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Key Themes Of The Pedestrian By Ray Bradbury

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‘The Pedestrian’ by Ray Bradbury is a short story that explores several key themes, including the dangers of technology, life without freedom and the importance of maintaining the qualities that make us human. The text recounts one night in the life of Leonard Mead, who walked daily in an unnamed city for years without encountering a single person. The story is set in 2050 where everyone is consumed by a TV and lives in ‘tomb-like’ homes. The only one with freedom in this dystopian society is Leonard.

The main theme of the story is the danger of technology and it’s impact on our society. Ray Bradbury is warning us that if we rely too much on technology, we could lose the things that make us human like our individuality and creativity, and …show more content…

The car comes straight to Leonard with a bright light. The simile ‘He stood entranced, not unlike a night moth, stunned by the illumination, then drawn toward it’, compares Leonard to a moth that shows us , like other people Leonard is also in the danger of getting his humanity taken away at the hand of authority. The car can not comprehend the need for humanity and it just doesn't seem to understand why Leonard would want to go on a walk when tv’s were available. The number of police cars decreased after the elections because it turns out that since everyone remains indoors, there is no crime. Leonard Mead’s only “crime” is not staring at a tv. The car replaces the human interaction that would have occurred if people weren't so absorbed by technology. Rather than spending time in the real world, people are confined to their ‘tomb-like’ homes and they feel lifeless and …show more content…

Technology can make us lose our creativity and intelligence. When everything is online and accessible, there is no point in using our knowledge. This story gives a clear example of this when it states that Leonard was a writer, but his job is now useless because no one needs books since they have a different form of entertainment. In this story technology has tried to recreate nature and we can tell this because the police car makes it clear that if Leoanrd wants to see, he could use a tv and if he wants to breathe, there's an air conditioner. The fear of technology and the way it takes away from us is a recurring theme in ‘The Pedestrian’. The things that the people were watching in this text about didn’t seem to make them

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