years looking how the society regressed and he couldn’t do anything. When he was asked his profession, he answered doubtfully he was a writer because he “hadn’t written in years”. Yet, “magazines and books didn’t sell anymore”, “everything went on in the tomblike houses”. By telling all these, he intended to reflect the disdain that progress showed for mankind and his position towards it. Concluding his feelings, it can be deduced that the progress done was only for the sake of progress and for nothing else. He’s the only exponent in that very society who survived no matter what. To maintain his idea, the author gives another argument, describing Mead’s shadow as “a shadow of a hawk” that reveals his free spirit of his soul, ready for feeling the atmosphere but not acting like zombies.
As a contrast to the humanity, the author brings as an example the portrait of the police car who is a representative of a senseless machine who could speak. In order to show it had no emotions and feelings, R.Bradbury depicted it as having “a metallic voice”. It also didn’t understand the need of a human being “to walk…to see”. Moreover, when Leonard Mead told his profession, the car didn’t recognize it as a profession at all, saying “no profession” – totally denying the existence of a mankind. As the car was a representative of the “progress” it wasn’t interested in the man’s feelings or to clarify the situation; it just ordered to put him in a “black jail” and drive him to “the Psychiatric Center for Research on Regressive Tendencies”. It was the main argument of describing the inhumanity of the car who while speaking, acting like a human being, still having no emotions and intellect.
In order to catch the reader’s attention and to fulfill the meaning, to establish the idea and to create an understanding message, R. Bradbury used a set of stylistic devices for making the text alive and captivating. Among the most used ones, there should be noticed the enumeration, and namely the Asyndeton as in the example “Mr. Leonard Mead would pause, cock his head, listen, look, and march on, his feet making no noise” that highlights and emphasize the actions made by Mr. Mead. Another SD that prevails in the text is the frequent use of Simile: the comparison of the cottages and homes to a "graveyard" creates a supernatural, hyperbolical meaning . This is a comparison that is continued throughout this paragraph as "firefly light" that "flickers" is observed, and "sudden grey phantoms" appear as the main character passes. All the Stylistic Devices used by the author, was for the sake of creating a lively, interesting and overwhelming atmosphere in the text.
Throughout the story, light and dark were always contrasted and contradicted themselves. By “light” the author reflects the Leonard Mead’s “humanity” and the “dark” side – is a representative of the police car’s “senseless” and “useless” progress. By pointing this, R. Bradbury highlights the danger of the technology to the society and humanity. He indirectly depicted how life may change if mankind abandons its humanity to progress. It would be a terrible thing to see how the next generation grows in a society surrounded by selfish, cold “police cars” rather than in a warm, loving and human as “Mr. Mead’s" one.
