How does Bradbury create irony in his story about the pedestrian?

Irony is present in this story in a few ways. One small irony happens when the protagonist has an accident and gets severely hurt, but the car that ran him over only had a broken headlight. 

The car that wound up running into him also belonged to a man who wrote about accidents happening to other people.

Here is the answer for, how does bradbury create irony in his story the pedestrian?

Another irony found in this story is when the protagonist meets someone he knew from his past who was injured, but doesn’t recognize him because of how different he looks from when they were young teens. 

His name is Bobby Milquetoast and he’s been hit by a truck which cut off his legs below the knee. He had always wished to meet his old friend again, but he couldn’t remember him because he was too young.

Here are some points discussed about how does Bradbury create irony in his story the pedestrian-

1. Irony in the character.

The main character is a man named Thomas and he is somewhat of a pedestrian. Bradbury uses irony in this story to make it clear that everyone around the protagonist thinks he is odd. 

They may not think he is odd like they think, but if they take a closer look at him it’s clear that he’s odd. 

Bradbury also uses irony in his story to make it clear that if everyone around the protagonist were normal then Thomas wouldn’t have any reason to be nervous about meeting Bobby at home.

2. Irony in the plot.

The plot of the story is about an old man being run over by a car. The reason why he was run over was because he stepped out in front of traffic while everyone else was waiting for the light to change. 

This is the biggest irony in this story because Thomas steps out into traffic not knowing that it would be his end.

3. Irony in the setting.

Throughout the story, Bradbury uses irony to portray that nothing that happened to Thomas could have been predicted or controlled. 

Bradbury does this by showing how even though Thomas lives close to his old friend Bobby, he never saw him at any point throughout his life because they traveled different paths through life. 

Bradbury also uses irony in his story to show how even though Thomas did get hit by a truck, the truck that did it went on without any problems at all.

4. Irony in the style.

Bradbury uses irony throughout his story to help show how difficult it really was for Thomas to get where he needed to go. 

Bradbury uses an ironic point of view when Thomas tells us what happened to him after being hit by a car. Bradbury also uses ironic foreshadowing when Thomas tells us that his trip was long and tedious without any problems. 

There are many other ways that Bradbury makes use of irony throughout this story, but these are just some examples.

5. Irony in the conclusion.

The conclusion is ironic because of how it turns out that nothing worked out for Thomas in the end. The end also shows the irony that he could have lived his life with no problems, but he wanted to see his old friend Bobby Milquetoast again.

6. Irony in the choice of words.

Thomas uses strange words when describing what happened to him after being hit by a car. These strange words are either blank or made up words that aren’t real, but Thomas says them as if they are real. 

This is ironic because it shows how important language is to Thomas, even though he has lost all his ability to communicate because of his loss of limbs.

7. Irony in the description of the protagonist.

Thomas is an old man who is confined to a wheelchair. Bradbury describes him as large and terrifying at first, but once the story moves along Bradbury describes him as an innocent child who was run over by a car because he didn’t understand the world around him. 

The irony in this description of Thomas is that it seems like he was always innocent even though he wasn’t innocent at all earlier on in his life.

8. Irony in the use of setting to show irony.

Bradbury sets his story on Halloween night when it starts out. He describes the beginning of this story as a time when everyone is on their way home, but Thomas isn’t going along with the crowd. He is doing his own thing and doesn’t mind it at all. 

Bradbury also uses irony in his story to show how Thomas isn’t the only one who’s on their way home on Halloween night because there are other people on their way home also.