Compare and contrast 'The Signalman' and 'The Darkness Out There'. In terms of Setting Atmosphere and Characterization.

In the beginning of ‘The Darkness Out There’ the narrator immediately describes the beautiful day in which Sandra was walking through a field on a “bright day”. Automatically the story has been set. The use of adjectives to describe the day also added to the height of standard of setting, by describing the bright day so intensely the writer adds suspense and climax.

The setting in ‘The Darkness Out there’ changed from the warmth which was the bright day to the darkness which was ‘Packer’s End’. The setting in ‘The Signalman’ doesn’t change as much. From the very beginning of the story the story’s setting had a daunting sense of unease from the words the narrator uses to describe the cutting. ‘The Signalman’ was set in a rural lonely area; the narrator instantaneously describes the signalman’s post. “His Post was in as solitary and dismal a place as I ever saw.” By saying the post was “Dismal” the narrator sets the whole story. The lonesome post was also a very nasty dirty place. The narrator describes it as a “dungeon”. The dirtier and haunting the signalman’s post got the more the setting and the characters were revealed.

The Signal box was the refuge from the daunting atmosphere outside, the Signalman’s attitude added to the atmospheric tension; the two characters didn’t spend their time outside so the setting and atmosphere is not described in great detail as from the inside the Signal box he knew exactly how to describe it.

The main characters in the two stories are very different; in ‘The Signalman’ the signalman was a troubled man and the reader can expect certain actions from him; also he is the type of well developed character where the reader knows almost everything about him. The narrator in ‘The Signalman’ is very judgmental; the very first time he met the signalman he tells the reader exactly what he thinks of him. “His Attitude was one of such expectation and watchfulness that I stopped a moment, wondering at it.” The narrator’s first impression lasts throughout the story, and as the plot thickened he became more judgmental, seeing things as they were in reality.

In ‘The Darkness Out There’, Sandra, presented herself as a vulnerable character, mainly because she walked through a beautiful field alone, this gives the reader reason to expect something to happen. Her naivety is what grabs the reader in the beginning of the story. When the story finishes, she realizes how sheltered and unready for the world she is. Mrs. Rutter’s persona was hidden throughout the story because as far as the reader knew she was a nice normal old woman, who’d lost her husband in the war. As the story unfolded her character slowly revealed itself. She was a heartless person, and her lack of compassion is the reason for the title of the story.

Comparing the two stories I would say they were both excellent stories in their own separate ways. Though ‘The Signalman’ was a horror story it has a daunting atmosphere. The language though difficult to understand, added to the horror of the story. “Whether there may have been infection in his mind” certain words and phrases added to the atmospheric tension. ‘The Darkness Out There’ in comparison to ‘The Signalman’ wasn’t as scary, but as effective in the message, both stories were questioning reality, in ‘The Signalman’ the question was to what extent was the spectre’s appearance coincidence to the bad happenings that occurred or was it’s sudden appearance an omen? And in ‘The Darkness Out There’ the question was, was Mrs. Rutter’s Actions towards the German pilot, really as bad as Kerry and Sandra made it out to be? And would it have been an out of the ordinary thing to do during the time period?