The first literary device that is used to elaborate on the theme of isolation and an anti-social society is the use of imagery. Bradbury creates a frightening world filled with the grey phantoms of peoples lives that are controlled through the use of technology. Since people are controlled by technology, the author generates this image in his readers minds that they are just like ghosts. For example, on the first page of the story, the author says, sudden gray phantoms seemed to manifest upon inner room walls where a curtain was still undrawn against the night, or there were whisperings and murmurs where a window in a tomb-like building was still open(Bradbury ). This evidence depicts Meades view that all the people in the inner room walls were thought of as ghosts by Meade. The only real human in the story is Mr. Leonard Mead. That is why the description of a graveyard town is used. Another example of imagery in use is when Meade walks by the cottages and homes. Bradbury uses specific words to help reader
s have a picture in their heads of what he believes is a graveyard neighborhood. This piece of evidence says, And on his way, he could see the cottages and homes with their dark windows, and it was not unequal to walking through a graveyard where only the faintest glimmers of firefly light appeared in flickers behind the windows ( Bradbury ). When Bradbury says this, it represents how this dystopian society is affected by automation. The imagery used clearly displays his negative view of this new technological era. When he says, the faintest glimmers of firefly, he is referring to televisions and how they are creating a graveyard feeling because everyone is sucked into them and not interacting with others.
To summarize, the fact that everyone and everything is controlled by the advancements of 2053, Mr. Mead is lonely and feels separate from the rest of his community. In his feeling lonely, he expresses with the use of imagery. Similar to imagery characterization also emotes the same feeling and emotion Mead.