The Role Of Technology In The Pedestrian By Ray Bradbury

“I fear the day that technology will surpass our human interaction. The world will have a generation of idiots” Albert Einstein. The role of technology is changing all of the time and the human race depends on it more and more. This is important because as humans depend more on technology they could be leaving behind other important things like being social and getting out and enjoying the real world. In the short story The Pedestrian written by Ray Bradbury the main character Leonard Meed goes out for a walk in the city alone. Technology has overtook the city, and Leonard is the only social person left which, means technology is negitively impacting society.

In the story technology has overtook the city. First, in the city that Leonard lives

in it isn't normal to go out on a walk, the people just sit at home watching television. It may be true, as the narrator reveals, “to enter out into that silence that was the city at eight o’clock of a misty evening in november”(173). This supports the fact that technology has taken over the city because the city is silent at only eight o’clock. Second, this city has advanced so far they don't need to have police officers anymore. It may be true, as the narrator reveals, “ As he passed the front window of the car, he looked in and there was no one in the car at all” (176). This is significant because in normal times there would be a police officer in control of the situation not a robot. Thus, technology is becoming a danger to this society because the people don't interact with eachother anymore.
Not only the overuse of technology but also Leonard being the only sociable person left is an impact on society. To begin with, in the story Leonard isn't the only person in his city, but he is the last person that has similar characteristics as people do in today's world. It may be true as the narrator reveals, “ He was alone in this world of AD 2053, or as good as alone”(173). This supports the idea of Lenard being the only sociable person because if there was other social people they would be out on the streets with him. Also, as the police is speaking to Leonard, he asks him if he had a wife. It may be true as the Lenard responds, “Nobody wanted me”(176). This reveals that Leonard is different from all the other people he has met. To sum up, The people in the time of the story are so overwhelmed in technology that they don't feel the need to go out and interact with each other.
To conclude, the overuse of technology if continued can become a danger to society. In the short story technology overtook all human interaction within the city and it was unusual for anyone to go out of there house at night. In the story Leonard is different from all the other people because he prefers to go out and try to socialise. The short story The Pedestrian was written in the fifties when technology was just taking off, becoming more popular, this reveals Bradbury's concern about a unsocial reality where technology takes over even with the technology available at the time. Imagine what he would think if he was living in today's world, and seeing the overuse of technology we face everyday without even noticing it.