ATDTDA (3): Medium of truth, 84-85 #3

[Paul Nightingale]

If, indeed, "the railroad had always been the enemy, going back generations"
(85), then one strikes at "bad history" and that part of progress that
includes the railroad and westward expansion. When placing the explosive,
they have to "[keep] an eye out for snakes": here, one might infer an
objection by Nature to (all) human activity, an objection similar to that
raised by Webb to "bad history".

Further down this paragraph: "A redtail hawk hung up there and seemed to be
looking at them, which would put them in the same category as field rodents.
Which in turn would put the hawk in the same category as a mine manager."

Well, not for the first time, this passage offers a juxtaposition of
macrocosm to microcosm, the special metaphor of 'up there' and 'down here'.
Webb's overview in this phase, his attempt to see objectively, to grasp the
'big picture' can be juxtaposed to Veikko's rather more subjective outlook.