The Pedestrian Essay

671 Words3 Pages
Society Discourages Individualism Ray Bradbury's short story, "The Pedestrian," displays the nearby future in a very unfavorable way. In the story, the world has been eaten away by the use of technology. Mankind has made an amazing development with creations such as the television. Though, as children grow up to watch television with their eyes glued to the screen and giving up on playing outside or reading, it’s not such a great thought to look forward to. In the short story “The Pedestrian”, setting helps define the major theme of society discourages individualism by technology, being sneaky, and having a neglected city. To begin with, technology in the setting helps to show that society discourages individualism. In the short story, the setting is in the future of the year 2053 that is populated by people who are more lifeless than alive and active. Their technology has made them rather weary. No one ever read anymore as the author stated “Magazines and books didn’t sell anymore” (156). On the November dark evening in the city, most people had their faces stuck to the television screen as stated, “The tombs, ill-lit by television light, where the people sat like the dead...” Also, when Mr. Mead was walking in the streets he whispered to every house, “What’s up tonight on Channel 4, Channel 7, Channel 9?” This is to show how the invention of the television made people sit inside and just watch TV. The setting of being in the future really brought technology close to people and just demonstrates how much society discourages individualism. Next, there was a lot of sneaking around because society discouraged individualism and the government wanted to keep everyone in their homes. Something as simple as taking a walk is "what Mr. Leonard Mead most dearly loved to do" (153). Moreover, Mr. Mead never wanted to draw attention to him because he was not supposed to
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