The Pedestrian: A Fantasy in One Act

Ray Bradbury’s work often deals with the dangers of technology and government control. Nuclear war, government repression, and censorship appear repeatedly, as do references to propaganda. These references come from the 1950s Cold-War context in which Bradbury wrote. While he often alludes to the tyranny of dictatorial regimes and The Horrors of Repressive Government, he also highlights the dangers of a culture centered on entertainment and convenience, which emphasizes the problematic nature behind The Pressure to Conform to Social Norms.

Bradbury was born at a time when radio and movie theaters were among the most popular forms of entertainment. Televisions didn’t become common features in homes until several decades after his birth. As a result, televisions and “viewing screens” appear in several of his stories as a potentially problematic form of technology. Like many of Bradbury’s stories, “The Pedestrian” describes television as a type of entertainment that stops people from thinking and keeps them complacent, showing The Dangers of Technological Advancement.

This story was first published in 1951, just a few years after the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II and during a tense period of the Cold War when the threat of nuclear war seemed very real. While the repressive Nazi regime had been defeated, repression and social control were rife in the Communist USSR, and paranoia about communist sympathizers also gave rise to often unjust persecutions in the United States. In the US, the House Un-American Activities Committee questioned Hollywood workers about alleged or suspected communist sympathies, and many were blocklisted. Many people who were blocklisted lost their careers, were imprisoned, or were forced to choose between jail and testifying against friends and co-workers. These ideas of censorship, repressive governments, and complacency in society often serve as the foundation of Bradbury’s world-building.