Introduction
Many writers and poets have drawn human attention to the problem of technological development and the creation of a technology-dominant world where people will lose their souls and relationships with each other. One such writer is Ray Bradbury, born in 1920 and famous for many post-modernist literature masterpieces (Ray Bradbury 1). Among his most popular works are Fahrenheit 451 and The Martian Chronicles (Ray Bradbury 1).
This essay will communicate the ideas and peculiarities of his other story, The Pedestrian. In this book, the author highlights the devastating effect of technology consumption and the loss of humanity in people’s hearts. The story’s protagonist is Leonard Mead, who strives to find the last light of sincere human communication and relationships in the world conquered by robots and gadgets. The modern world is so close to the described by Ray Bradbury happenings in The Pedestrian that one can consider the text as a newspaper article rather than a book.
Analysis of The Story
Suppose technological development and various gadgets conquer humanity and people’s minds. In that case, the world will become lonely, cruel, and dark, with no time for sincerity and true feelings. This claim can be supported by various events that depict how dependent people nowadays are on technology. While walking on the streets in the city, one can observe how children and teenagers try to avoid each other while taking on their smartphones and spending hours browsing the internet or playing video games.
The lack of communication, which often results in depression and worsening of the person’s mental health, is one of the most relevant problems. Even though the story The Pedestrian was written in 1951, its author had significant concerns regarding the problem mentioned above even then. Notably, Ray Bradbury puts Leonard Mead, the story’s protagonist, in the center of a devastated world.
This person strives to find the last glimpses of humanity in a world entirely of robots and computers. He conducts pedestrian walks down the streets and observes the environment around him. While trying to do so, and due to the absence of people, he speaks to the buildings and different objects in the entire silence. As the supporting fragment of the stated claim at the beginning of the paragraph, it is essential to cite the description of the street where the story’s protagonist was walking by.
Bradbury states, “The street was silent and long and empty, with only his shadow moving like the shadow of a hawk in mid-country” (2). It should be stressed that Leonard’s behavior was assessed as ridiculous, unusual, and inadequate in the world established at this time. In addition, Bradbury masterfully depicts the irrevocability and hopelessness of the situation by describing the scene of robotic police arresting the pedestrian at the end of the story. In other words, all efforts of Leonard Mead to find someone sincere with whom he could speak freely were buried under the modernity and digitality of the modern world.
The cited fragment from The Pedestrian relates to the stated claim due to the accurate and thorough description of the street where the protagonist was. It is a metaphor for the entire world’s situation. The author accentuates Leonard Mead’s loneliness by describing his shadow, the only one in this place. Consequently, the environment depicted by Ray Bradbury is a prophecy regarding the world in which modern society is confidently on its way.
The Current Age of Technology
As the overall claim regarding the current age of technology, it is essential to stress that people have lost their ability to control rapid technological development. In other words, such developments as artificial intelligence can take control over people’s lives in many ways while destroying their thinking, philosophy, and logic and simplifying the living to the absurd level. The absurdity in Bradbury’s The Pedestrian can be observed in the scene of arresting Leonard Mead by robots. In this situation, the issues regarding the conquered humanity by their creations are reflected thoroughly.
The Validity of Bradbury’s 1951 Concern
In 1951, Ray Bradbury could only imagine the devastating outcomes caused by technological progress in the future. However, his opinion was not without a concrete basis and was supported by particular factors. The mass production paradigm might influence Bradbury’s opinion regarding people’s future lives (Kennan 12). In addition, the rapid automobilization and a cult of cars were constructed at the beginning of the period when every person was obsessed with acquiring specific technologies, even if the practicality of this purchase was irrelevant (Kaplinsky 30). For example, Kaplinsky states, “between 1946 and 1955, the production of automobiles quadrupled” (32). Remarkably, this evidence underlines the validity of Bradbury’s concerns as depicted in The Pedestrian.
Conclusion
In conclusion, it is essential to restate the paper’s primary claim regarding the loss of sincerity in a world of technologies. Ray Bradbury’s story masterfully depicts the most crucial aspects of the devastated society and how robots have conquered people’s minds. One should highlight that even though the modern person can apply The Pedestrian’s narration to the current situation worldwide, Bradbury’s concerns were aroused more than 70 years ago due to particular evidence of the beginning of technological development over human love, friendship, and care of each other.
Works Cited
Bradbury Ray. The Pedestrian. The Fortnightly Publishing Company, 1951.
Kaplinsky Raphael. Sustainable futures: An agenda for action. Polity Press, 2021.
Kennan George. Memoirs 1950-1963. Plunkett Lake Press, 2020.
Ray Bradbury. (2021). Biography. Web.