The Pedestrian Questions and Answers
The Pedestrian
What techniques or imagery does Ray Bradbury use in his short story "The Pedestrian," and how does the story link to...
Bradbury creates a tone of silence, isolation, cold, darkness, alienation, and death in this short story through his use of imagery. The unnatural quiet is conveyed through the repetition of words...
The Pedestrian
Describe the society in which Leonard Mead lives in Ray Bradbury's short story The Pedestrian.
In Ray Bradbury's short story "The Pedestrian," Leonard Mead lives in a reclusive society, where the citizens are completely consumed with technology and remain indoors to watch television...
The Pedestrian
In "The Pedestrian," what crime did Mr. Mead commit?
In Bradbury's short story "The Pedestrian," Mr. Leonard Mead is arrested by a robotic police car for simply walking in the streets at night and behaving like a pedestrian. In the year 2053 AD,...
The Pedestrian
What social trends does Ray Bradbury observe and see as potential problems for the society in "The Pedestrian"?
The message of Ray Bradbury's "The Pedestrian" is a concern that technology desensitizes Americans and causes them to become alienated from others. When Leonard Mead walks at night in sneakers so...
The Pedestrian
The Pedestrian Theme
Ray Bradbury was often accused of being a Luddite: that is to say, someone with a knee-jerk hostility towards new technology. But this was always an unfair criticism, as Bradbury was never...
The Pedestrian
How would you describe the atmosphere established in the opening paragraphs of "The Pedestrian"?
The opening paragraphs of the story serve to establish the emotional atmosphere of the text as gloomy and foreboding. The word "silence" is used a couple of times, and the word "alone" is, as well....
The Pedestrian
What is the tone of Ray Bradbury's "The Pedestrian"?
In literature, tone is referred to as the writer's attitude towards a subject or audience, which is conveyed through word choice or the viewpoint of the author. The manner in which the writer...
The Pedestrian
What are some elements of a dystopian society present in "The Pedestrian"?
One characteristic of a dystopian society is that citizens are thought to be under constant surveillance by a governing force. On the night when Leonard Mead is captured, his solitary walk is...
The Pedestrian
In The Pedestrian, why does the police car take Leonard to the Psychiatric Center for Research on Regressive Tendencies?
In the story, Leonard Mead is out walking. He encounters no one on his walk, but this is not unusual for his city. This is because all the inhabitants of his city appear to be glued to their...
The Pedestrian
What potentially harmful trends might be observed in today's society in "The Pedestrian"?
There is a popular expression that "it takes a village" to raise a child. This seems to hearken back to the mid-twentieth century, when most women did not work outside the home and could help one...
The Pedestrian
How do you think that television could be used to suppress people's thoughts and ideas in the story "The Pedestrian"?
In Bradbury's celebrated short story "The Pedestrian," he depicts a futuristic dystopian city where the vast majority of citizens remain inside their homes watching television all night. In 2053...
The Pedestrian
What is an example of irony in Ray Bradbury's "The Pedestrian"?
Of course, the central irony of the story is that a simple activiity—walking—is considered abnormal in the dystopian society of Bradbury’s story. This “normal” habit of walking the deserted streets...
The Pedestrian
What was the conflict in "The Pedestrian" by Ray Bradbury?
Leonard Mead finds himself in conflict with a dystopian society where individuality is met with distrust and contempt. Written in the 1950s, "The Pedestrian" is a futuristic look at a society which...
The Pedestrian
How is the repetition of the word “empty” particularly ominous at the end of the story?
The word "empty" appears five times in the story, always in conjunction with streets or public spaces. It occurs three times in the last sentence of the story. Bradbury is known for being a...
The Pedestrian
What is the overall theme of "The Pedestrian" by Ray Bradbury?
In this story, based on a real incident in which Bradbury was stopped by a policeman because his taking a walk seemed suspicious, Bradbury imagines a future world where nobody takes walks. This is...
The Pedestrian
What is Mead's punishment in "The Pedestrian" by Ray Bradbury?
Mr. Mead is arrested and will be taken to the Psychiatric Center for Research on Regressive Tendencies. In the year 2053, Mr. Mead is an odd man. He lives alone, and he likes to take walks at...
The Pedestrian
What is Mr. Leonard Mead's attitude toward the shows on the television? Provide a quotation to support your answer.
