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Leonard Mead The Pedestrian

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Leonard Mead is a character that represents our society in a future world. Leonard Mead is the protagonist from a short story called The Pedestrian, written by Ray Bradbury. This story takes place in the year 2053 when technology has taken over the entire world, except for our main character, Mead. Everyone in this world seems to be glued to technology, never going outside given it no longer has a use. The pedestrian was created to warn people now about where society is going, using Leonard Mead as a character to portray society today. He is presented as a regressive, wise and lonely representation of people today and why the author, Ray Bradbury created this character to change people's ways with technology. To start off, one of Leonard Mead's character traits is regressive. Leonard acts as a character who has never lived in his world and just got transported there. He has no interest in changing his ways, he doesn’t care that he fits out of societal norms. This is evident when he says quote; …show more content…

While this may not seem like a main character trait, this key trait is what ties together Ray Bradbury's meaning of the story. "Are you married, Mr. Mead?" "No." "Not married," said the police voice behind the fiery beam "Nobody wanted me," said Leonard Mead with a smile’ (Bradbury, 2). Just this small conversation tells us that no one really is like Leonard. His personality is too outside of societal norms to find someone else like him. This action played a part in Leonard getting arrested too. ‘’The car moved down the empty river-bed streets and off away, leaving the empty streets with the empty sidewalks, and no sound and no motion all the rest of the chilly November night’ (Bradbury, 2). Leonard Mead is getting sent away all alone, there isn't even a person in the car with him. There was no one out there to save him, he was truly alone. Therefore, Leonard's loneliness trait ties into the story's

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573 Words | 3 Pages

Throughout the story, it follows Leonard Mead and how he stands out from the crowd and his repercussions. “Where are you taking me… To the Psychiatric Center for Research on Regressive Tendencies,” (Bradbury 4). Mr. Mead differs from the society he lives in and as a consequence of not following the crowd, he is sent to a psychiatric center. He is taken away from his home and getting forcefully sent away because he does not follow the norm.

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215 Words | 1 Pages

The police car stops Mr. Mead because it’s not normal to walk around at night in this city, everyone’s at home watching television or using their electronics. The police car then asks him his business or profession, in which Mead responds with “I’d guess you’d call me a writer.” The police car then says that Mead has no profession, because being a writer in this society is not a profession. “What are you doing out?”, the police car asks. Mead explains he’s just out walking, for air and to see.

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461 Words | 2 Pages

Rosa Parks, civil rights` campaigner, and Leonard Mead, character of Pedestrian and Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, share some common similarities. One way in which Rosa Parks is similar to Leonard is that she has positively influenced people around them. Rosa inspired others to boycott the bus system: “whose refusal to relinquish her seat on a public bus to a white man precipitated the 1955–56 Montgomery bus boycott in Alabama, which is recognized as the spark that ignited the U.S. civil rights movement” (The Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica). This means that her action spurred the citizens of Montgomery to take an action, to change situation for the better. Similarly, Leonard Mead swayed world views of his family members: “Clarisse McClellan?

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1526 Words | 7 Pages

In the Story, it states, ““What are you doing out?”/… ‘Just walking,”” He said simply, but his face felt cold” (Bradbury 1). In the story, Mr. Mead was living his own life, but he wasn't doing what everyone else is doing. This can relate to modern day problems. If someone is just minding their own

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537 Words | 3 Pages

Leonard is also a social deviant. Due to the fact he differed from other people in his society. In this society the norm is to stay home and watch T.V, but he felt the need to go out for fresh air and observe things with out a screen in front of him. Due to that he was arrested and sent to a psychiatric center. In this case his “odd” actions lead him to no good.

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249 Words | 1 Pages

Imagine living in a world that is completely ruled by technology. “The Pedestrian” is a short story written by Ray Bradbury that shows how technology rules all of us. Ray Bradbury creates a fictional future where people’s lives are overrun by technology. This story shows that technology has taken over people’s lives through the characters and the the setting, and it has caused them to neglect traditional ways of living. To begin with, the theme of “The Pedestrian” is shown through the characters in the story.

