The passage starting in paragraph two on page 81 in the Norton Critical Edition of Walden by Thoreau clearly shows tension between nature and society as a train cuts through Walden Pond. However, I believe even Thoreau feels conflicted about the meeting of these two opposing forces.

The chapter is Sounds, and, early on, Thoreau establishes his intimate knowledge of this meeting ground by saying the men who work on the freight trains bow to him as to an old acquaintance. This seems to give Thoreau credibility in the eyes of the reader. Immediately before that Thoreau explains how he commonly walks the railroad causeway, using the word often, and he even says he is “related to society by this link.” The two key words that stand out here are often and related. Thoreau is careful to express the habitualness of this walk through the use of the word often and the descriptions of his mutual comfort with the men of the train. He then uses the word related, a word commonly used to describe a familial connection to refer to the track. I believe this paragraph shows Thoreau’s uses for the meeting of the two worlds and paints them in a positive light.

The start of the following paragraph could not be more different. Thoreau describes how the whistle of the train “penetrates my woods summer and winter, sounding like the scream of a hawk sailing over some farmer’s yard.” The verb used here is penetrate, a word associated with forcing a way through something. The segments involving the train continuously interrupt the beautiful parts of Thoreau’s life in the nature and his equally beautiful descriptions of those details. He then specifies the time frame, using multiple seasons to emphasize the length of the suffering. To top that off he compares the train to a hawk, perhaps the most famous bird of prey. Going into detail, he describes the arrival of these “restless city merchants” who prey on the people and their land but serve everyone at the same time. This would make sense because the hawk is known to be extremely intelligent as are the people who continuously prey on the land. There are some added lines of detailed acts in which the country is converted to produce a product such as meadows to cloth. In conclusion he says, “Nor is there any man so independent on his farm that he can say them nay.” Here I believe he means that even the most georgic of individuals require some link to society similar to the one I believe Thoreau has previously established with the railroad.

These two passages back to back seem to show two very different trains of thought on trains. Thoreau clearly establishes his need for a link to society while also continuously despising the unavoidable results that come along with just that. It’s a vicious cycle in which man needs society which harms his environment which is kept by man. This conflict is what constantly keeps nature and society in tension, even in someone as dedicated to nature as Thoreau.