The Pedestrian Bradbury

Ray Bradbury writes about a society consumed by television in his 1951 short story, “The Pedestrian.” With technology’s advancements, society has become addicted and dependent on their technology, unable to enjoy the natural world but when a nonconformist, Leonard Mead, rejects technology and enjoys the world organically as it is meant to be, he is seen as suspicious for not adhering to society’s new norms. Bradbury is terrified of what society will become when humans will become reliant on technology and blind of its harm, but his fears are purely fictitious as today’s society is not what he has predicted. ProCon.org’s article, “Issue Overview: Are social networking sites good for our society?” addresses social networking’s positives and negatives, which are less extreme than Bradbury’s predictions, using recent studies while maintaining a neutral bias. Bradbury’s theme of how society should be wary of technology is applicable to today’s society in the workplace, communication, and time management to an extent. The overall theme of “The Pedestrian” is that society should be wary of technological use because humans will soon be enslaved to its empty entertainment. The story follows Leonard Mead who does not fit into the futuristic society because he has chosen to live life in the past he loves, going on nightly walks to enjoy the world outside screens. He mocks the people in their dark homes being shadows from television with only the light of screens
Bradbury’s fictionalized and exaggerated criticism of society’s dependence on technology and how it negatively impacts how we interact with another remains purely fictional. Technology now is a crucial part of the society with negatives and positives, but we are not enslaved to