The Endless Pavement

By Jacqueline Jackson and William Perlmutter

Drawings by Richard Cuffari

Copyright 1973

I’ve always been a fan of dystopian fiction, and there is so much of it that is popular now.  The Hunger Games, The Giver, The Walking Dead.  These are all glimpses into what could happen in a society that is faced with horror – either natural or man-made.  This book is a little different.  It is a dystopian fiction picture book, meant for the younger set.

As I read this book, a recent movie came to mind.  In Disney Pixar’s WALL-E, people no longer had use of their legs.  They were so accustomed to traveling around in their personal floating chairs, with everything done for them by computers and machines that they had no need to walk.  Similarly, in The Endless Pavement, all humans get around solely in automobiles.  Each has their own personal rollabout, and is merely transferred from their Home-a-rolla to school or work.  In fact, their whole life is completely controlled by the Great Computermobile.  The earth is really just endless pavement and the people are mindlessly driven around.  Autos have taken over the world.

One evening, while waiting for repair on her family’s Screen, our young protagonist Josette hears the words “grass” and “trees”.  Her father tells her of the very distant past when something round and red and delicious grew from some of those trees.  Soon, the Screen is repaired and Josette’s parents immediately stop thinking and talking.  Josette, however, can’t get these new images out of her head.  Then, one afternoon, Josette catches a quick glimpse of something green sticking up through the endless pavement.  

Brave Josette is overcome with curiosity.  Struggling against the power of the Great Computermobile, she risks her life to leave her Home-a-rolla and rollabout and reach the red fruit.  That little girl proceeds to destroy the Great Computermobile and free the rest of humanity from the control of automobiles.  The end of the story depicts Josette walking across the endless pavement to meet the crawling, lurching, newly awakened masses of people.

I don’t really believe that this drastic scenario will ever happen.  In small ways though, it already has.  The sight of groups of people sitting at a table together, all focused completely on their personal small screens has me a little concerned.  I hear children clamoring for their parents’ attention and their cries are going unnoticed because something apparently more important is happening on the parents’ phones.  

This book is a reminder to look up – to see the people and the world around us – to not forget what living really means.