Sam Hoh

Spes Paragraph 1
Ms. Meyer

Ray Bradbury uses multiple types and examples of literary language,

in order to portray the main message,it is ok to be different, in the short
story, “The Pedestrian”. One large literary device he uses to portray the
message is sarcasm. When Mr. Mead is walking down the street and he sees
the lights he says, “What is it know?... Eight-thirty P.M.? Time for a dozen
assorted murders? A quiz? A revue? A comedian falling of the stage?”
(Bradbury 1). When he says this, he is mocking the people who stay inside.
They live through the same stuff every night. He is mocking them for being
boring and not trying anything new., like he does. When he goes outside at
night, it is never the same and always different. Another literary device used
by Mr. Bradbury is irony. After Mr. Mead gets taken by the police car they,
”passed one house on one street a moment later, one house in an entire city
of houses that were dark, but this one particular house had all of its electric
lights brightly lit, every window a loud yellow illumination, square and warm
in the cool darkness. ‘That’s my house,’ said Leonard Mead.” (Bradbury 2).
Out of all of the houses on his street, only Mr. Meads is lit up. This is ironic,
because just like he is the only one who doesn’t watch TV all day, his house
is just as different as he is from the other houses. A final literary device that
Mr. Bradbury uses is personification. The police car that Mr. Mead runs into
is an inanimate object. However, the police car responds to Mr. Mead. When
they first start talking Mr. Bradbury writes,” ‘No profession’ said the police
car, as if talking to itself” (Bradbury 1). This further develops the message
by explaining that humanity has let machinery do everything and Mr. Mead
is one of the few remaining people who aren’t fixated on it purely. Mr. Ray
Bradbury uses sarcasm, irony, and personification to relay his message of, it
being okay to be different.