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297 Words | 2 Pages

For instance, the author uses Leonard to symbolize the young man’s true persona. As the reader, we are never told about the young man’s emotions throughout the story. We are oblivious to how the young man feels, especially after the loss of his parents. Instead

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770 Words | 4 Pages

A statement to back up the topic is that, Mr.Mead is dealing with a situation about how technology has taken over the world. To state my thesis is that Mr.Mead is trying to teach a lesson for what society has done and will reflect today. The author says that “He would stand upon the corner of an intersection and peer down long moonlit avenues of sidewalk in four directions, deciding which way to go, but it really made no difference; he was alone in this world

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544 Words | 3 Pages

Through symbolism, imagery, and the characterization of Leonard Mead, Bradbury highlights the danger technological advancement poses to a society’s individuality. Since the first introduction of Leonard Mead, Bradbury presents the audience with a cynical, almost bitter, protagonist. As he walks through empty streets, Mr. Mead asks the people in his society what they are watching, knowing he won’t get a response, but pauses when he thinks he hears a “murmur of laughter”, lonely for someone who had not been transformed into the same emotionless citizen technology has caused this society to contain. Mead is an outcast of his society, without a wife or “viewing screen” which rebels against his society because it is seen as unnatural.

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471 Words | 2 Pages

The Pedestrian Thesis: In a short story titled “The Pedestrian”, written by Ray Bradbury, Bradbury uses the setting to display a lonely, sad mood and person vs society conflict as he battles the lonely streets. Bradbury shows the lonely mood by having the character walk alone in the empty streets. Bradbury wasted no time describing the streets as silent and misty making for a very lonely mood. Mead, the main character, walks along the streets alone with no sign of life, saying “he would see cottages and homes with their dark windows, and it was not unequal to walking through a graveyard where the faintest light is a flicker of a firefly” Bradbury’s quote shows how empty and lonely the streets are by referring to them as a

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946 Words | 4 Pages

The 1951 original written work by Ray Bradbury (“The Pedestrian”) was, at some point in time, later adapted into a short film. Although both the film and short story shared many of the same elements, there were still several noticeably apparent differences; for one, the film had chosen to introduce an entirely new character into the plot. Serving as a contrasting figure for Mead - a “foil”, of some sorts - Robert “Bob” Stockwell had assisted in providing much more insight in the dystopian world (i.e. experiencing the “outside” world after being inside so long, as was seen in the film). Whereas in the original story, no such insight was provided - Mead was, instead, only just an ordinary individual (unintentionally) caught amidst the confines

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374 Words | 2 Pages

Ray Bradbury’s “The Pedestrian” is filled repeatedly with imagery. These descriptive phrases of imagery provide vivid details that make the story easy to imagine, so real and visual. Bradbury’s writing comes alive to the reader. This short story is about a peaceful man, walking by himself, who is picked up by the police and thrown in jail. Imagery helped readers understand the setting of “The pedestrian.”

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876 Words | 4 Pages

The "Pedestrian" is a futuristic story about a man who is not involved with the world. Bradbury uses setting, figurative language, and symbolism to affect the overall succession of the story. First, Bradbury uses figurative language to portray the negative view of technology on people. He uses similes to show how people are affected. For example, "But now these highways, too, were like streams in a dry season all stone and bed and moon radiance.

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435 Words | 2 Pages

The science fiction works of “Harrison Bergeron”, by Kurt Vonnegut and “The Pedestrian”, by Ray Bradbury are sarcastic portrayals of futuristic societies that are controlled by authoritative governments that have completely made their communities equal. Each of these stories take a look at the prospect of promoting sameness and conformity among all people, and questions the effects of the forced elimination of citizens’ individuality in order to maintain equality. In “The Pedestrian” Mr. Leonard Mead faces extreme consequences for his nightly stroll in the city. In the year 2053, Mead’s society has become completely taken over by televisions and the media.

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605 Words | 3 Pages

In the beginning of the story Mr. Mead walks down the barren city sidewalks of this city where he lives and this really shows the setting of a dystopian society. No one walked anymore; no one had the time to, no one wanted to, so Bradbury shows imagery on how no one does this, “The cement was vanishing under flowers and grass. In ten years of walking by night or day...he had never met another person walking.” (pg 174) In the middle of the story, an officer finds Mr. Mead and tells him to stop, “‘Stand still.

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