Wreck

The train represents an impersonal, destructive force and serves as a motif that is linked to the themes of The Diffusion of Moral Responsibility in a Corporate World and The Precariousness of Happiness in the Face of Random Tragedy. It is the literal wreck between the train and the car that shatters the life of Miles Zapf and serves as a constant, looming threat in the background of Rockey’s family’s consciousness. Its presence forces a confrontation with the modern world’s “complicated web of responsibility” (47), where blame is diffused across corporate entities, making accountability nearly impossible. The train itself is not malicious; it is a machine operating according to calculations of “acceptable risk” (133) made by distant consultants like Jamie. The accident highlights how corporate decisions, driven by profit, create a dangerous distance from their human consequences. The train thus symbolizes a world where individual lives can be destroyed not by targeted evil, but by the cold, systemic logic of capitalism, a force as powerful and indifferent as the locomotive itself. Furthermore, Rocky’s initial reaction, a “flush of goose bumps” (5) upon reading the headline, immediately establishes the train as a visceral symbol of life’s fragility and the suddenness with which happiness can be derailed.