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'The Pedestrian': A Comparative Analysis

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Recommended: Similarites and differences between a novel and movie

The PBS article on film adaptation discusses the challenges of adapting a novel into a film and the different kinds of changes the filmmakers must make. Many stories and novels have been turned into films, but this can be difficult because of the many differences between the two mediums. One challenge the article discusses is that the use of a narrator is a key part in a novel but when adapted to a film it is often removed. Another obstacle filmmakers face is that movies can be more limited than books. As the PBS article states, “for one thing, there are no time constraints on a novel”, they are a collaborative effort, and they need to be able to properly translate words from the novel into a visual image(PBS 1-2). When converting stories …show more content…

In the film version of the story, there was an addition of another person whom Mead walked with and there were other subtle changes that, in turn, made a big impact on the overall story and theme. The extensions to Bradbury's story made it feel more hopeful and optimistic in the end which ended up fitting the story very well and being a nice addition. At least two themes can be pulled from either version of “The Pedestrian”, one of them which can be shared between the two stories. The shared theme between the short story of “The Pedestrian” and the film adaptation is that technology can destroy a society. This theme is made prominent throughout both versions; people watching their “viewing screens” for entertainment instead of going outside or using an air conditioner for fresh air. Technology distracted and took over the people in this society, making them forget about the important things in life. Bollinger’s additions to the story did not skew this theme, but added new ones. Near the end of the film, a theme about the importance of truthfulness and trust is revealed. The helicopter that was questioning Mead and Bob was asking questions that could have potentially gotten Bob taken away as well. Mead was truthful when answering the questions and admitted that he was the one who had the idea to go walking. This action resulted in Mead being taken away to the psychiatric center for regressive tendencies, but his unknowing friend , Bob, was not. The additions that the film had that the short story did not have gave it a better flow and a more open

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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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Well Mead still had some unique bone left in his body and society thinks he’s a crazy person for it. Mead went for a walk and was picked up by police during this part of the story, “ ‘where are you taking me?” The car hesitated, or rather gave a faint whirring click, as if information, somewhere, was dropping car by punch-slotted card under electric eyes. “To the psychiatric center for research on regressive tendencies’” People view Mead as crazy for still having some sense of individuality left, which clearly shows the person vs society

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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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The narrator begins to change as Robert taught him to see beyond the surface of looking. The narrator feels enlightened and opens up to a new world of vision and imagination. This brief experience has a long lasting effect on the narrator. Being able to shut out everything around us allows an individual the ability to become focused on their relationships, intrapersonal well-being, and

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In “The Pedestrian” Ray Bradbury uses personification, simile, and imagery to develop the mood of loneliness so that the reader can understand the dark and lonely world the character is living in. This matters because it changes how the reader reads the story and it makes you better understand the character and the life the character is living. By using the quotes that the author did, it not only changed the mood of the story but it also changes the mood of the reader and how he/she

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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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To conclude, the similarities between “The Pedestrian” and “Harrison Bergeron” were that, in the end, everyone became equal. Although in The Pedestrian, the main character was changed, it was implied to be so. Another similarity, is the majority of people were the same, but there was always one outlier. The differences however, are many. The Pedestrian takes place in 2053, while Harrison Bergeron in

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The setting in this story is very significant because it portrays many aspects of a dystopian society. The idea of individualism is where being an individual is not normal in this society. Mr. Mead was shown as an outcast because he disagreed with the majority of the people. Sitting inside watching TV is the ideal evening for everyone in this population in the future. While Mr. Mead thinks otherwise and enjoys the fresh air while also having his thoughts to himself, “If he closed his eyes and stood very still, frozen, he could imagine himself...a wintry, windless Arizona desert with no house in a thousand miles,” (pg 174)

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