Leonard Mead thinks that most of the programming on television is mindless trash. There are two quotes that show his negative attitude to what people inside their homes are watching. "Hello, in...
The Pedestrian
Regressive Tendencies Definition
Because Leonard Mead does not behave in a conventional manner by engaging in outmoded activities, he is taken to the Psychiatric Center for Research on Regressive Tendencies. When Leonard Mead...
The Pedestrian
How is Mr. Mead's house different from the other houses in the city in "The Pedestrian"?
In Ray Bradbury's "The Pedestrian," Mr. Mead's house differs from the other houses in the city because it is well illuminated, there is no television set in it, and it is unoccupied. Leaving the...
The Pedestrian
What types of figurative language are used in "The Pedestrian"?
Ray Bradbury uses several types of figurative language, often to create strong visual images but also employing other senses. Metaphor is prominent among these, and he often uses extended...
The Pedestrian
How is our world of 2017 similar to the world of Leonard Mead in 2053?
Consider the world of Leonard Mead—people stay inside, they watch TV, they have very little social interaction, and everything is automated. But for Leonard, the world is different—he walks...
The Pedestrian
The voice from the police-car notes: "No profession" in response to the Mead's statement that he is a writer. What...
In this dystopian society, writers are considered useless, surplus to requirements. People don't read books anymore in this goggle-eyed, TV-obsessed culture, so writing is, at best, an irrelevance,...
The Pedestrian
Why does the voice from the police car respond, “No profession,” in the story "The Pedestrian"?
Ray Bradbury's short story is set in A.D. 2053, where the vast majority of citizens remain inside their homes during the evenings and watch television. The atmosphere of the city in the evening is...
The Pedestrian
How would you describe life in this city in the year 2053 in "The Pedestrian"? Quote a specific example of Bradbury’s...
“The Pedestrian” is a science fiction short story by Ray Bradbury. It was first published in 1951, and it is set in an unnamed city in 2053. In order to describe life in this city, you might want...
The Pedestrian
What is a metaphor in "The Pedestrian"?
One extended metaphor in "The Pedestrian" is the comparison of the city and its people to death. For example, while walking, Leonard Mead sees "gray phantoms" in rooms in houses where the curtains...
The Pedestrian
Describe the atmosphere and the environment in "The Pedestrian."
In a literary work, atmosphere is the feeling that a particular location inspires. In the short story "The Pedestrian," the atmosphere that is generated is one of estrangement and lifelessness. In...
The Pedestrian
What is significant about the following simile, and how does it add to the mood and/or theme of "The Pedestrian"?...
This passage is significant because it points directly to what an anachronism the pedestrian has become in his society. Also, this final act adds an even more despairing tone to the narrative,...
The Pedestrian
Identify some stylistic devices used in "The Pedestrian" by Ray Bradbury.
In the opening of his 1951 short story, Bradbury makes the unusual choices of using several infinitive verb phrases ("to enter . . . to put . . . to step") and second person point-of-view ("you,...
The Pedestrian
What is the meaning of the phrase "tomb-like" in the story "The Pedestrian"?
In "The Pedestrian," Bradbury uses the phrase "tomb-like" to describe the houses that the pedestrian walks by. In terms of its literal meaning, Bradbury is suggesting that the houses look like...
The Pedestrian
Why his house is lit up brightly, in contrast to the obedient people who spend their evening in darkness?
Leonard Mead is a unique intellectual, who enjoys the fresh air as he walks the lonely city streets by himself every night. On this misty November evening, Leonard walks past dimly lit homes, where...
The Pedestrian
The Pedestrian Setting
One important piece of the setting is the fact that the story takes place in the year 2053. That's still the future for current readers, but that date is fast approaching. Bradbury published the...
The Pedestrian
What makes Leonard Mead appear suspicious to the police?
In the terrible dystopian world in which Leonard Mead lives, there is almost a universal curfew in operation. People are confined to their homes at night and are not permitted to venture out after...
The Pedestrian
What do you think Bradbury's purpose was in writing "The Pedestrian?" How does the setting help him achieve his purpose?
Ray Bradbury must have felt personally threatened by the epidemic of television which was causing TV antennae to sprout like fungus on roofs all over America. Bradbury was a creative writer, and TV...
The Pedestrian
What kind of mood or atmosphere does the setting suggest in "The Pedestrian"?
