Previous
Characters
Mead, the only named character in the story, is an adult male living in an unnamed city in the middle of the 21st century. He is unique among city dwellers; he lives alone, doesn’t own a television, and his profession as a writer is outdated, since no one reads anymore. Moreover, his favorite activity is to walk the streets alone at night. For ten years on these nightly walks, Mead has passed the homes of the other citizens and never met another person. Despite being a loner, Mead seems contented in his isolation, and he enjoys his solitude. He appreciates nature, taking in the sights, sounds, and smells on his walks. His enjoyment of nature and his imaginative reveries show that Mead has cultivated a Romantic sensibility, allowing him to maintain his individuality in the face of pervasive social conformity. Mead’s contented solitude is interrupted, however, when he encounters the city’s only police car, which interrogates him and reveals his lack of conformity to social norms. At the story’s conclusion, the car takes Mead away to a psychiatric institution to be studied for his “regressive tendencies.” Since Mead is the viewpoint character of the story’s narration, the reader gains access to his thoughts and feelings, increasing sympathy for him and highlighting through his perspective the deadness and repression of the city he lives in. As an unrepentant individualist, Mead strongly contrasts with the ghost-like other citizens and the mechanical, robotic police car, and his characterization demonstrates the rewards as well as risks of social nonconformity.
Leonard Mead Quotes in The Pedestrian
The The Pedestrian quotes below are all either spoken by Leonard Mead or refer to Leonard Mead. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
The Pedestrian Quotes
To enter out into that silence that was the city at eight o'clock of a misty evening in November, to put your feet upon that buckling concrete walk, to step over grassy seams and make your way, hands in pockets, through the silences, that was what Mr. Leonard Mead most dearly loved to do.
Related Characters:
Related Symbols:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
This is the opening sentence of the story, and it introduces several elements that will later prove important. The city’s nighttime silence is emphasized by repeating that description twice, and the evening is “misty,” giving it a somber, melancholy aura. The concrete is “buckling” as plants creep through “grassy seams,” suggesting that the city streets are not regularly maintained and that the natural world is slowly reclaiming the cityscape. The dormant power of nature lurking below the urban landscape is further represented by the story’s winter setting, the world barren but awaiting rebirth in spring. The main character Mead is Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem ac
[O]n his way he would see the cottages and homes with their dark windows, and it was not unequal to walking through a graveyard where only the faintest glimmers of firefly light appeared in flickers behind the windows. Sudden gray phantoms seemed to manifest upon inner room walls… or there were whisperings and murmurs where a window in a tomb-like building was still open.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Related Literary Devices:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
As Mead walks through the city streets, he passes the homes of the other citizens. In this passage, the story uses imagery to characterize these citizens as ghostly and dehumanized. Their homes are devoid of color, with their “dark windows” concealing and occasionally revealing “gray phantoms.” Mead hears them whisper and murmur, giving an ominous, creepy mood to them and their homes. In fact, their homes are described as places of death: “tomb-like” and arranged together like a “graveyard.” Though literally alive, the other citizens are living a ghostly, undead existence through their entombment in separate homes where they fixate Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Pos
If he closed his eyes and stood very still, frozen, he could imagine himself upon the center of a plain, a wintry, windless Arizona desert with no house in a thousand miles, and only dry river beds, the streets, for company.
Related Characters:
Related Symbols:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
During his walk through the silent, bleak city streets past the grave-like homes, Mead pauses in the middle of the street and retreats into his imagination. This passage heightens Mead’s characterization as a latter-day Romantic who seeks solitude in order to cultivate a rich imaginative world. Mead is marked as Romantic because he chooses to conjure an image of nature, and the specific landscape he pictures holds significance, as well. He chooses to place himself in a bleak, isolated landscape, “a thousand miles” from civilization. Mead’s alienation from his current city is revealed here. In his mind, he leaves behind Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam o
“What's up tonight on Channel 4, Channel 7, Channel 9? Where are the cowboys rushing, and do I see the United States Cavalry over the next hill to the rescue?...What is it now?” he asked the houses… “Eight-thirty P.M.? Time for a dozen assorted murders? A quiz? A revue? A comedian falling off the stage?”
