The Danger of Progress: Bradbury's Pedestrian - Essay Sample

Introduction

In the Pedestrian Bradbury clearly shows the theme of technology and progress. An action that is viewed as normal today will be unacceptable in society in the future. The government will have regulated the police force due to the decrease in the insecurity, and the technology that the police will be using will be advanced. In the future that Bradbury talks about the government will be in control of people's movement. Although Mead's behavior is not hurting anyone in society, it is viewed as abnormal, outdated, and those in power believe that walking at night upsets the stability of society.

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The government has control over the people, so they are not expected to be walking at night even if they regard it as a hobby (Bradbury 1951). Any person found walking at night is arrested by the police who are tasked with the responsibility of ensuring that there is law and order in society. Any person who is found behaving abnormally is arrested even if his/her actions are not hurting any person. This is the reason why Mead is arrested when he is found walking at night. The government has the power of deciding what is right or wrong for society. The advancements are made regardless of whether they have positive or negative consequences to the lives of the people.

Technology is another theme that is evident in the Bradbury pedestrian story. The police car that carries Mr. Mead is automated (Bradbury 1951). When he enters the car after being questioned by the metallic voice, he realizes that there is no driver. The car is programmed in the manner that it stops Mr. Mead even though he has not committed any crime. After it stops, he is expected to enter, and he will be directed on where he is being taken. The car is automated as it informs him that he is being taken to the psychiatric center due to his unusual behavior. The metallic voice is automated such that it can command people. There is, however, the danger of using such technology because it cannot understand human beings. Mead, for example, tries to explain to the metallic voice what he is doing, but it responds by threatening to shoot him if he fails to enter the car.

Additionally, technology is advanced in 2053, and the television has dominated the World (Bradbury 1951). Majority of the people are always on their televisions, and some screens are used by the government to attract the attention of the public. Through these screens, the government can control the people. The government wants to control the people, and it is much easier to do so when they are glued to the television sets as compared to when they are walking outside. This is the reason why Mr. Mead is seen as a threat by the authorities hence the reason for his arrest.

By distracting the attention of the people through television screens, people are not able to realize that the country is not in a good state. Mr. Mead, however, knows that the streets are damage and the sidewalks are unrepaired (Bradbury 1951). The government does not want the people to know the state that they live in hence the reason why they exercise control over them. That is the reason why the government controls the movement of the people, especially those who are walking. The future society described by Ray will be dystopian. Anyone who behaves in a manner different from others will be seen as having psychological problems. The government will have control over the people through the television that it will use to brainwash them.

As much as the progress in technology is important, it should be applied with caution. The robotic police car, for example, does not have a conscience, which creates a misunderstanding with humans. The car is programmed and responds in a particular manner without evaluating information received from Mr. Mead. The robot does not understand what Mead means when h says he is a writer. It also does not understand what he means by saying he is just walking. It is programmed to command any person behaving a weird behavior to enter the car, or him/he be shot. These are negative effects of progressing technologically.

The Harrison Bergeron article is fiction speculation of how the world will look like by the year 2081. The author believes that the world will be transformed by technology and therefore all the people will have an equal opportunity and chance to get all they want due to the equal opportunities. The constitution of the United States will be amended to ensure that all the people are equal. The people are pretending to have better opportunities and capabilities than others. The technology and the government will control all the activities that the people engage in to ensure that all the people have equal opportunities.

The imaginary science fiction regarding the future shows how everybody will use technology to engage in all the activities that they will participate in. The technology will make it difficult for the people who will not be in the systems to operate because the systems will be integrated into all the activities that concern human beings (Vonnegut, 1962). The vision of the future is to use technology to make the lives of people more comfortable. Technology will play an essential role in ensuring that there is equality in the world where all the people get equal opportunities regardless. People will need to have devices in their ears to act as a unique identifier by machines such as computers. The system will be created in such a way that people without the gadgets on their ears will not be able to conduct any transaction without the ear radio.

The technology will even bring paranormal abilities that the humans did not have before hence improving the quality of life of the people. The people will become more intellect; therefore, they will be able to solve the challenges that they go through as humans (Vonnegut, 1962). It is intelligent the humans do not have at the moment, and therefore the radio to be installed in the ears of the people will contribute to adding new capabilities to the people. People will no longer ace the challenges like they face today because even their physical strength will be increased.

The technology will improve intelligence, helping to solve various challenges that the state faces while solving disputes. Technology is increasingly being used to solve disputes because the judges have an opportunity to see what happened; hence, they can proceed to make the right decision. The role of technology is to give out information about what occurred in the determination of the right decisions. By 2081 technology will be a need used in all the activities; hence, the people cannot operate without it.

The Harrison Bergeron story also speaks of the steps that will be taken by the government in the future to strengthen its operations on service delivery to the people (Vonnegut, 1962). The government will interfere with the normal activities of the people. Harrison emphasizes on the need of the government to make people comply with the changes that will have occurred by 2081. Vonnegut suggests that people will resist change; therefore, they need to be made to accept the change.

The government has a lot of information that it has and cannot release to the people to be able to control them easily. The government uses the data to make radical changes that improve the lives of the people for the better (Vonnegut, 1962). Harrison examines the challenges that the government faces and how it plans to solve all its challenges by 2081. Television has become a key tool for sharing information among people. The government uses the television to let the people understand why they need the changes that the government wishes to make. Once the people understand the projects of the government, the resistance reduces.

The government master plan is to control all the activities of the people. The control will make the world perfect because it will offer the solutions to the challenges that the government is going through. The government needs support from the people to succeed in its activities. The constitution will need to be amended to allow the stake to take control of all the activities of its people.

References

Bradbury, R., (1951). The Pedestrian. Retrieved from http://www.riversidelocalschools.com/Downloads/pedestrian%20short%20story.pdf

Vonnegut, K. (1962). Harrison Bergeron. Mercury Press. Retrieved from https://books.google.com/books/about/Harrison_Bergeron.html?id=K-gePAAACAAJ