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The Pedestrian Ray Bradbury Analysis

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“The Pedestrian” by Ray Bradbury is a short story which has a key incident; the main character being

arrested for walking on his own. It is set in a dystopian 2053 as predicted by Ray Bradbury, where

everyone stays inside in the evenings watching TV, and having an evening walk is an insane thing to

do.

The key incident of the story is Leonard Mead being arrested for going out on an evening walk. The

police car tells him to halt, and flashes a bright light on him. He is then questioned by the car:

“““What are you doing out?” “Walking,” said Leonard Mead. “Walking!” “Just walking,’ he said

simply, but his face felt cold. “Walking, just walking, walking?” “Yes, sir.” “Walking where? For

what?” “Walking for air. Walking to see.””

The …show more content…

He wants to be alone, which for most people is strange as they do not like being alone, but

Mead enjoys his solitude, and wants more of it. The ease of which he can imagine this scenario

emphasises his isolation, as it is still almost silent in the streets. Just as he is about to finish his walk,

he is arrested.

“The Pedestrian” by Ray Bradbury is a short story set in 2053, in a dystopian future where Leonard

Mead is arrested for walking, in a world where everyone is enthralled by technology. This key

incident highlights how strange it was for him to be embracing nature, and his solitude in not

enjoying technology. This was how Bradbury envisioned the future, and while it would have seemed

ridiculous when the story came out in 1951, some of his comments are not too far off from society

today, with things such as the decline of printed books and magazines, and the rise of

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