Technology In The Pedestrian, By Ray Bradbury

When most people imagine the future, cliche images of flying cars and time machines come to mind. Usually, these technological advancements are viewed as positive. However, in The Pedestrian, author Ray Bradbury challenges the idea that technology brings good to the human race. Through the use of setting, The Pedestrian displays the theme that technology negatively impacts human society.

The first way this theme is presented is by the message that television sets have taken over the human lifestyle. The setting of this story is in 2053 AD, and the story shows that by then, society is completely engrossed in watching television all night. The protagonist of the story, Leonard Mead describes his walk through the neighborhoods he passes as being “not unequal to walking through a graveyard” (page 1) because there is no one out and all life is taking place within the homes so that they can watch television. This is a negative effect on society because people will stay in their homes all day and succumb to a sedentary lifestyle. Mead even describes this, saying “the people sat like the dead” (page 2) to signify them not moving from in front of their television screens.

The next way this story demonstrates the message that technology will negatively affect human society is how the protagonist of the story has no use of his old profession anymore because technology has totally taken over.

On page 2, the police car asks him about his profession, and Mead tells it he is a writer. The police car then says that Mead has “no profession” because no one writes anymore or retains information from writing. Mead says that “magazines and books don’t sell anymore” This shows how more advancements of technology are directly related to unfavorable outcomes because many people whose occupations dealt with writing would become unemployed or even ridiculed because there was no more use for their

skills.
The final way this theme is exhibited is by how Leonard Mead is sent to psychiatric care for walking at night and not having a television in his home. These things would be considered normal in the present day, but because of the story’s setting in the year 2053, it is abnormal behavior to not be submerged in a technical way of life. When the police car confronts him for walking the streets at night, it is appalled when Mead says he does not have a viewing screen in his home. It is even suspicious when Mead says that he is walking only to see things because society has adapted to the reality that everything you need to see can be presented to you on your viewing screen. This is how the story shows the theme of the negative effects of technology, by giving the reader the absurd idea that something as simple as walking could get you in trouble in this setting.
In conclusion, The Pedestrian offers a perspective on the future that is much different than the usual. The story uses its futuristic setting to establish the idea that
improvements in technology are eventually going to lead to negative impacts on human behaviors and society in general.