Analysis of Charles Dickens' The Signalman
Dickens’ story “The Signalman” makes use of several elements and techniques to create suspense from the very beginning to the end. Some of them are typical of the fantastic genre to which this story falls into. There are many suspense features of remarkable transcendence such as the presentation of the characters through a narrator in first person, the implementation of imagery to describe the setting and the already mentioned characters and the contrast between reality and the supernatural world among other aspects.
In the first place, the author introduces the two characters of the story abruptly, letting the reader know that the narrator takes place in the events, allowing the reader to get an insight into the feelings of this character, the visitor. Such first person perspective enables, on the one hand, to get a lot of information from the world surrounding the narrator but on the other hand, it limits the data from the signalman. This characteristic increases the suspense and intrigue, leading to the reader’s eager to continue reading to find out more about this mysterious character. As a consequence, we can only be aware of the signalman’s existence and his actions by their interaction in the course of events, making the story fast moving in spite of the use of long sentences.
In addition, Dickens reinforces the sense of suspense by resorting to an extensive use of imagery, not only to describe the signalman but also to connect him with the setting. Both are portrayed as gloomy and mysterious, anticipating that something horrifying is about to happen. By providing descriptions like “dark, sallow man with dark beard”, “heavy eyebrows”, “saturnine face” which refer to the signalman’s appearance with lots of colour symbolisms we can draw a comparison with the setting. The train tunnel, the post box and the surroundings are described as a “solitary and dismal place”, with a “dripping-wet wall of jagged stone”, a “great dungeon” giving the impression of
In the first place, the author introduces the two characters of the story abruptly, letting the reader know that the narrator takes place in the events, allowing the reader to get an insight into the feelings of this character, the visitor. Such first person perspective enables, on the one hand, to get a lot of information from the world surrounding the narrator but on the other hand, it limits the data from the signalman. This characteristic increases the suspense and intrigue, leading to the reader’s eager to continue reading to find out more about this mysterious character. As a consequence, we can only be aware of the signalman’s existence and his actions by their interaction in the course of events, making the story fast moving in spite of the use of long sentences.
In addition, Dickens reinforces the sense of suspense by resorting to an extensive use of imagery, not only to describe the signalman but also to connect him with the setting. Both are portrayed as gloomy and mysterious, anticipating that something horrifying is about to happen. By providing descriptions like “dark, sallow man with dark beard”, “heavy eyebrows”, “saturnine face” which refer to the signalman’s appearance with lots of colour symbolisms we can draw a comparison with the setting. The train tunnel, the post box and the surroundings are described as a “solitary and dismal place”, with a “dripping-wet wall of jagged stone”, a “great dungeon” giving the impression of