The Pedestrian by Ray Bradbury

'The Pedestrian' by Ray Bradbury Overview Setting: city street at night; 2053; totalitarian, restrictive society; a society in terminal decline. One way that Bradbury effectively establishes conflict is through setting. On this ‘misty evening in November’ 2053 AD, Leonard Mead, the protagonist, is ‘alone in this world … or as good as’ when he walks the streets of this urban environment. Even though he lives in a city, ‘it was not unequal to walking through a graveyard.’ Everyone else is indoors watching television shows. This cleverly sets-up the contrast between Mead and everybody else in this society and establishes him as being different. ‘In ten years of walking by night or day, for thousands of miles, he had never met another person walking, not one in all that time.’ In this setting, Leonard Mead is different from everybody else and has been for a long time. It is inevitable that there will eventually be conflict between him and the society in which he lives because he is not the same as everyone else. Characters: Mr. Leonard Mead, a writer who 'dearly loves' to walk the streets of the city at night – 'just to walk'. The police car, which has no human drivers and dismisses Mr. Mead's profession and lifestyle before arresting him. The Police Car is a symbol of all that is wrong with the society. The imagery associated with the police car is harsh, cold, threatening - frequent use of word choice linked to metallic, robotic, mechanical ideas. The crime rate is low, but as a consequence, the society are not in touch with themselves or nature. The police car cannot comprehend why Mead was walking – any sense of creativity is no longer understood in this society - this is why Mead doesn’t even believe in himself as a writer “Walking, just walking, walking?” Plot: Mr Mead goes for a walk, and heads off alone into the night. He passes rows of houses, all with the televisions on, and whispers to them as he goes past. As he turns to head for home, a police car appears and interrogates him. Dismissing his profession as non-existent, and regarding his lifestyle to be ‘regressive’, the police car takes Mr Mead away. Themes:  control and power  dehumanisation of society through over-dependence on technology  loneliness Notes  Setting: city street at night ◦ Cities are generally imagined to be busy, energetic places, even at night. This expectation is completely contrasted with the reality of the setting in the story, which is portrayed as deserted and, indeed, desolate. ▪ “To enter out into that silence that was the city at eight o'clock of a misty evening in November...” ▪ “...peer down long moonlit avenues of pavement in four directions, deciding which way to go, but it really made no difference...” ▪ “...on his way he would see the cottages and homes with their dark windows, and it was not unequal to walking in a graveyard where only the faintest glimmers of firefly light appeared in flickers behind the windows.” ▪ “The street was silent and long and empty, with only his shadow moving like the shadow of a hawk in mid-country.” ▪ “...he could imagine himself upon the centre of a plain, a wintry, windless Arizona desert with no house in a thousand miles, and only dry river beds, the streets, for company.” ▪ “But now these highways, too, were like streams in a dry season, all stone bed and moon radiance.” ▪ “...leaving the empty streets with the empty pavements, and no sound and no motions all the rest of the chill November night.”  Setting: A society in terminal decline ◦ several recurring details and examples of imagery add to the impression that the society in which Mr. Mead lives is in decline ▪ “...step over grassy seams...” ▪ “...not unequal to walking in a graveyard...” ▪ “Sudden grey phantoms seemed to manifest upon inner room walls where a curtain was still undrawn against the night, or there were whisperings and murmurs where a window in a tomb-like building was still open.” ▪ “He stumbled over a particularly uneven section of pavement. The cement was vanishing under flowers and grass.” ▪ “...tomb-like houses...where people sat like the dead...  Theme: Dehumanisation of society ◦ as people become more and more dependent upon technology, society becomes less and less human ▪ “ 'No profession,' said the police car, as if talking to itself.” ▪ “Magazines and books didn’t sell any more. Everything went on in the tomb-like houses…” ▪ “The tombs, ill-lit by television light, where the people sat like the dead, the grey or multi-coloured lights touching their faces, but never really touching them.” ▪ “ 'Your name?' said the police car in a metallic whisper.” ▪ “The light held him fixed, like a museum specimen, needle thrust through chest.”  Theme: The result of such an inhuman society is loneliness ◦ Mr. Mead's actions, and the situation in which he finds himself, repeatedly highlight his loneliness ▪ “ 'Hello, in there,' he whispered to every house on every side as he moved.” ▪ “ ‘Nobody wanted me,’ said Leonard Mead with a smile.” ▪ “He was alone in this world of A.D., 2053 or as good as alone…”  Theme: Control/Power ◦ Mr. Mead's situation and lack of ability to act on his own thoughts or beliefs highlight the power and control the government have over the population. ▪ “ Crime was ebbing; there was no need now for the police, save for this one lone car wandering and wandering the empty streets.” ▪ “ ‘No profession,’ said the police car, as if talking to itself. The light held him fixed, like a museum specimen, needle thrust through chest.” ▪ “The tombs ill-lit by television light, where the people sat like the dead, the gray or multi-coloured lights touching their faces, but never really touching them.” ▪ “Don’t speak unless you’re spoken to!” ▪ “The car moved down the empty riverbed streets and off away, leaving the empty streets with the empty sidewalks, and no sound and no motion all the rest of the chill November night.”  Symbolism: when something stands for an idea much greater than itself. On the way to the asylum, they pass Mead’s house. It is ablaze with lights. This acts as a CONTRAST to the dark city. It is a symbol of hope - light is a universal symbol of hope, but the car is swallowed up once more into darkness (literally and figuratively). This could symbolise that hope is not enough. The city has been brain washed for so long that there is no coming back to the world that Mead hopes for. This symbol also highlights that Mead does not fit into this society as a result of his different ideology. “electric light brilliantly lit, every window a loud yellow illumination”