The Pedestrian

Passage 1

(i) Who is 'he' referred to ? What was the routine of the person?

Answer: 'He' refers to Leonard Mead, the protagonist of the story. His routine was to take
solitary evening walks peering down the empty moonlit sidewalks and avenues, deciding
which way to go.

(ii) Which time and month of the year does the passage describe?

Answer: The passage describes the time as evening, around 8 pm in the month of
November.

(iii) Why does the author say 'it really made no difference'?

Answer: The author says it really made no difference which way Leonard chose to walk
because the streets were all deserted and empty at that hour.

(iv) What would fascinate the solitary walker ?

Answer: The sight of the empty, moonlit streets and avenues would fascinate the solitary
walker, Leonard Mead.

v) Who would accompany the walker in the open ? Why ?

Answer: No one would accompany the walker in the open. He was all alone as it was late
evening and everyone else was indoors.

Passage 2

(i) What are the gray phantoms ? Why are they so called here?

Answer: The gray phantoms are the indistinct shapes of people inside their homes visible
through partly open curtains or windows. They are called phantoms because they seem
ghostly and unreal.

(ii) Where would be see the grey phantoms?

Answer: Leonard Mead would see the grey phantoms on the inside walls of people's homes
where a curtain was still undrawn or a window left open.

(iii) Why are the houses tomblike? What kind of picture is this?

Answer. The houses are called tomblike because they are dark and lifeless with the
occupants being like ghosts inside. This creates a grim, depressing picture.
(iv) What was walking past the houses feel like ?

Answer: Walking past the dark, tomblike houses felt like walking through a graveyard for
Leonard Mead.

(v) What kind of life is hinted at here?

Answer: A lifeless, depressing existence cut off from nature and meaningful social
connections is hinted at here.

Passage 3

(i)

Answer: The passage indicates evening time. We know this from the reference to 'good
crystal frost in the air' and the light 'going on and off'.

(ii) What kind of experience does the speaker tell?Explain the image lungs blaze like a
Christmas tree inside.

Answer: The speaker describes the experience of breathing in the cold frosty air that stings
his nose and makes his lungs feel like they are ablaze and glowing inside his body, like a lit
up Christmas tree.

(iii) How did the speaker react to the scenery outside?

Answer: The speaker, Leonard Mead, reacted with enjoyment and appreciation to the
scenery outside on his walk.

(iv) What do you learn about the speaker from this extract?

Answer: From this extract we learn that the speaker is observant and receptive to the
sights, sounds and sensations of nature during his walk outside in the evening.

(v) Explain the image 'all the branches filled with invisible snow.

Answer: This image refers to the speaker's lungs that feel like a Christmas tree filled with
cold, frosty air. The branches are the air passageways filled with the icy air that is like
invisible snow.

Passage 4

(i) What kind of picture does the speaker present here?

Answer: The speaker presents a picture of a silent, empty, and deserted street on which his
shadow moves like a hawk's shadow.
(ii) Who does the speaker compare himself with? How and to what purpose?

(iii) What kind of person is the speaker?

Answer: From the passage, we can infer that the speaker is a loner who values solitude and
imagination He does not feel lonely but rather seems to enjoy being alone with his
thoughts.

(iv) Where is the speaker wandering? Why does he mention Arizona?

Answer: The speaker is wandering the empty streets of the city he lives in. He imagines and
mentions Arizona to emphasize the desert-like desolation of the streets at night.

v) Who encounters him later in the context, and why?

Answer: Later in the story, the robotic police car encounters Leonard Mead to interrogate
him for his habit of solitary night time strolls which are considered non-conformist.

Passage 5

(i)Who is the speaker in this context? Who are the listeners?

Answer: The speaker in this context is Leonard Mead.The listeners are the houses he is
walking past, whose occupants are all inside glued to their television sets.

(ii) Are the murders so frequent ? Why does the speaker ask about the murders?

Answer: No, the murders are not actually so frequent. The speaker rhetorically asks about
the murders to comment sarcastically on the docile population's preference for such
violent televised entertainment.

(iii) What is a revue ? Where would the revue take place

(iv) What makes the speaker ask these questions? Is he satisfied with their answers?

Answer: The speaker asks these rhetorical questions in a sardonic way to critique the
passive, television- addicted populace he observes. Since no one actually replies, he is
dissatisfied by the lack of human vitality.

(v) What kind of life is lived by people in the city?

Answer: According to the speaker, the people in the city live monotonous, conformist lives
lacking spontaneity and contact with nature. Their only entertainment is television.

Passage 6
(i) Where was the speaker when he was asked to stop ?

Answer: The speaker was within a block of his home, returning from his nightly walk when a
car suddenly turned the corner and flashed a bright light on him.

(ii) Why do you think was the speaker stopped and by whom?

Answer: I think the speaker was stopped by the police, as his solitary night time stroll was
considered suspicious and abnormal behaviour.

(iii) What led to his being stunned?

Answer: The sudden bright cone of light flashed on him from the police car stunned
Leonard Mead.

(iv) What was his reaction when he was asked to stop ?

Answer: When he was asked to stop, Leonard Mead stood entranced and frozen, unable to
move, like a moth stunned by a bright light.

(v) Who do you think was in the car ? What kind of light fell on the speaker? What does the
car symbolize?

Answer: I think it was a police car with some kind of powerful spotlight that was trained on
Leonard Mead.The car symbolizes, the oppressive and control.

Passage 7

(i) Which event that took place in 2052 does the story refer do?

Answer: The story refers to the election year of 2052 when the police force was reduced
from three cars to one.

(ii) Why had the police force been reduced ?

Answer: The police force was reduced because crime rates were decreasing, so there was
less need for active policing.

(iii) What does the passage hint at about activities of the people at night?

Answer: The passage hints that people were largely inactive and homebound at night,
passively watching television.

(iv) Earlier the speaker says that seeing a car wandering at night is an incredible thing.
How?
Answer: It was incredible because the streets were generally totally empty and deserted at
night, so a moving car was an anomaly.

(v) Which first question is the speaker asked by the car ? What kind of car is it?

Answer: The first question asked is about the speaker's name. It is a robotic police car
without any human occupants.

Passage 8

(i) What did the back seat look like?

Answer: The back seat looked like a little black jail cell with bars, small and cramped.

(ii) The speaker says that the back seat smelt of harsh antiseptic. What does he want to
convey?

Answer: By describing the harsh antiseptic smell, the speaker wants to convey the
inhuman, sterile feel of the police car's interior.

(iii) Explain: 'There was nothing soft there'.

Answer: This means the interior was rigid, metallic and inhospitable with no comforts or
concessions made for a human passenger.

(iv) Who was driving the car? Where was the speaker being taken?

(iv) Who was driving the car? Where was the speaker being taken?

Answer: The car was driverless, being remotely operated. The speaker was being taken to a
psychiatric research centre.

(v) Why do you think was the speaker taken in the car ? What crime had he committed?

Answer: I think he was taken because the police deemed his solitary night time walks as
eccentric and criminal non-conformist behaviour that needed to be corrected. He had not
committed any tangible crime.