‘The Pedestrian’ was written by Ray Bradbury and was published in 1951. ‘The Murderer’ was also written by Bradbury in 1953. The 1950’s was a decade of the Korean war between North Korea and the Republic of South Korea. This then led to the Cold War, which created a politically conservative climate. It latest all decade, conformity and conservatism was the social issues at the time in the United States.
Both texts are science fiction and show a deep concern with the effects of a technological revolution on human society.
By looking at the character, setting, themes, feature of language, a third story for brief comparison and any other details that could be considered relevant, ...view middle of the document...
Brock is an outsider in the society in which he lives. He could see the effect that technology has had on peoples lives, while others where blind to this. What people see as calm and relaxing Brock saw it as irritating. Brock could see how technology has taking over humanity. For example, “The front door shrilled, Dirty feet, muddy feet! Please be neat!” Technology is commanding humans to do what it says, humans has lost its way of self thinking.
The themes within ‘The Pedestrian’ covers humanity, how technology has an effect on our lives and death. Also, the themes alienation and being an outsider is covered. Bradbury brings out his idea of humanity through his character Mead. He seems to be the one not being taken over by the technology, which in this case is televisions. He’s rebelling against it or most of it, he considers some useful though. He walks alone at night observing people acting as if they are being brain washed. Mead is the only person that can see the effect and is an outsider because people around him are blind to the happenings going on.
Similes are part of the language used by Bradbury. He describes a house with a window as ‘a tomb-like building’, the frosty air like ‘the smoke of a cigar’. The air is so cold the when Mead breathes its like the smoke fro a cigar. Bradbury describes the air again saying ‘it cut the nose and made the lungs blaze like a Christmas tree inside’.
He also uses imagery words to suggest cold, death or decay, which indicates the becoming of death. People are described as ‘grey phantoms’, walking what seemed to be like walking through a graveyard and describing the scent coming from a leaf as smelling its “rusty smell”. Usually when something smells rusty its metallic. The atmosphere was described as “a good...
