Let Me Walk You Through The Pedestrian
In the story The Pedestrian, written by Ray Bradbury back in 1950, a man goes for long walks every evening by himself. The year setting of the story is 2053 and is a prediction of what he thinks the society will be like at that time. Mr. Mead, the main character, has never seen another person out walking during the many hours that he has strolled. The only evidence of human activity are the flickering of the lights within the houses coming from the televisions. On this particular evening, a police car stops and orders him to put his hands up, to get inside the car, despite his protests. While he approaches the dark he realises that there was no driver because the car is automated. Apparently, his behaviour is not acceptable in this society because no walks anymore, making it seem weird for him to be walking. Therefore, the main theme of the story is the dehumanisation of the human society ensued by the development of technology, and I was able to figure it out with the plot, tone, and characteristic of the story.
The plot started with the walk, and the police car stopping and telling him to get inside the car are the rising action and climax. The falling action is the police taking him to the Crazy Center. There is no resolution for this story. The story started getting interesting which caused me to know the rising action. “‘Leonard Mead!’ Business or profession?’ ‘I guess you’d call me a writer.’ No profession,’ said the police car, as if it’s talking to itself.” In this evidence, us readers figured out more about the predicted society. In essence, the plot is one good way to be able to determine the theme of the story.
Another strategy would be finding the tone of Bradbury throughout the story which is loneliness. I know this through their word choice as he is trying to portray the isolation felt by the people in the year 2053. Bradbury sets the tone through words like “silence,” “alone,” and “grassy seams of buckling concrete.” The buckling concrete shows the lack of care and maintenance, and the word choice of “silence” and “alone” being rare in the story with a set tone of isolation. In short, the tone plays a big part in figuring out the theme of the story.
However, the characteristic of Mr. Leonard Mead is a lone pedestrian. Mr. Mead passes houses with family members huddled around, pauses and listens, desperate for the sound of human voices. “‘Hello, in there,” he whispered to every house on every side as he moved.” After realising that the voices came from indoors, he continues his walk alone, as if he walks in a graveyard. In brief, knowing the characteristic of the main character is useful for finding the theme.
All things considered, the theme is about the dehumanisation of human society ensued by the technological development because I used the plot, tone, and characteristic of the story. Like machines people work during the day time and once back home, glued themselves to their televisions. The citizens of the described highly civilised world peep out of their windows the flashing lights to express amazement seeing the narrator out on an evening walk all alone. In the advanced human society, the houses are “tomblike” where people sit before their television sets “like the dead.” This is why we should, as early as now, have a time of day where we can go outside and have fun without our electronics to avoid such a future.
The plot started with the walk, and the police car stopping and telling him to get inside the car are the rising action and climax. The falling action is the police taking him to the Crazy Center. There is no resolution for this story. The story started getting interesting which caused me to know the rising action. “‘Leonard Mead!’ Business or profession?’ ‘I guess you’d call me a writer.’ No profession,’ said the police car, as if it’s talking to itself.” In this evidence, us readers figured out more about the predicted society. In essence, the plot is one good way to be able to determine the theme of the story.
Another strategy would be finding the tone of Bradbury throughout the story which is loneliness. I know this through their word choice as he is trying to portray the isolation felt by the people in the year 2053. Bradbury sets the tone through words like “silence,” “alone,” and “grassy seams of buckling concrete.” The buckling concrete shows the lack of care and maintenance, and the word choice of “silence” and “alone” being rare in the story with a set tone of isolation. In short, the tone plays a big part in figuring out the theme of the story.
However, the characteristic of Mr. Leonard Mead is a lone pedestrian. Mr. Mead passes houses with family members huddled around, pauses and listens, desperate for the sound of human voices. “‘Hello, in there,” he whispered to every house on every side as he moved.” After realising that the voices came from indoors, he continues his walk alone, as if he walks in a graveyard. In brief, knowing the characteristic of the main character is useful for finding the theme.
All things considered, the theme is about the dehumanisation of human society ensued by the technological development because I used the plot, tone, and characteristic of the story. Like machines people work during the day time and once back home, glued themselves to their televisions. The citizens of the described highly civilised world peep out of their windows the flashing lights to express amazement seeing the narrator out on an evening walk all alone. In the advanced human society, the houses are “tomblike” where people sit before their television sets “like the dead.” This is why we should, as early as now, have a time of day where we can go outside and have fun without our electronics to avoid such a future.
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