Another difference is the setting of both stories. 'The Withered Arm’, is set in an idyllic, natural, and languid atmosphere. ‘The Signalman’ is set in a menacing, sinister, and hostile place. Both these settings are contrasted. The descriptions of the settings in the introduction help us to predict future plots. The atmosphere of ‘The Signalman’ suggests that the occurrence of a tragic or unnatural event is probable whereas in ‘The Withered Arm’, it is unpredictable and the setting does not give us any indication of future plots. The calm atmosphere suggests that a supernatural event is unlikely to occur and therefore readers do not expect this to happen.
The setting in ‘The Signalman’ is an eerie, portentous, and hostile area. It is described as a “depressing” and “dismal place”. The area is described as dangerous;
“A rough zigzag descending path”…”cutting was extremely deep and unusually precipitous.”
This is describing how steep the descent is. It shows us the idea of leaving the natural world above. The narrator gives as an insight to the area; “I stood on top of the steep cutting nearly over his head…down in the deep trench.” This is an important quote as it gives us ideas that the cutting is man-made. It shows a contrast between the unnatural and natural world. The natural world being heaven-“strip of sky” and the unnatural world being hell-“underworld”. It shows us that the narrator is going down into the unnatural world via a dangerous path.
The setting of this location is “as solitary and dismal place a place as I ever saw.” This shows us that the location is remote and despondent. Therefore indicating it is a suitable place for supernatural events to occur. Charles Dickens uses strong and dangerous words to create threatening images. This adds to the effect of the setting because by reading the detailed and horrific description we can get a vivid image of what the place looks like.
An example of this concise description is, “clammy stone that became oozier and wetter.” This gives us an impression of the dark and wet area. It produces a thermal and tactile image creating an unpleasant situation. The area is also described as isolated: “so little sunlight” that “it had an earthy deadly smell.” This gives us an impression that it is isolated and solitary. The powerful damp smell indicates the smell of corpses. The description suggests that the area is cut off from the natural world.
Furthermore, Dickens uses treacherous and hostile images such as “dripping wet wall of jagged stone, excluding all but a strip of sky.” This suggests that the area has been quarried and is a result of human intervention. The “strip of sky” suggests that it is dark and dreary in the area. It is trapped and is perceived like prison.
To create a horrific image that produces effect to the setting, the author describes an earthquake,
“A vague vibration in the earth and
air” then “a violent pulsation”
This quote describes the train coming through a tunnel. It is exaggerated and supernatural. The violent description suggests the area is also dangerous and hostile. When describing the setting Dickens tries to relate the images to hell-like images: “a gloomy red light and the gloomier entrance to a black tunnel.” This shows that the place is eerie. The effect of the word “gloomy” repeated also shows exaggeration of what a sinister place it is. The red light indicates something bad will happen as it resembles danger and the black tunnel indicates the hell like image and the devil. The author creates a dark, evil, and hell like place, which help us to relate to the supernatural events that occur later in the story.
‘The Withered Arm’, is set in a rural area in Wessex, on a dairy farm. The village surrounding it is called Egdon Heath. The atmosphere of this setting is idyllic and tranquil unlike ‘The Signalman’ where it is eerie and sinister. ‘The Withered Arm’ creates a natural and calm setting because Hardy uses a real place; it is not fictitious. This suggests that the story is partially true amongst the words of the local people who live there. The atmosphere it creates later on is of a mysterious and sinister mood. This is because supernatural events occur.
The characters in ‘The Signalman’ are left unidentified. The two main characters are the signalman and the narrator. The signalman’s role in the story is to signal when trains come through the tunnel and make sure the railway tracks are safe. His role suggests he is responsible. He has been given this job because he is “one of the safest men to employ”. Throughout the story, the signalman is referred to by his profession. This is where most of his life has gone by. He is a lonely man.