“The Pedestrian” is set in an unnamed city on one dark night. The reader becomes familiar with the setting by following the protagonist, Leonard Mead, as he walks alone. From the beginning, the...
The Pedestrian
Describe the character Mr. Mead in "The Pedestrian."
Mr. Leonard Mead is a lone pedestrian, a man who walks the streets in the year 2053, a time when walking outside on the sidewalks is considered an unusual activity. As he walks along on a November...
The Pedestrian
Why do you think Mr. Meade talks to the houses in "The Pedestrian"?
Mr. Meade is a very lonely, isolated man. An intellectual and a writer in a society where just about everyone spends most of their leisure time glued to a TV set, it's fair to say that he probably...
The Pedestrian
Find the sentences and phrases that at first suggest that Leonard Mead is the only person living in this setting in...
From the first sentence, when the pedestrian Leonard Mead, enters out into "silence," he seems very much a lone figure. In the second sentence, we learn that "he was alone in this world of A.D....
The Pedestrian
In "The Pedestrian" by Ray Bradbury what are several details that describe the houses Leonard passes and the evening...
The homes that Leonard Mead walks past on a nightly basis are described as having "dark windows" and being "tomb-like." Leonard's nightly walk through the deserted, cold streets of the city is...
The Pedestrian
What's the author's message in "The Pedestrian"?
"The Pedestrian," which was the inspiration for Fahrenheit 451, is a cautionary short story warning its readers not to allow technology to run out of control. In the dystopic world depicted in the...
The Pedestrian
How do science fiction and the story "The Pedestrian" relate to each other?
Ray Bradbury's story "The Pedestrian," published in 1951 shortly after the invention of television, relates to science fiction because it is set in 2053 A.D.; there are more shows on TV than in...
The Pedestrian
In "The Pedestrian", what is the television's role in society?
Ray Bradbury published his story "The Pedestrian" in 1951. These were the early days of television, with little black-and-white screens and mostly poor-quality local programming. Some people feared...
The Pedestrian
In "The Pedestrian" who or what appears to be in charge of this future world?
What an interesting question! The answer is somewhat up to an individual reader's interpretation. Some readers might say that robots are in control because it is the robot police car that arrests...
The Pedestrian
Describe the police automaton's response when Mead says he is a writer in "The Pedestrian" by Ray Bradbury.
The response of the "police car"--the one and only police car since the election of 2052--was a simple and rather disparaging one. In this futuristic Bradbury short story, Mead is out walking at...
The Pedestrian
What did Mr. Leonard Mead in "The Pedestrian" most love to do?
Leonard Mead is a writer, and like many writers he loves to go for solitary walks. They are a way of unwinding after a day's intellectual work at a desk, and they are also a means of building up...
The Pedestrian
Bradbury uses the words “graveyard,” “grey phantoms,” “tomb-like building,” and “skeletal pattern” in his story "The...
The late science-fiction writer Ray Bradbury had a decidedly negative perception of the evolution of humanity as he projected it into the not-so-distant future. This perception was caused in no...
The Pedestrian
In the story, "The Pedestrian," why does Leonard want to avoid drawing attention to himself? Why are the streets...
"The Pedestrian" was set in 2051, about 100 years in the future when the story was published. The author was predicting a future in which the streets of the city were deserted at night because...
The Pedestrian
In "The Pedestrian" by 'Ray Bradbury, what commentary does the author make about television's role in society?
Within the narrative of "The Pedestrian," Ray Bradbury points to the progressive desensitization of people. For, they no longer interact with others in normal human relationships; instead, they sit...
The Pedestrian
What story elements most clearly suggest Mead is living in a dystopian society in "The Pedestrian"?
When answering this question, it's useful to first define dystopia. What does dystopic literature tend to entail? (With that in mind, it also would be useful to consider the subject of utopia as...
The Pedestrian
How does Ray Bradbury use sensory details to show isolation in "The Pedestrian"?
All the sensory aspects of the story, in their cumulative detail, give a sense of isolation, since one only notices the external world in this sort of detail when one is alone with it. First there...
The Pedestrian
At the end of the story, the main character is arrested. What are some of the reasons or grounds that he has been...
I suppose that to be entirely accurate, Leonard Mead is not being arrested and taken to jail. Mead is going to the "Psychiatric Center for Research on Regressive Tendencies." Mead is being taken...
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