Technology In Ray Bradbury's 'The Pedestrian'

Society has made many vast advances over the past 50 years. Technology is one of the biggest industries that has made the most dramatic changes. Everyone loves new technology, so much that it almost takes over his or her lives. Ray Bradbury is a sci-fi author that seemed to have predicted the future of society and technology in his short stories. In most of his short stories, however, he criticizes what technology can become, and recognizes the problematic effects that can come with too much technology. Through Ray Bradbury’s short stories, he makes it apparent that his concerns with technology and modern day society are that technology has the ability to isolate people, advancing too fast can have catastrophic consequences and society could

The protagonist in the story, Leonard Mead, just likes to walk to get some air, while everyone else is trapped in their houses. “’Hello in there’, he whispered to every house on each side as he moved. ‘What’s up tonight on channel 4, channel 7, channel 9?’… In ten years of walking by night or day, for thousands of miles, he never met another person walking, not one in all that time” (Bradbury 98). Leonard mocks the people inside, trapped, because they aren’t living. The people have separated themselves from the rest of the world, and only focused on technology. Leonard walks around and gets away from the depressed life, and no one else seems to go outside. Leonard never once saw another human being not incased by technology enough to take a walk. Bradbury shows his concerns that too much technology has taken over people’s ways to live and see other human faces again. Later in the story, while Leonard is walking, a policeman stops him. The police man starts the conversation, “‘What are you doing out?’ ‘Walking’, said Leonard Mead, ‘Walking!’ ‘Just walking’, he said simply, but his face felt cold… ‘Walking where? For what?’ ‘Walking for air. Walking to see’…’And you have a viewing screen in your house to see with?’ ‘No.’ ‘No?’ There was a crackling quiet that in itself was an accusation” (Bradbury 99-100). Mr. Mead is considered an outlier in Ray Bradbury present-day society. In a lot of Bradbury’s stories he has an outlier, who Bradbury always seems to agree with, by contrasting them to the ridiculousness of his predictions for the future of society. Leonard Mead represents the average person in society who walks around and tries to enjoy life, however, he was stopped by a police officer because everyone else in society isolates themselves and only cares about their “viewing screen”. No one in their