Padilla 1

Saray Padilla
Malvin
English115
21 September 2016
Lonely in a World with a Population of 7.5 Billion
Walking down the streets of Los Angeles, its citizens immediately notice the car culture
that exists not only in the main, busy cities, but even in the less populated cities. Some realize
that they dont see that many people walking down the streets, but instead notice the amount of
cars surrounding them. Car culture, as seen in the book The Pedestrian by Ray Bradbury,
makes the residents/ visitors of Los Angeles feel lonely because there are few people on the
streets, people view walking as a bizarre act, and the light of technology acts as s barrier to
socialization.
In The Pedestrian by Ray Bradbury, the mood the author conveys is loneliness and
dullness. The main character, Leonard Mead, is the only one walking past the streets which
makes him alone in this world of 2052 A.D. (Bradbury 370). He describes the setting as a
graveyard with homes with dark windows and where only the faintest glimmers of firefly
light appeared in flickers behind the windows (370), which helps the reader understand the
lonely setting the author is trying to convey. Mead describes the streets to make the readers feel
lonely and out of touch with the world going on inside the tomb-like building that is so
different from the outside world where Mead walks through (371). No one but him walks past
the streets; it has been that way for years now. No one but him saw the streets that are silent and
long and empty (371). Bradbury evokes mostly loneliness in the way he describes the streets in

Padilla 2
2052 A.D., yet its still relevant in this current year of 2016. When amblers walk through the
streets, they can also feel lonely and notice that not a lot of people walk but instead drive their
cars to get to places; they dont even walk for their own enjoyment like how Mead does.
The first noticeable thing in a city like Los Angeles is all the cars and the traffic. Mead
notices that during the day it was a thunderous surge of cars (371-372), which is true now.
Those who walk about the streets can see the amount of cars that pass by. So many people now
prefer to drive or take an Uber, or some sort of transportation, instead of walking. Because so
many people use their cars now, its almost rare to see people walk and we see those who do as
strange or weird. For example, in The Pedestrian walking seems like such a bizarre act which
is why Mead gets stopped by a police car and gets questioned for simply walking. In that
futuristic society, walking is seen as an unacceptable thing to do and its not seen as common.
Society ostracizes those who do something differently from others, like those who do something
as different as walking. The police car who stopped Mead cant seem to understand why he
would just go out walking for his own enjoyment. The police car kept questioning Mead about
walking asking walking where? For what? (373). In that society, walking was seen as
something so strange that the police car took Mead to the Psychiatric Center for Research on
Regressive Tendencies (374). Were used to seeing more cars drive by than people walking and
actually interacting. Pedestrians wonder who the person they see crossing the street is, whats
their background? Why are they walking? Some people view those who walk as poor since they
arent driving or guess that theyre probably homeless. They tend to form so many opinions
towards those who are walking, maybe theyre drug addicts or are they being healthy?,
because we are not used to seeing people walk. So many of us are not used to seeing people like

Padilla 3
Mead who walk just because they want to walk. Walking through streets where its just you
walking and cars surrounding you can make you feel lonely like how Mead felt in the book.
The light mentioned in this book can be interpreted as the impediment that exists towards
people interacting because the light comes from places that allow or hinder us from socializing.
Bradbury mentions light a couple of times, light coming from the television inside the homes,
light from the police car, and light from his house. The light coming from the televisions can
represent the disconnection there is between people and how were focused on technology. He
writes, the tombs, ill-lit by television light, where the people sat like the dead, the gray or
multicolored lights touching their faces, but never really touching them (372). We can feel
lonely because everyone is inside their own little bubble and dismiss what is going on around
them. The light from the police car represents ostracizing someone for doing something
differently as others. His house was the brightest with all his lights lit up which represents hope.
Hope that there is someone who isnt trapped in the new technological advances which can take
away the feeling of loneliness. Mead was the only one who was different from the rest, who still
thought freely without being forced to live like the rest. He was the only one who refused to
engage in technology which is another reason that made him lonely. Back then, it was common
for people to walk to get to places. Walking made it easier for them to socialize and to get to
know the people, even their neighbors. Now, everyone drives which causes little interaction
between us to the point where we dont greet our neighbors while passing by, for example. He
gives us hope that theres still people out there who arent subjected to what the others are doing
and instead do what pleases them.
If so many people drive, it makes it hard to actually interact with others. Walking makes
it easy to socialize, but since not a lot of people walk, socializing skills deteriorate. Theres little

Padilla 4
interaction going around because of the car culture that exists. It affects the way residents
connect and interact with each other and how visitors can view our life style. Because they
witness everyone driving their cars, they soon also fall in the trap as well and go to places in a
car instead of walking.

Padilla 5
Work Cited
Bradbury, Ray. The Pedestrian. Writing Los Angeles: A Literacy Anthology, edited by David L.
Ulin. The Library of America, 2002, pp. 370-374.