Comparing The Pedestrian And The Whole Town's Sleeping

In the short stories “The Pedestrian” and “The Whole Towns Sleeping” by Ray Bradbury the idea of conformity is shown with the usage of characterisation in the short story “The Whole Town’s sleeping” with the characterisation of Lavinia Nebss. Similarly in the short story “The Pedestrian” the usage of imagery is portrayed through the description of the deserted town and the enslavement of people due to the introduction of television to present the idea of conformity.
In the short story “The whole town’s sleeping” Bradbury’s usage of characterisation of Lavinia Nebbs to evaluate the idea of conformity and how she is seen to be childlike due to her actions. Throughout the short story the characterisation of Lavinia Nebbs is treated like a child by the male characters. “You want an escort, ladies” asked by a policeman as well as Tom Dillon jumping out from a tree shouting “got you” and the druggist rustling “a few more mints” in Lavinia Nebbs’ bag shows how the men treat Lavinia Nebbs like a child due to her being an “old maid” and unmarried. Bradbury reinforces the family values within the short story with conjunction to the characterisation of Lavinia Nebbs being treated like a child due to her
not a male figure in her life which does not suit the conformity and the expectations of the rest of the population.
Similarly to the “whole town’s sleeping” Bradbury has used imagery in the short story “the pedestrian” with the description of the deserted town to present the idea of conformity. The isolation of the character Leonard Mead tells a story with the usage of imagery to show how television has enslaved the population. Television commonly watched in the dark Mead views the shadows on the walls as “phantoms” and himself “picking up a leaf” places a picture in the reader’s mind that Mead is in love with nature. Mead is seen as having little sense of conformity due to not being like the rest of the population in his deserted town. Mead not fitting in to conformity and enjoying nature and not being isolated behind a television screen is seen to be psychiatric. It is reinforced throughout the text that the freedom of living has been taken away from the character due to no conformity
The idea of conformity has been evaluated in both short stories with the usage of both characterisation of the character Lavinia Nebbs and imagery of the enslavement of television.
In the short story “the whole town’s sleeping” the idea of conformity is best evaluated through the characterisation of Lavinia Nebbs. The demands “I’d better see you home” and “if you need help give a yell” shows to the reader that Lavinia Nebbs was characterised in a way in which she cannot take care of herself. Due to her not committing to the conformity for being and “old maid” and seen as different for not being married with the absence of a male figure places her in a higher level of caution and is viewed to be in a powerless position in comparison to the male characters in the short
story.
Both short stories by Ray Bradbury similarly evaluate the idea of conformity with the usage of characterisation of Lavinia Nebbs in the short story “whole towns sleeping” and the unsafe of imagery in the short story “The pedestrian”. Lavinia Nebbs characterised as powerless and prone to danger due to not having a male figure in her life. The imagery used in the short story “the pedestrian” shows the “Arizona desert” like town that Leonard Mead has been isolated within, a town which has been enslaved by television. Due to the conformity of Mead he is taken to a “psychiatric centre”. The idea of Conformity has best been presented in the short story “the whole towns sleeping with the characterisation of Lavinia Nebbs and her conformity to the rest of society due to her being unmarried, vulnerable and childlike