The Pedestrian

Treasure Chest

Story - 14

The Pedestrian

MCQs

1.(b) 2. (a) 3. (c) 4. (c) 5. (d) 6. (c) 7. (b) 8. (b) 9. (c) 10. (b) 11. (d) 12. (c) 13. (a) 14. (a) 15. (d)

Contextual Questions:

Extract 1

Ans 1: There was complete silence on the city streets because all the citizens were inside their homes, watching different types of programs on television. He was Leonard Mead, an adult male the only named character in the story. That was his routine, as he has been walking the city streets every night alone for the last ten years.

Ans 2: Leonard Mead was a resident of an unnamed city and a writer by profession. Mead loved walking the city streets at night and taking in the sights, sounds and smells of the natural world. He had been taking this lonely walk at night for the last ten years.

Ans 3: Because he used to walk along the road which did not have any traffic and he was all alone there. It suggests that Mead had become so used to living all lone and taking the lonely walk at night for the last ten years, it did not bother him whether there was a man or not.

Ans 4:  He is described as ‘alone in this world of A.D. 2053 because all the household used to remain indoors, glued to their television sets.

Ans 5: These phrases indicate that Mead had made his own decision and selected the path quite in contrast to the other citizens who do not come outside their houses and remain glued to the television sets. It shows that Mead was at ease with himself, alone and walking in the direction he felt like going.

These phrases indicate that Mead was a non-conformist, decisive and individualistic.

Extract 2

Ans 1: Mead did not produce any sound while walking by wearing sneakers because he knew that he was defying the norms of the society by being on the road when everybody else was indoors and so wanted to protect himself from being discovered.

Ans 2: Mead started wearing sneakers instead of hard heels to prevent himself from being chased by dogs. Also,  he didn't want to get discovered by the authorities and punished for being a non-conformist.

Ans 3: It suggests that Mead was a non-conformist, decisive and individualistic who did not want to follow the rules which everybody else was following in society.

Ans 4: Mead is described as a ‘lone figure’ because he was the only person on the road at night when everybody else was in their homes and watching television. An entire street, i.e., all the households would get started by his walk at night. It was because the dogs would bark at him and people would find a lonely man walking on the streets at night.

Ans 5: The characteristic traits of Leonard Mead as reflected in this extract are that he is non-conformist, decisive, free, individualistic.

Extract 3

Ans 1: Mead heard a murmur of laughter and got curious to know if it was coming from within a house. This was because he considered them as ‘grey phantoms’, lacking emotions and being consumed by technology. It shows that he was cut off from the society and was not at all welcome in the society where he used to live.

Ans 2: He stumbled over an uneven section of ‘Cement was vanishing’ because of the growth of plants and weeds that were growing up through the concrete. It suggests that the sidewalks were no longer maintained because there were no walkers and the nature was trying to reclaim the city.

Ans 3: He does not encounter another person on the road because of the impact of modern technology, especially television. The other citizens remained indoors watching television. It suggests that the other citizens were isolated and dehumanised due to the impact of technology.

Ans 4: The dormant potential of nature is revealed in this extract where Mead stumbled over an uneven section of the sidewalk. Here, the concrete had vanished and plants and weeds had emerged from underground. This suggests that nature, which was dormant in winter, would be renewed and also the dehumanised citizens would be free again.

Ans 5: Non-conformity is revealed through the acts of the protagonist of the story, Leonard Mead.

• He enjoyed his solitary walks at night unlike the other citizens.
• Mead was a writer by profession, a useless profession in the age of technology controlled life.
• Mead did not own a television. On the other hand, the other people sat watching television in their homes.

Extract 4

Ans 1: Mead was outside on the road for his usual night walk. The ‘lone car’ was a robotic police car that represented the unrelenting, commanding state power used to enforce social conformity.

Ans 2:

(a) Alliteration: 'He was within a block of his destination when the lone car turned a corner quite suddenly and flashed a fierce white cone of light upon.' (w and f sound).
(b) Personification: 'flashed a fierce white cone of light upon him.'

Ans 3: He was filled with wonder on seeing a lone car at night because a police car was a rare sight.

Ans 4: Mead was as helpless as a moth. Like a moth he was attracted to the light and could not move away from it.

Ans 5: The feeling of fear and foreboding is conveyed through the following:

(a) It was a lone car that suddenly flashed a fierce white cone of light upon Mead.
(b) Mead was quite startled and filled with wonder and fear and felt as miserable as a night moth.

Extract 5

Ans 1:  It was authoritative, harsh and inhuman as it ordered Mead to freeze and raise his hands as if he were a criminal. Mead could not see the men in the car because it was a robotic police car driven by technology.

Ans 2: There was only one car because the crime rate had reduced to such an extent that there was little need for the police car to enforce law and order. It shows that the people had become absolute conformists and obedient to the government.

Ans 3: Mead was a writer by profession. It was described as a ‘no profession’ because it was considered as an outdated profession in the age of technology driven life. People no longer used to read books and magazines.

Ans 4: The simile in this extract is: “The light held him fixed, like a museum specimen, needle thrust through chest.” Mead is viewed as something extraordinary by the society that is to be stared at and examined as a museum specimen because he was quite different from other citizens. The ‘needle thrust through chest’ suggests that Mead is physically restrained by the police car.

Ans 5: Mead had not written anything for years because there was no work for him as magazines and books did not sell because people had stopped reading them. Mead described his profession as that of being a writer. It shows that although he had not written anything for a year but still considered himself as a writer. It shows he was unwilling to give up his life's purpose and identity in order to become a conformist.