Bradbury is a master of creating terrifying dystopian
worlds of the future where his characters often struggle to maintain some kind of
semblance of humanity. In "The Pedestrian," we see Leanoard Mead in conflict with the
society that he is part of. The most insightful description of this future society and
the way that it has changed so dramatically comes at the beginning of Leonard Mead's
interrogation, when he says he is a writer:
He handn't written for years. Magazines and
books didn't sell anymore. Everything went on in the tomblike houses at night now, he
thought, continuing his fancy. The tombs, ill-lit by television light, where the people
sat like the dead, the grey or multicoloured lights touching their faces, but never
really touching them.
Note
the way that society has regressed: the houses are "tombs" and are "ill-lit" with people
sitting "like the dead" and not being impacted at all by the sights they see. Clearly,
we can see from the story, that nobody leaves their homes at night to get fresh air, and
if they do, as Mr. Mead finds out, they are accused of having "Regressive Tendencies."
Mr. Mead stands in opposition to the values and culture of his society because of his
background as a writer and above all, his refusal to follow the flow of the rest of
humanity. This of course results in the story's rather terrifying
ending.
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