“Darkness out There” and “The Signalman”

M.Daniel

Wider reading assignment

Introduction

Both the “Darkness out There” and “The Signalman” have similar qualities. Both stories have limited characters, however both make infrequent references to other characters. This is a device used to limit the main plot, which is easier to make the ending shocking and horrific. The general basis of the stories is situated in a calculating plot, however it is disguised. Clues of this plot are given as tension is built up steadily though out, by many situations and some of the characters acting unusual or strange. For example, in the “Darkness out There” Mrs Rutter who is a typical stereotype of an old woman suggests that Sandra should “mind your skirt, pull it up a bit”.

The audience of The Signalman has little idea of the ending, which happens to be “shocking”. This is similar with the “Darkness out There”. Both stories involve death, however for Dickens this is not unusual. Throughout the Signalman, the actual Signalman plays a vital part in the story. So for him to die is unexpected, and very unpredictable. In the “Darkness out There” a same key character, or important role does something unexpected. This adds to the shock, as the audience does not participate in the main role being killed, or revealing sickening news. However as tension is built up, the audience may expect something unusual.

Charles dickens and Penelope Lively have very skilled methods of creating tension, which hold the reader’s interest and captures their imagination. It is when authors mention little about something unusual, which is similar to what Penelope wrote in “Darkness out There”. The first mention of “Packers End” is in a small sentence, to have impact on the readers. Whenever tension is involved, so is suspense. Suspense raises questions in readers minds, and furthermore holds their interest. Dickens and Penelope also expertise in creating and withholding suspense.

Charles Dickens lived in Victorian times, and so wrote for Victorians. At that period of time the Victorians where interested in “Gothic” and Paranormal stories. Whereas Penelope Lively lived the prime of her life in the war era. Her stories are aimed at people’s psychological background, and how it has affected them in the present day. This relates to the “Darkness out There”, where Mrs Rutter informs the children of her past, and about the German plane.

Main part of assignment

I will write a detailed analysis of how tension is built up in each story- The Signalman by Charles Dickens and the Darkness out there by Penelope Lively. Then I will write a discussion of the differences and similarities. First I will describe “The Signalman”.

This is a preview of the whole essay

Main part of assignment

“The Signalman” was written in the Victorian era. The first sentence of the Signalman consists of only three words - “HALLOA! Below there!” This draws people’s attention to the story, and commits them to read on. Shortly after this the story reads “there was something remarkable in his manner of doing so…even though his figure was foreshortened and shadowed”. This builds up tension, and the audience starts to wonder about the character in question. The story is told from first person narrative, which means the audience cannot read what other characters are thinking, etc. So when the Signalman does reply immediately, the audience is none the wiser. After this there came a “vague vibration”, which quickly changed into a “violent pulsation”. This creates tension, but however the audience discovers it was a train. When the narrator describes his journey down to the Signalman, he describes the place as an unusual and somewhat unpleasant place. This is evident as “clammy stone”, “became oozier and wetter”. The setting is also Gothic. This sets the scene, and readers almost expect the rest of the story to be exciting. The narrator describes the Signalman as a “dark sallow man”, with a “dark beard”. This is unusual as he is a dark man with pale flesh, which makes him unusual and mysterious. Also before the narrator descended he recalled “ a singular air of reluctance or compulsion”, which means he was wondering whether it was worth going down. This adds tension, as the audience knows of the “eerie” place, and that something startling could happen to the narrator.

Generally Dickens describes the place as a sorrowful lonely place, illustrated as “solitary and dismal place as ever I saw”. Again this sets the scene for something unusual to happen. When the audience knows of the “spectre”, further tension is built up upon the Signalman and the narrator seeing the spectre. The narrator agrees to see the Signalman the next day, however he and the audience have a terrible shock!

Now I will describe how tension is built up in “The Darkness out There”, by Penelope Lively.