We know from the story that the signalman was a student of natural philosophy and attended lectures. He was a well-educated person but “went off the rails”. By misusing his opportunities, he is now paying for his past. The signalman believes in the supernatural and is frightened about an event that happened in the past. He seems very cautious and paranoid about something. E.g., He is always looking at the red light. He seems very worried as he always keeps a lookout on trains and gets very irritated by the narrator speaking to him. His behaviour is strange and peculiar; he asks why the narrator said “Halloa! Below there!” The actions of the narrator connect to his past and the supernatural visions of the ghost warning him about danger.
The narrator is however, a completely different character. He is an educated man. The narrator does not believe in the supernatural and argues his case by explaining the existence of the supernatural through logical reasoning. He thinks the signalman is strange and unusual; “…there was something in the man that daunted me”. He feels uncomfortable and quite suspicious of his behaviour. He is ill at ease and judges the signalman before even knowing him properly.
The narrator disagrees with the signalman about the existence of the supernatural. He concludes very quickly thinking his views are right; “I showed him how that figure must be a deception of his sense of sight.” He believes that it is a coincidence to see the figure and the signalman must have been mistaken. The narrator is biased and prejudiced. He believes only his views are right; “this was a remarkable coincidence”. He is perceived as sceptical and intrusive as he asks the signalman questions to try to find out about his unusual behaviour.
“You almost make me think that I have met with a contented man.
(I am afraid I must acknowledge that I said it to lead him on.)”
This shows how rude the narrator is. Although he does not know the signalman properly, he seems to be prying into his private life. He makes a judgement about his character before he knows him in detail.
In this story, the characters remain nameless. This creates a sense of mystery, as we want to find out about their personalities and their character. We recognise them by their occupations. However, the main important reason to why the characters are remained nameless is that the names are irrelevant. In ‘The Signalman’, Dickens creates a debate between the two characters. There are two sides of the argument, for the existence of the supernatural and against the existence of supernatural powers. The characters present the two sides of the arguments with action. From this the readers can them come to their own conclusion.
However, in ‘The Withered Arm’ the characters are identified with names and given backgrounds. A character that is thought to have supernatural powers in the story is Rhoda Brook. She is a “thin worn milkmaid”, who is “pale and haggard”. She seems to look older than she really is, “a thin fading woman of thirty”. Rhoda is envious of Gertrude, Farmer Loge’s new wife. She wants to be like Gertrude, and competes with her. Although she is jealous she is very mature: “…a woman of her common sense”. She has a vision of Gertrude sitting on her chest and mocking her. She imprints her fingers on Gertrude’s arm. When she sees Gertrude’s arm it astonishes her. She keeps her distance. This is seen as her way of coping with the existence of her supernatural powers. She is bewildered about where her powers come from.
Gertrude Lodge is a “rosy-cheeked, titsy-totsy little body enough”. She is a beautiful “lady complete”, with a “face as comely as a live dolls”. When she is first introduced, she is seen as being compassionate and innocent. She shows this personality by talking to Rhoda’s son and becoming friendly with them. She is very delicate and fragile and has a caring attitude. Her appearance shows innocence “indescribably sweet voice”. Her character is resembled with “rose petals” which shows her purity and the simple personality she has.
However, she changes considerably over the years. Her appearance and personality changes immensely because of her ‘withered arm; “her beauty was contorted and disfigured in the left limb”. This shows the effect that the withered arm has on her. Due to this, her relationship with her husband becomes distant. Gertrude Lodge changes from being “blithe-hearted and enlightened” to an “irritable, superstitious woman”. This shows that from not believing in supernatural powers she begins to believe in them. It also suggests that she is desperate to cure her arm and so she will try anything in order for it to heal. Her ladylike manners and sweet personality is disappearing and she starts to become a confused and frustrated woman. Moreover, she is scared of her appearance and feels that Farmer Lodge will abandon her.
The main differences between Gertrude and Rhoda are that Gertrude Lodge is a sweet and innocent woman, whereas Rhoda is an old woman who is very lonely. Both Rhoda and Gertrude’s appearances mirror their personalities. Rhoda is a “thin fading woman” with pale cheeks and dark eyes. The description shows how sad and unsociable she is. Her “well defined features” suggest that although she is weak, she is determined to fight for her survival. Similarly, Gertrude’s beauty shows a sign of innocence and a caring personality.
