How Does Charles Dickens Create a Sense of Suspence in The Signalman.

Atmosphere and surroundings in The Signalman also creates a lot of suspense. The cutting would be pretty dark; this darkness creates the suspended mood and atmosphere. It is also described as being "Extremely deep and unusually precipitous" and "Solitary and dismal". It seems like the place is very isolated and cut off from the real world, the perfect place for supernatural happenings "Great dungeon". The tunnel also creates suspension, why did he look down there in this first place and what could be down there it is described as "Barbarous, depressing and forbidding". The smells and surroundings make him a little bit reluctant to descend "Air of reluctance". The language used to describe The Signalman and the surroundings is very gothic making the situation much more tense and therefore building up the suspense.

The story is only spread over a couple of days, but that is all it takes for him to get involved; also the story only ever takes place within the cutting. I believe Charles Dickens does this so none of the tension is lost. "But I expressly intend to make you another visit". The two men meet both times at the bottom of the cutting at night "I will come at eleven". This keeps the tension and mystery due to the darkness, It would probably be lost if they were to meet on a sunny midday. Also the darkness impairs the narrators vision so he can't be sure what is out there.

The signalman is evidently going to be an important character once they get talking and his actions are very weird to start off with. He stands intently in the railway with his hand on his chin, not moving a muscle until they are face to face "Before he stirred I was near enough to have touched him". Also when they do meet he makes no attempt to start the conversation, instead he looks at the red light "Look towards the red light" He seems very mysterious and unpredictable. As they begin to talk again the man becomes slightly hostile and the narrator speculates that he might be a ghost "This was a spirit". This is a very tense point in the novel because the ghost's identity may have already been revealed, but the signalman begins to show fear and asks if they have met before. It makes you think, why should the signalman show any fear? After their conversation the man leaves and The Signalman tells him that on his return journey not call out those words. "Halloa! Below there". It builds tension and suspense over what these words really mean to the signalman and why he is scared of them.

The signalman himself looks mysterious "A dark sallow man". A sallow man could mean a man not receiving enough sunlight and in our case where the signalman works tells us there it's a "dark and gloomy" place where there is not much sunlight at all. This would add to the reader's suspense and build up the tension as he gets closer.

They retreat to the signal box and from his long description you realise that he is quite a knowledgeable man "Worked at fractions and decimals". If he is so clever why is he a signalman? He is also a very skilled workman "Safest of men to be employed. These questions add mystery to his identity, which in turn builds up the suspense. Within their talk, The Signalman looks outside toward the tunnel more than once. This creates expectancy of what's going to happen.

The structure and way Charles Dickens has set the order of events also creates a lot of suspense. When The Signalman tells the narrator about the first two accidents you feel and just know a third and final accident will happen in the future with The Signalman playing some vital role in it, but the reader as yet does not know what. This also builds up the tension and the suspense. The number in literature is always three. Something is always repeated three times to have an effect on the reader. So the reader is almost certainly expecting a third accident but does not know when and what will happen.

The Signalmans behaviour about hearing the bells ring twice also creates much suspense as the narrator says he never hears them but later on in the story The Signalman explains it. Charles Dickens presents The Signalmans character as a very rational man. I believe Dickens does this because it makes The Signalman more real but in one part of the story The Signalman turns pale white as if he has seen a ghost. "In a word I should have set this man down as one of the safest of men to be employed in that capacity, but for the circumstance that while he was speaking to me he twice broke off with a fallen colour." Where not quite sure yet why The Signalman has turned pale white but we could assume the rational Signalman had seen a ghost. We don't know for sure though, as he does not say anything, as he would be considered mad. This all builds up suspense and leaves the question in the reader's mind was it a ghost or was it not.

The number of visits the narrator pays towards The Signalman, the false alarms and now with the ghost appearing daily whereas before the ghost would only come after six months. I believe was all leading up to something big, which builds up a lot of suspense and tension all in the structure of The Signalman.

In the first conversation The Signalman tells the man that he is "troubled". This makes you ask the question what is he troubled about and does it have anything to do with his weird actions previously could he be or does he know the ghost? These questions make you think about what's coming round the corner. This also builds suspense.

On the man's return visit he is told about the mysterious figure and how it disappeared. "It was gone". This long passage describing the ghost's actions adds tension and expectancy that it will come again. He also clears up his odd actions (when he looked down the tunnel). The ghost says those very same words. We now know that he is not the ghost so some tension is lost but it is now a matter of if the man will see the ghost and what it will say. The Signalman also tells the man of the lady who died in the carriage just after he had seen the figure "Within six hours after this appearance, the memorable accident happen". You begin to associate the spectre with death and whose death will it contribute to next.

The story is written in first person so it feels like it is actually happening at the same time you read it. This is evident when he talks with and about the signalman "You look at me as if you had a dread of me". Either you or him knows what the response is going to be. His manner is described as "seemed to make the place strike colder to me, but I said no more". He describes it as it happens which adds suspense. This a weird description to give someone, could he be the ghost?

As you here about the ghost, the narrator's actions are very dismissive. This is true as it would be the natural response, but as they are in a deep cutting, which hasn't much human contact, you begin to believe him. The man has the same reactions when he hears about the second ghost. "Deception of his sense of sight". You have the same time to make a decision as he does, but you already know there will be a ghost.

The narrator seems brave and dismissive of things, which could potentially harm him. Maybe too dismissive and this could get him into trouble, but he doesn't seem like he is a victim. The signalman has this role. In the end I believe it is the narrators fault that the signalman dies because if he hadn't called down to him in the first place, The Signalman would have looked up as the train came down the tunnel. "Below there, look out". The first words of the story are the most decisive words of the story. One could believe it was fate. There was then the mystery of The Signalmans behaviour why did he not move out of the way of the train? This puts the thought in to the reader's head that does the ghost ultimately causes The Signalman death. Charles Dickens leaves the reader behind with a lot of un answered questions leaving the reader in mystery. I also believe no matter what had happened between the start of the story and his death, it couldn't have been prevented. "The words which I myself - not he - had attached". He obviously feels responsible for his death and you feel that if he hadn't associated himself with the man none of this would have happened. This is quite a mysterious and even scary thought.

The end of the story blows all the expectations of the reader where we thought that The Signalman would save or be the hero of the third accident. But Charles Dickens surprises us once again and blows up all the suspense and our expectations at the end of the story when you find out that The Signalman was actually the victim in the accident.

It is evident that Dickens creates a lot of suspense throughout the story with the opening words and as he descends the cutting, looking at the signalman whose actions are very weird.