he tries to make it to the door but falls and nocks himself unconscious. He wakes up and is told that he was
found at dawn. The old people ask him what happened in the red room and the narrator tells them that fear
is the only thing in the room. By the end of the story the narrator seems to have changed as a character. It
seems to me as though he has let a mask off and now even admits his fear.
'The Signalman' is a contrast in some ways but in other ways is similar to 'The Red Room'. In the story
'The Signalman' the phrase 'Halloa! Below there!' begins it. We later find out that this is an important
quote in the story. A man, the narrator who's name we don't know, is taking a walk when for reasons
unknown to the reader decides to speak to the signalman. The signalman has mistaken the narrator for
someone or something else. The signalman soon invites the narrator to his signalman's box where they
talk. After some discussion the signalman admits he is troubled but says he will only tell him the rest if
the narrator returns the next evening. After arranging times the narrator leaves. The next night the
narrator returns and this time they begin to talk straight away. The signalman tells him of two accidents
on the line and describes how before each accident he had seen a dark figure who holds one hand over his
face and waves with the other. He says that the figure calls 'Halloa! Below there!' which is exactly the same
thing that the narrator calls to the signalman. This now shows what the signalman may have thought the
narrator to be. The narrator tries to find a logical explaination to this. Later on after some more
discussion the narrator offers to stay with the signalman. The signalman tells him not to and he leaves.
The next day the narrator is taking a walk before he is supposed to meet the signalman but as he passes
the rail line he somehow feels drawn to look down. When he does he sees a small crowd of people, he
notices in particular a man with one arm over his face and the other he is waving passionately. The
narrator runs down the zig-zaged path to the people and asks them what is going on. They tell him that the
Signalman had been killed that morning on the line by a train. Also that someone had tried to signal him
off the track by waving and shouting 'Halloa! Below there!'. This is, you may remember, ow the signalman
had identified the ghost.
These two stories are both written around the same times. The points of tension are at different points in
the stories. 'The Red Room' has a big build up of tension in the middle whereas in my opinion 'The
Signalman' has a quite balanced, but high, level of tension almost from begining to end.
In 'The Red Room' the narrator is a nameless person who is your conventional non believer and is open
about this. The fact that we do not know his name adds a sense of mystery to the story. As we read his
thoughts we find that he is in fact nervous about visiting the red room. '... a sudden twinge of
apprehension' This is one example of the narrator admiting his worried state of mind. He does not however
admit this to the other characters until almost the end of the story where he tells the old people of Fear in
the red room. '...there is no ghost in there at all; but worse, far worse-... Fear.' This is where he admits his
fear and nervousness. The narrator describes the old people, who are also nameless, as unfriendly and
speaks of them as though they are creepy. Almost ghostly. 'They seemed to belong to another age, an older
age' The three old people are not described very fully in the story apart from when the narrator is
describing what hesees them as. They are simply to me: The man with the withered arm, the old woman and
the second old man.
The characters in 'The Signalman' also both contrast in that the signalman seems more lonely and
dedicated to his job whereas the narrator seems to me to be a more thoughtful man. I think this because he
appears to walk a lot. These characters are also similar in that they both seem to be educated. In both
short stories the characters are all nameless but in 'The Signalman' the narrator and the signalman who
are the only characters are of equal importance. The importance of the characters in 'The Red Room'
contrasts to the importance of the characters in 'The signalman' because there is only one main character
in 'The Red Room' and the other three characters are just there for effect and are not respected by the
narrator. By contrast, in 'The Signalman' the two main characters form a relationship and seem to have a
mutual respect for each other.
The stories are similar in that both narrators fulfil the convention of being non believers. This is shown in
the opening line of 'The Red Room' and in 'The Signalman' when the narrator tries to see logical
explainations for the happenings at the railway line. They both show hidden fears later on in the stories.
But this is only shown in 'The Signalman' by direct admission. 'Nor did I like the two sequences of the
accident and the dead girl'.
The characters in both stories enhance the impact by their attitudes. Their views may affect the ways in
which we see the stories and for example if the characters show fear it may build up tension.
'The Red Room' begins with the phrase 'I can assure you, that it will take a very tangible ghost to frighten
me' This sets the scene of the story. The narrators arrogance may tell the reader that he would be proved
wrong. This is another convention of a ghost story. The story is set in Lorraine Castle which implies it is
in an isolated place. It also takes place at night, this is another convention. It can create certain effects
because of this for example in the red room there are dark shaddows on the wall. This would enhance the
supernatural feeling to the room. The castle itself is dark inside. The description includes details of
shadows, flickering lights, darkness and old statues. There is also an implied history of a 'timid wife and
the tragic end that came to her husband's jest of frightening her' that goes with the castle and the red
room. This adds yet more tension to the story.
In 'The signalman' it is similarly isolated to Lorraine Castle. The setting for almost all of the story is a
deep railway cutting where when you go down there you go from normal daytime to a dark, damp hell-like
place where there are strange sounds and the sound of his bell. There is also a dark tunnel and red light.
'The Signalman' contrasts with 'The Red Room' in that there is an actual ghost in 'The Signalman'
whereas in 'The Red Room' all that there is said to be is Fear.
'The Red Room' begins at a point of quite low tension. The tension then rises slowly rises as he meets the
other characters and they warn him against going to the red room saying 'It is your own choosing' which
is repeated. This gives the effect of more tension and makes the reader think that there is something to be
nervous about. Then later on they say 'But if you go to the red room tonight- (this night of all nights)' This
again build up the tension and makes it even more. All the time the characters do not say why they are
warning him away from it. On the way to the red room Wells builds up the tension even more by the way he
describes the passage. '... and my candle flared and made the shadows cower and quiver.' These are good
ways to build up tension and setting the scene of one of the ghost genre because they are conventions of
this particular genre. The next rise in tension is created by the candles going out in the red room. This
part of the story creates the biggest rise in tension and takes the point of tension to a climax. This part is
an example of unexplained happenings.
