Technology Exposed In The Pedestrian By Ray Bradbury

In “The Pedestrian” by Ray Bradbury, the author utilizes the literary elements of theme, mood, and allusion to highlight how technology can disillusion a society. The theme of “The Pedestrian” is that technology is dangerous to a society if it is prioritized over all other things. The author shows that technology is dangerous because if not regulated, machines can replace humans. As Bradbury writes, “As he had expected, there was no-one in the front seat, no-one in the car at all.”(2) The author is trying to show a machine can take over a human’s place in society and does not have the capacity to truly understand human nature, leaving people at risk for manipulation. When technology is prioritized over living things, a society can lose their sense of unity. The author writes, “And on his way he would see the cottages and homes with their dark windows, and it was not unequal to walking through a graveyard…”(1). When a television screen is seen as more important than communication, then technology has the opportunity to take away a society’s humanity. In such a case technology becomes a

Bradbury is trying to caution against progress for the sake of progress. The author writes, “he was alone in this world of A.D., 2053 or as good as alone,” (2). Thus, Bradbury is trying to warn the reader that “advancement” can lead to the isolation of the human beings. The foreboding mood of the story is trying to warn the reader that in the future if technology is to be relied upon, society can lose its values. As cited from “The Pedestrian”, “Magazines and books didn't sell any more. Everything went on in the tomb-like houses at night now,”(2). Through this quote, Bradbury presents the idea that society no longer values its writers, and by extension knowledge or imagination for that matter. This shows that it is adamant to be cautioned against new technology because so-called advancement can destroy a society's