Markowski 1

Alexis Markowski

Mrs. Schneck

Period 5

26 January 2018

Senior Exit Project: Essay Rewrite

Scholarship

CIA #1 - “The Pedestrian”

The short story “The Pedestrian” by Ray Bradbury in 1951, follows a man in the year

A.D. 2053 who is an outcast in a society that is encapsulated in technology. While the rest of

world is launched further into technological and media based society that has left them isolated

from the natural world, Mr. Leonard Mead prefered to spend his nights wandering the rugged,

and empty streets, simply enjoying the fresh air. One night, after a decade of his routine, Mr.

Mead is stopped by the single police car that patrols the city, and is promptly interrogated for

intentions of being away from his home. This encounter, along side with the robust

characterization of Mr. Mead, bleak setting, and conflict, solidifies the idea that Bradbury puts

forth, that technology could potentially take over and consume us, disengaging us from the

outside world and stripping us of our livelihood.

Bradburys’ characterization of Mr. Leonard Mead is vital to expressing his perspective of

the dangers of technology on society, using this one and only named character to present the

harsh contrast humanity as we know it versus its potential future. The introduction of the story

immediately provides an idea of Mr. Meads character as one of his most loved activities was as

he described, “to put your feet upon that buckling concrete walk, to step over grassy seams and
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make your way, hands in pockets, through the silences …” (Bradbury 1). Such a simple act for

most would seem either mundane or routine, but for Mr. Mead it is the center of his enjoyment in

a life were everyone else spent their days and nights wasting away, glued to their television

screens. Throughout his journey, Mr. Mead remakes reference to all other humans being dead

within their homes, “ … with their dark windows…” and how the walk was “not unequal to

walking through a graveyard where only the faintest glimmers of firefly light appeared in flickers

behind the windows”, the firefly light in this case being Mr. Meads acknowledgement of the

little life left in society through the use of television (Bradbury 1). This is what sets the contrast

between Mr. Mead and the rest of society, and as Mr. Mead being the outcast, as throughout the

remainder of the story Mr. Mead is the only one described as experiencing or thinking about

simple factors of life, like breathing in fresh while the rest of his world is described as either

metaphorically dead, or cold and metallic. Mr. Mead even makes light of the stasis of society,

asking the houses he passed by what channels were on that night and what entertainment they

were consuming, knowing full well that there was no one around to respond. On this particular

night Mr. Meis stopped by the lone police car in the city who threatens and interrogates him of

his purpose for being away from his home, to which Mr. Mead attempted to explain that he

would walk “ … for the air, and to see, and just to walk …”(Bradbury 1). The seemingly empty

police car presses further, denying that Mr. Mead has given a valid excuse for his behavior and

offering that Mr. Mead has air and and things to see within his home. Mr. Mead is then arrested,

and as they drive through the streets he acknowledges one house that is in outlier from the others,

with “ … all of its electric lights brightly light, every window a loud yellow illumination, square

and warm in the cool darkness,” to which Mr. Mead explains that it was his home (Bradbury 2).
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Based on this statement in comparison to his observations of other homes only having dim

flickers of light it further indicates how Mr. Mead differs from society and acts as a

representation of life. Although not much is known about Mr. Mead prior to his encounter with

the police, additional information about his character can be pulled from his name. The name

Leonard derives from the word lion, a classic symbol of strength and power. Mead, on the other

hand, is not commonly used as a name but is most notable as beverage with a base of fermented

honey, with connotations of being being peaceful and sweet. These two alone allows for major

inferences to Mr. Mead's role in context to the story as being a strong symbol of the beauty of

humanity without interference of technology into our nature.

The setting of the story also plays a major role for Bradbury to establish his point about

the dangers of technology preventing us from truly living. The entirety of the story takes place at

night, in an over-crowded city filled with seemingly endless miles of houses. While on his trek,

after he takes note of the grave-yard like feel of the streets, Mr. Mead imagines himself in the

past, putting himself “ … upon the center of a plain, a wintery, windless, Arizona desert, with no

house for thousands of miles, and only dry riverbeds, the streets for company …”(Bradbury 2).

