The short story “The Pedestrian” written by Ray Bradbury, is a short piece describing the feelings Mr. Mead has while living in a society where technology replaces the humanity in people. Within the story, the author touches upon such themes like the loss of humanity and lack of communication as a result of the technology development pointing out the regress of the society.

         The author is a science fiction writer and he, in this story describes the future society in which everything is done automatically and people seem to be nonchalant towards the environment and towards their fellows too. 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 still alive. It was he, whose personality and values weren’t touched by the progress indeed. He was associated with “the light” that symbolizes his soul. If, during his night walks, people are alerted to his presence, "lights ... click on". In essence, the embodiment of “humanity” is about Mr. Mead's house beams "loud yellow illumination”. 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 feelings were overwhelming himself. He was feeling every move, rustle and noise that surrendered him while walking. Everything he could notice was “the silent, and long and empty street” as it was usually during his “ten years of walking”. It describes 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. The progress done was only for the sake of progress and for nothing else. He’s the only representative of “humanity” in that very society who survived. To maintain his idea, the author gives another argument, describing Mead’s shadow as “a shadow of a hawk” that reveals his free spirit.
         In order to show the other side of the society, 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”..
         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.
         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 . It 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 atmosphere as while reading, the reader could feel the world lived by Mr. Mead.
         In this short story, R. Bradbury depicts the “light” side and the “dark” one of a society totally seized by the technological progress. By “light” the author reflects the Leonard Mead’s “humanity” and the “dark” side – is a representative of the police car’s “senseless”  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 for the sake of 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 “Mr. Mead’s” one.