Both characters Gertrude and the signalman share the same worries. They become anxious and cautious of the supernatural events occurring in the story. They are both perceived as being desperate and in the end both of them die because of the supernatural events they experience. They become out of control and in the end, face the tragic consequences. The narrator and Farmer Lodge also hold the same views. They do not believe in the supernatural and think it is a coincidence and can be reasoned.
The themes in ‘The Signalman’ show the existence of the supernatural and the unexplained consequences that occur throughout the story. These are of the figures of the ghosts warning the signalman of danger, the woman dieing “instantaneously” and the signalman dying. These unexplained consequences are said to be mysterious as we are not sure why they have occurred. Another theme that runs throughout the story is the debate about the existence of supernatural. The signalman believes in it whereas the narrator denies ii. By creating a debate and tragic unexplained consequences, the readers are led to decide for themselves if they believe in the existence of the supernatural. An important theme that makes the story be seen as a typical ghost story is the increasing tension and atmosphere that is added throughout the story.
The themes in ‘The Withered Arm’ are similar to the ones in ‘The Signalman’. Both stories show the existence of the supernatural. In ‘The Withered Arm’, supernatural events are shown through Conjuror Trendle creating potions and spells, the withered arm and Rhoda’s vision and Gertrude’s apparitions. As a result of the withered arm, Rhoda is suspected of being a witch. This raises questions to readers about whether she is a witch or not. However, unlike ‘The Signalman’ the supernatural events do not lead readers to decide for themselves. The author himself makes his decision within the content of the story.
According to Hardy, witchcraft does not exist. He believes people are labelled as ‘witches’ because they are different such as holding different views than other people. In ‘The Signalman’, the narrator argues that supernatural events can be explained through logical reasoning. However, Hardy argues they cannot be explained by logical reasoning. This shows that the signalman and Hardy hold the same views. He believes this because there are no answers to how Rhoda’s fingerprints are engraved onto Gertrude’s arm or the way the enemy was revealed. It cannot be a coincidence that Rhoda’s dream came true.
Another theme that is shown in ‘The Withered Arm’ is friendship. Friendship is shown between Gertrude and Rhoda. Their friendship is based on deceit and there is always an element of jealousy, Rhoda being envious of Gertrude. At first Gertrude seems to trust Rhoda. Rhoda offers her support to Gertrude and becomes close to her. However, she inflicts pain on Gertrude. When she finds who the ‘enemy’ is, she refers Rhoda to ‘Satan’. However, Gertrude also inflicts pain on Rhoda, by using her son’s blood as a remedy to cur her arm. At the end of the story, she becomes the ‘enemy’ as she uses her son’s death. This shows a cycle of betrayal and shows irony as Gertrude refers to Rhoda as her enemy but then also becomes an enemy of Rhoda.
The endings of both stories are also very similar. They both have a ‘twist in the tale’. In ‘The Signalman’, there is a sudden death of the signalman, which is foretold by the ghost. Similarly in ‘The Withered Arm’, there is the execution of Rhoda’s son. Both these events are unpredictable because they occur but readers are not warned about them. The ending in ‘The Signalman’ shows the narrator to claim that the signalman’s death is a “coincidence”. This shows that readers are expected to make a decision for themselves whether they believe in the existence of the supernatural. Whereas in ‘The Withered Arm’, the death of Gertrude shows that, she is killed by a remedy and shows that it is an unexplained event. Both of these events are unexplained which shows that they are similar to each other and the question of supernatural powers arises. Readers are left to make up their own mind about whether they want to believe in the existence of the supernatural or whether they choose not to. These stories are both different. ‘The Signalman’ is a ghost story and the atmosphere and the ghost figures reveal this. This tells readers instantly that supernatural events are likely to occur. However, ‘The Withered Arm’, is set in a calm atmosphere so readers do not expect mysterious events to occur.