What Bradbury truly wishes for, and attempts to find through his nightly walks, is a basic human

right to freedom. His perspective of the current world is a death sentence by imprisonment within

the home, and he strives to escape from his confines to place where he can truly experience life

without interference. Unfortunately, every night for Mr. Mead is nearly identical, filled with “ …

empty streets with empty pavements, and no sound and no motion ... ” (Bradbury 2). Every night

Mr. Mead acknowledges this fact that leaves him isolated in a barren world, ignored by every

other human who are all enraptured by the stories on their television screens. It became routine
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for Mr. Mead, after 10 years of escaping to the streets every night, to expect the loneliness and

dead silence that comes with his attempts of reconnecting with the natural world that has been

overrun by his current society.

Conflict is another key part in “The Pedestrian” to expressing the potential danger of

technology. The main conflict faced by Mr. Mead, as mentioned previously, is his interaction,

and subsequent arrest by the police for walking during the night. During this interaction The

police asks for his profession but refuse to except Mr. Mead reply of a writer as a known

profession. Mr. Mead briefly explained the reasoning for the denial as “He hadn't written in

years. Magazines and books didn't sell any more. Everything went on in the tomblike houses at

night now…” (Bradbury 2). Not only has society developed to rely on television for their

entertainment source, but writing and print works have been phased out of existence, limiting the

ability of creativity and self-expression of writers. Towards the end of the encounter the police

command that Mr. Mead get into the back of the car without any proclamation of his rights or

explanation of the reason for his arrest, instead simply stating, “‘Now if you had a wife to give

you an alibi’…”(Bradbury 2). This has major implications to the current justice system within

his society, that walking for the enjoyment of experiencing the natural world is both suspicious

and dangerous to the community, along with the oversimplification of court rulings, removing

fair and just trials in favor of alibis presented by the families of those accused. In addition to

their freedom of expression and access to the natural world being restricted, they have had their

rights within the court of law stripped from them. The general conflict faced by Mr. Mead is his

isolation from society due to his ideological differences. Mr. Mead is the only one of his time to

still enjoy the purity of walking and encompassing himself in the outdoors and fresh air, but has
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to be hyper aware of his surroundings and tread carefully through the streets as to avoid alarming

the city,​ ​including softening his footsteps or else “lights might click on and faces appear and an

entire street be startled by the passing of a lone figure” (Bradbury 1). Mr. Mead, in order to find

his happiness has to fight against society and adapt accordingly to try and fit in. His ideological

difference is prominently solidified upon his arrest when he is told that he was to be taken to the

“ … Psychiatric Center for Research on Regressive Tendencies", clarifying that according to the

police, he is seen as having a regressed mindset, resembling that of earlier humans that is a

mystery to current society (Bradbury 2). An inner conflict that Mr. Mead reflects on during his

walks​ i​s how the entirety of the massive city Mr. Mead resides in is seemingly dead, “ … living

in the tombs, ill-lit by television light, where the people sat like the dead” (Bradbury 2). Mr.

Mead, a bohemian in his time, is​ ​left to wander his city through the nights, contemplating the

possible motive or mindset of how the rest of society can be content living in a never-changing

routine of allowing media to consume them for hours on end.

Ray Bradbury was able to effectively take advantage of story elements, including a

complex combination of characterization, setting, and conflict, within this brief piece to

successfully and effectively expose his idea on a possible future for our society.​ ​It is important to

note that the story ends with no explicit conclusion of the consequences that Mr. Mead faced

after his arrest and placement within the research center that highlights the uncertainty of the

future, and prompts that we question the possibilities that lie ahead of us. It is a vital

responsibility for us to consider those possibilities as we move further into the digital age, that

we can one day have our lives restricted by the advancements of technology if we allow it.