The Pedestrian Summary & Analysis

The story opens with an image of Mead embarking on one of his nightly walks, completely alone on the city streets but embracing the freedom and choice to determine his own path. Mead is described as empowered and decisive, alone but not lonely or alienated. By contrast, the homes he passes and the people in them are described with language of death. Unlike the individualistic Mead, who is outdoors, active, and free, the people in their homes are described as all the same: lifeless, passive, trapped in their grave-like homes, and as good as dead.

Mead knows that in walking alone, he is failing to conform to the social expectation that people will remain indoors at night, lulling themselves with television viewing. The notion that people and even dogs would be “startled” to see something as unusual as a man walking alone shows how conformist this society is, and the fact that wearing sneakers is “wise” points to the danger Mead might be in were he discovered walking. He deliberately chooses defiance and nonconformity in order to preserve his chance to cultivate individuality on his walks.

As he walks, Mead experiences and enjoys the natural world around him. The vivid imagery Bradbury uses to describe the natural world demonstrates its beauty and power over Mead. Nature even gives Mead a sense of spiritual fulfillment, as seen in the allusion to Christmas. It’s significant that all the nature here is dormant—it’s wintertime, the sea is “hidden,” and the leaf is “skeletal.” Like the ghost-like people inside their houses, nature is not at its full potential—but it’s still beautiful and full of the promise of coming back to life.

Mead’s nonconformity is shown by his speech to the other residents. He is talking to himself rather than to them, showing perhaps that he longs for real communication but doesn’t find it possible. Moreover, he knows that they are watching mindless light entertainment, but he has chosen a different path for himself: that of imagination, solitude, and connection to nature. 

Mead’s disconnection from the other citizens is reinforced when he thinks he hears them inside, but cannot be sure. It is revealed that Mead has taken solitary walks like this one for ten years, so they represent a recurring pattern of nonconformity and defiance of social norms. Mead’s reflections give background on the city environment, showing that it is overrun with cars during the day. The car culture that was taking over cities in the 1950s when the story was written has, by 2053 when the story is set, resulted in pervasive dehumanization, with people likened to insects. At night, devoid of cars, the city is dormant and lifeless.

The turning point of the story occurs when Mead meets a car that pins him with bright light. The suddenness of this encounter and the car’s “fierce” beam of light convey fear and foreboding. The car spells danger for Mead. The simile comparing Mead to a moth shows that, like the other citizens, Mead is in danger of losing his humanity at the hands of state authority.

The voice from the car is authoritative and inhuman, and it immediately identifies Mead as a potential criminal in its ordering him to freeze and raise his hands. The low crime rate shows the extent to which the general population has become conformist and docile, subject to strict state control.

The police car continues to be portrayed as harsh, inhuman, and menacing as it methodically interrogates Mead. Mead submits without question to its authority. His characterization as a nonconforming individualist is further developed when he reveals that he still considers himself a writer. He has been unwilling to give up his vocation and identity in order to follow economic trends.

Mead’s purposeless walks here associate him with the values of Romanticism. The Romantics were critical of capitalism and rationality, instead seeking out intense imaginative experiences and making the pursuit of this the main point of life. The car represents cold scientific rationality in seeking to find out why and where Mead walks, but as shown by his vague responses, he is walking just for sake of walking. The experience itself and what it conjures in his mind are the payoffs of “just walking.” 

The car continues its rational interrogation of Mead, seeking demographic information about him. Mead’s failure to conform to social norms is established by his answers. He does not fit in a society where people are held to strict expectations of proper behavior. Imagery of violence and an accusatory tone from the car (even in its silences) establish that Mead is giving the wrong answers. His nonconformity crosses the line into deviancy from the standards of society. 

The climax of the story occurs when Mead is ordered to get in the car, apprehended by state power. Significantly, what triggers this moment is the revelation that Mead has walked alone for a long period of time. His solitary, purposeless walk is not a one-time occurrence, but part of a longstanding pattern of deviant behavior that, when combined with the more general deviancy established by the car’s questioning, justifies Mead being taken into custody. The imagery here of jail suggests that Mead is now considered not just a deviant but an actual criminal.

The story finally makes clear what has been hinted at in the descriptions of the car and its voice: it is actually inhuman, robotic, and operated remotely. As such, it shows the extent to which dehumanization has permeated this future world. As people have lost their humanity—insect-like by day, ghost-like by night—machines have become sentient, with the ability and power to make decisions with severe consequences. Mead’s identification as “regressive” is ironic, since technological and social “progress” have in fact caused the other citizens to regress. It has taken years, but the state has finally discovered Mead’s efforts to preserve  his individuality, and now he must pay the price. It is significant that Mead will not be merely punished, but studied. Presumably, the authorities will study him to further refine methods of social control and thereby avoid future deviancy.

Mead gets in the car willingly, knowing that he is powerless in the face of the state authority wielded by the car. He helplessly identifies his house to the uncaring robotic car as they drive past. His home, vibrant and bright, contrasts with the “tomb-like” houses of the other citizens. It represents an oasis of life, joy, and creativity in the otherwise lifeless urban landscape. Unlike the story’s opening, which saw Mead striding out confident and free into the streets, the story ends on a bleak and hopeless note with imagery of silence, coldness, and emptiness.