In a word, I should have set this man down as one of the safest men to be employed in that capacity,” (Page 135)
Charles Dickens digresses from one piece of information to another but sometimes there is a little sentence which bridges the two paragraphs.
The author’s use of language in the story helps to heighten the suspense because it is complex in some places but mostly simplistic like alliteration and repetition to emphasise a particular subject like:
“That I more than once I have looked at the red light as I ascended the pathway, that I did not like the red light,” (Page 144)
This quotation helps bring a sense of atmosphere that has been augmented because of the repetition. Some examples of language that help create the suspense and horror are vague vibrations, violent pulsation and saturnine. The author also uses the language to help the reader to visualise the picture via all the narrations of the scenes.
The author uses the location to create an eerie atmospheric sense because it is a time of darkness so people are scared at night, on a downhill path the question WHY? Going through the interpreter’s head. It is next to a railway track, a very dangerous place to be even in the daytime leading into a ominous tunnel (“a gloomier entrance to a black tunnel” page 131) a place leading to the mysterious wonders with a daunted signalman who sees things or at least that’s what the narrator thinks. He also describes the scenes admirably using beneficial punctuation and distinct adjectives such as:
“It was made through a clammy stone, that became oozier and wetter as I went down.” (Page 130)
Charles Dickens uses this descriptive passage to help bring the mysterious ambience sense to a peak by visualising the picturesque scene.
The main characters in the story are the narrator and the signal driver and the minor characters are the ghost, policeman, and the train driver. The narrator is an enigmatic character because there is no description of their appearance and so it does not intrigue us as much as his actions. The signalman is a dark sallow man, with a dark beard and has heavy eyebrows; he is also a lonely man, who is good at his job, and has an open attitude
“as if he were waiting for me to appear.” (Page 130)
And
“No man in England knew his work better.” (Page 146)
The ghost was an apparition that the signalman only saw at the beginning but at the end the narrator sees him always doing the same movement;
“I saw the appearance of a man, with his left sleeve across his eyes, passionately waving his right arm.” (Page 145)
I believe that the ghost was warning the signalman of deaths because he appeared every time before someone died.
The policeman was very informative but not good at giving bad news because the way it is worded the policeman sounds like he has no feelings towards the signalman or even the way he talks to the narrator.
The train driver’s name was Tom but there was no character description or specific purpose for his presence other than running over the signalman. The only feature I could recognise was his sensitivity and sadness for the corpse lying there;
“Ah! it was a dreadful time, sir. I never left off calling him.” (Page 147)