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Before and after his imaginative reverie of picturing himself in a desert, Mead talks to himself, addressing the other citizens and asking about their television viewing. The programs they watch include westerns, crime stories, game and comedy shows: sensationalist drama or mindless, light comedy. This section explains why the citizens are ghostly: they are being numbed night after night by intellectually and artistically limited programming. Television in the 1950s was in its early days and much programming fit into the categories described by Bradbury, and he predicts that if currently programming trends continue, eventually viewers will be deadened by them. Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque p
“What are you doing out?”
“Walking,” said Leonard Mead. “Walking!”
“Just walking,” he said simply, but his face felt cold.
“Walking, just walking, walking?” “Yes, sir.”
“Walking where? For what?”
“Walking for air. Walking to see.”
“Your address!”
Related Characters:
Related Symbols:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Mead suddenly encounters a car, the only police car still patrolling the streets. The car immediately begins interrogating Mead since it is highly unusual for anyone to be out walking alone at night. The car’s tone is abrupt and decisive, with exclamation points conveying anger. It demands to know why Mead is out walking: what he is “doing out,” “where” and “for what” purpose he walks. Mead’s reply that he is “Just walking” does not satisfy the car. It incredulously repeats his words: “Walking, just walking, walking?” as if trying to understand Mead’s nonconforming activity. Mead’s vague reply that he Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa.
“Where are you taking me?”
The car hesitated, or rather gave a faint whirring click, as if information, somewhere, was dropping card by punch-slotted card under electric eyes. “To the Psychiatric Center for Research on Regressive Tendencies.”
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Related Literary Devices:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
The climax of the story occurs when the car concludes its questioning and exerts its power by abruptly telling Mead to “get in” the back seat, taking him into custody. Mead protests and hesitates, demanding to know where he will be taken, and the car replies after a short hesitation that it will take him to an asylum to be studied for his “Regressive Tendencies.” In this passage, we learn that not only is the car operated remotely since no one is driving it, but also that it is actually operated by a distant computer. Computing technology in Bradbury’s time Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium
Get the entire The Pedestrian LitChart as a printable PDF.
"My students can't get enough of your charts and their results have gone through the roof." -Graham S.
Leonard Mead Character Timeline in The Pedestrian
The timeline below shows where the character Leonard Mead appears in The Pedestrian. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
The Pedestrian
What Leonard Mead loves most in the world is taking solitary evening walks through the city. At intersections,...
(full context)
When he walks, Leonard Mead’s footsteps make no sound because, a long time ago, he “wisely” began wearing sneakers. Were...
(full context)
On this night, Mead walks to the west toward a “hidden sea” through frosty air that “cut the nose”...
(full context)
Mead addresses the other citizens inside their homes, whispering to himself: “What’s up tonight on Channel...
(full context)
Mead wonders if he hears laughter from one of the houses, but hearing nothing more, he...
(full context)
As he turns toward his home, Mead suddenly encounters a lone car that flashes a “fierce white cone of light” on him,...
(full context)
The voice from the car begins to address Mead in a “metallic whisper.” It inquires about his name and profession. Mead replies that he...
(full context)
The car asks Mead what he is doing outside, and Mead replies that he is “Just walking.” The car...
(full context)
Next, the car interrogates Mead about his home life, asking about his address, ownership of an air conditioner and television,...
(full context)
Upon Mead telling the car that he has walked alone each night for many years, the car’s...
(full context)
Mead asks where he being taken, and after a hesitation and “faint whirring click” that sounds...
(full context)
Mead gets in the car, and it drives past the dark houses until passing Mead’s house,...
(full context)
