Hawthorne

Hawthorne for all of his strengths was no satirist. He tried his hand at satire w The Celestial Railroad and to today's reader the story seems quaint and aimless. It's his attempt at a mid-19th century update of pilgrim's progress - as the narrator journeys to the celestial city not as a pilgrim on foot but aboard a newly constructed railroad, accompanied by a guide - mr. Smooth it over or something like that, one of the directors of the railroad. The point seems to be that in modern industrial society we are sped along toward our destiny and we don't have the opportunity or inclination to wrestle w our faith and that the forces of charity are crushed by the drive toward capitalist expansion and accumulation of wealth. That said there is nothing particularly stirring or memorable about this heavenward journey and all modern readers will cringe at the concluding lines: i woke and thank god it was all a dream. Even w the hint of irony - it may have been a dream but we recognize it's veracity - it seems an amateurish way to conclude a story - in any century.

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