Thoreau's Positive Qualities Of The Railroad

254 Words2 Pages
In Thoreau’s mind the train symbolized more than just a new modern development of transportation; it symbolized the negative aspects of humanity. He knew that the railroad possessed positive qualities but feared for the negative ones. To Thoreau the railroad was a path that led to destructiveness of human society, and most of all nature. It had become a hazard toward the nature that Thoreau was trying to protect. From Thoreau’s writing the reader might conclude that he thinks of the railroad and train as one, but he describes that each part is like a different piece of humanity. Although the railroad possessed good qualities, they do not change his perspective on it altogether. The positive qualities of the railroad dimmed the image of its