The quote is an example of a metaphor. Explain why.

"We do not ride on the railroad; it rides upon us."

This quote comes from a Transcendentalist work. The idea is that we are slaves to the technology that we have created to serve us. It is a metaphor because the railroad does not literally ride upon us, but the technology that came with Industrialization changed every facet of society, perhaps without society's consent.

I'm not sure of the context, but I believe that the metaphor is describing some kind of journey or path as a railroad. (Contrarily, it could also be that since railroads cannot ride people, the metaphor is comparing the railroad with the characterstics of something that could ride)