The first immediate sense of tension and suspense is the mention of Packer’s End. “…Suddenly shutting off the bare sky of the field. Packer’s End,” “Suddenly”, and “shutting off” give readers the impression that Packers End is a bad place-full of mystery and sin. “Packer’s End” is in its own sentence, for full impact. After this the text then explains you don’t go by yourself. [To Packer’s End.] “Not after teatime, anyway”. This is a child’s danger, which implies it is not a “real danger”. However we share Sandra’s danger and fear, this is evident as “she wouldn’t go in there for a thousand pounds, not even in bright day like now”. This illustrates how dangerous Sandra believes Packer’s End to be. To add further tension the author depicts “crumbling rusty scraps of metal and cloth and…bones?” This is a question that illustrates the fears in Sandra’s mind. The audience may start to believe the ending is dreadful, but not positive of how it will end. This story could be similar to “The Darkness out There”, and follow the same conventions.

The text does confirm however that there is a real danger, as it depicts of how the dangers grew as the children grew up. “After they were twelve or so the witches went away. Then it was the German plane”. The German plane is a real horror, and is material. The “witches and wolves” are not real, which the audience knows. This is a tension building device, as the audience doesn’t know what’s next, and wait in anticipation.

“Sandra”, is the main character. She is young, fairly innocent and has not learnt much from life. If an incident were to occur, she would react. Tension is built up because she would not know what to do. “ Mrs Rutter” however is an old stereotype of an ordinary old lady. Sandra preconceives her. When Mrs Rutter acts mysteriously tension is built up, as the audience does now not know what to expect of Mrs Rutter.

At first, Mrs Rutter was viewed as a “cottage loaf of a women”. This lines up to the stereotype which is a warm and comforting old lady. When readers view the end of the description, they are a little shocked-which adds to the tension. “Of a face in which her eyes snapped and darted”. This is somewhat sinister, as if Mrs Rutter was exploring Sandra. Mrs Rutter appears creepy and invasive. AS the text describes Mrs Rutter’s home, further more tension is built up as a result of the description. “The room was stuffy”, “moving cups”, are a little unusual.

After the description Mrs Rutter portrays a perverse character, as she suggests Sandra should “mind her pretty skirt, pull it up a bit, theirs only me to see, if your showing a bit of bum”. This is a complete difference to Mrs Rutter preconceived stereotype and adds more tension. This is also a crude comment and further more gives evidence that she is creepy and invasive. The audience may believe that Mrs Rutter has cruel intentions, because she acts somewhat suspiciously.

The facts that Mrs Rutter’s revelations where spoken, is not particularly drastic. The audience are shocked of hearing the sad news, however Mrs Rutter didn’t take any action. The news was that Mrs Rutter didn’t help an innocent victim.

Now I will do a discussion of the similarities and differences between the two stories.

The similarities of “the Darkness Out There”, and “The Signalman” are unique to their story. One similarity is that both stories have limited characters, and a major character does something unexpected. This is to give full impact on the shock. However the characters act in an unusual way to add tension, as I have described earlier.

There are various differences, and one major similarity. The most important difference is that in the “Signalman” there is “real danger”, which can cause harm. Also the outcome of the Signalman is much more horrific than that of the “Darkness out There”. The danger of the darkness out there is not harmful, as Mrs Rutter is not likely to do anything “evil” again. Also Mrs Rutter does intentionally cause harm to the children, and the damage done is not really appalling. The damage done in the Signalman however is much more harsh, as the eventuality is death. Although the two stories are written in different era’s, and the authors are unusual compared, the novels are the same in some respects.

Conclusion

Now I will discuss which of the two stories I prefer, followed by a personal response. I have previously evaluated the two stories. Both stories have the same qualities, which is an expertly wrote tension builder-which leads to a dramatic ending.

However I don’t personally like this type of story, and especially when the endings are not dramatic enough , which I think applies to “The Darkness out There”. Therefore personally I preferred “The Signalman”.

These stories cause the audience to think about the story at the end, and come to their own conclusions. But personally I believe the bulk of the stories are wasted in creating tension, and of which tension is used throughout and too regularly. I believe the audience would read a much more enjoyable and entertaining story if “incidents” occurred more in the actual story, not just at the end. This way the author can describe the outcome and effects of the situation.