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Ray Bradbury's 'The Pedestrian'

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Often it is thought that in modern society it is fine to not fit in, because the misfits are typically the most successful and inventive. In the short story “The Pedestrian” by Ray Bradbury the opposite is true, the year is 2053 and society is expected to follow the standard set by the government; to never leave your house and spend most of your day watching TV. Leonard Mead is the protagonist, who finds he is always the only one to go for walks. The other 3 million citizens are sitting in their houses watching TV and doing nothing productive. There is only one police unit left, which enforces the harsh rules set by the government. Although fitting in society may seem a great idea, it almost always slaughters individual identity, leading to a boring life for everyone. …show more content…

He still has interest in the outside world, so he takes long walks around the city to relax and enjoy the outdoors. The setting describes the city as being an absolute ghost town at night, due to laws not allowing citizens out at night. This showcases the dark part of the future, with citizens who don’t have a future ahead of them, and possibly of a war stricken country. Leonard is the only one who is able to pursue his desire to explore the world while the rest of the city conforms to the societal standards. The zombie-like citizens of the city pay no attention to the outside world. Their world is right in front of them, the TV. Unlike Leonard Mead, the rest of the citizens are clearly brainwashed to follow orders. Instead of enjoying the world and exploring; the populace has been taught instead to enjoy scheduled programming. This is significant because society has conformed to a standard, making control of the population much easier. Although a future filled with hope could be ahead of us, a dystopia future could also be

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Is it Better to Follow the Crowd, or Stand Out? For decades, inside and outside literature, societal norms have defined many individuals and communities. A multitude of authors emphasizes the actions and consequences these norms have on others. However, societal norms lead to a question, is it better to follow the crowd, and blend in, or is it better to be your own, and stand out?

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In the “Pedestrian” the author Ray Bradbury uses diction to give a setting to the writing to help convey the author's meaning to the reader. Bradbury uses diction to give a setting helping the reader understand the meaning of “The Pedestrian” by using words like “metallic” or “ill-lit” it gives you an idea of what the setting was. When in “The Pedestrian” the author explains what the setting sounds like by saying “a metallic voice” it helps you hear it in your head and know what it would be like to be in the pedestrian's position. Another way the author's diction helps you see a different part setting is the author using words like “buckling concrete” or “grassy seams” when he uses diction like this it helps you see another part of the setting

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Ray Bradbury’s short story “The Pedestrian,” is about a man who went for a walk and has a feeling of solitude. He feels the pull of technology, taking everyone else away from the outdoors. Bradbury uses diction to convey the overall tone of the story. Bradbury begins his short story by suggesting that it was a

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In the short story, “The Pedestrian,” written by Ray Bradbury, an interesting man had decided to go for a walk. The main character, Leonard Mead, seemed to be foreign to the rest of the city, as he was the only one outside in the late hours of the day. Nothing had seemed out of the ordinary, until Mead began to describe his current situation. The protagonist was placed in a future setting, living in the year 2053. He had described life to be very advanced although people in the city spent a majority of their time inside their homes.

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Summer is a time for relaxation and a recollection of the previous school year. A sense of disappointment and discouragement always linger in the air throughout the summer in anticipation of the next school year. The origin being summer reading. Statistics for procrastination are at an all time high during the month of August. Contradictorily, the summer of ‘13 was the pinnacle of summer reading throughout my education.

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Ray Bradbury's short story “The Pedestrian” is about a man who goes for long walks every evening by himself. He never sees anyone else out walking in all the time he has done so himself. During his stroll a police car stops him and orders him to put his hands up. He answers a series of questions about his life and family, and his answers are unsatisfactory to the police. So, the police officer takes him to a Psychiatric Center only due to the fact that he is not inside watching tv like everybody else.

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“The Pedestrian” by Ray Bradbury is based around a man named Leonard Mead, who views the world differently than the rest of his community. Bradbury expresses Leonard's non-conformity by providing a juxtaposition between Leonard and the rest of his community. Leonard’s community is composed of monotonous individuals who own dimly lit houses with viewing screens which they are always watching during night hours. Towards the end of the story, Bradbury describes a police car with the now captive Leonard passing several alike houses before advancing to a brightly lit house, Leonard’s. Leonard’s house is symbolism for his idiomatic lifestyle because while his community watches TV, he walks the sidewalk with no others outside during night hours.

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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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There are six major elements in dystopian writing, three of which are prominent in the short story " The Pedestrian" by Ray Bradbury. The three elements that will be discussed in this essay are: the oppressive government, the setting being disguised as a utopia, and the protagonists who wants to restore the people to a conventional way of life. However, the protagonist goes against conformity rather than freeing the people from it; it can be assumed that the protagonist would just as much freedom for himself as everyone else. The first element that was found in this story was the "oppressive government" architype. This element is used to create a man vs. society conflict, and to show how major the opposition the main character faces is.

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Everyone has a natural desire to fit in. Everyone has a natural desire to be accepted by others. These desires are strong enough to cause individuals to give up there uniqueness. We are all told at a young age that everyone is different and that is wonderful. However, societal norms contradict this idea.

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Leonard is walking alone, and it is becoming colder by the hour. The story says, "Everything went on in the tomb-like houses at night now, he thought, continuing his fancy. The tombs, ill-lit by television light, where the people sat like the dead, the grey or multi-colored lights touching their faces, but never really touching them," The neighborhood feels dead to Leonard. At times, he feels like he is the only one in the entire city. This creates a suspenseful mood, because Leonard feels all alone, when he knows he really isn't.

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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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In Ray Bradbury’s short story “The Pedestrian”, the motifs of the story were appeared a lot of times. Motifs always repeat in the story and give a dominant central idea to strengthen the theme. By reading the motifs in the story, we could learn more about the things that the writer wants to tell us. In this story, there are lots of words of motifs; for examples, silence, alone, darkness, empty and frozen. Those motifs shows the lacking of inspiration and excitement in the story and determines the dark keynote of the story.

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If you have ever read Ray Bradbury then you know he is very skillful in writing stories. Every word contributes to the story in an important way. In The Pedestrian, Ray Bradbury uses symbolism, repetition, and metaphors to show what it feels like to be lonely. In this world of the future most are not outside or being active because they rather be inside watching tv. In fact, no one is around outside on this cold november night.

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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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