Discuss the effectiveness of the ghost stories by Dickens, Hughes and Rhys. Show some awareness of social, historical and cultural influences on the stories; be sure to include some comparisons of texts.

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Coursework Assignment – Wider Reading

Discuss the effectiveness of the ghost stories by Dickens, Hughes and Rhys. Show some awareness of social, historical and cultural influences on the stories; be sure to include some comparisons of texts.

We have three different ghost stories to compare in this assignment. They are: ‘The Signalman’ by Charles Dickens, ‘The Ghost’ by Richard Hughes and ‘I Used to Live Here Once’ by Jean Rhys. The three stories, although all ghost stories, differ by a great deal. The Dickens story is the longest, about thirteen sides, and the Rhys story is the shortest, just the one side, with the Hughes story in between at around four and a half sides. In this essay I am going to talk about the effectiveness of each one individually and then compare the stories against each other. At the end I will say which story I liked the best and why.

I will start by talking about the Dickens story. The Dickens story is like the classic ghost story with all the dark, Gothic descriptions and the close comparisons with hell. It is there to give you a good scare; that is its purpose. He is attempting to entertain. However, there is some moral significance to the story (see later). The descriptions are extremely detailed and vivid and although a short story, it does not lack punch and immerses the reader into the story making them feel like they are actually there. Dickens uses long Latinate lexis and you can clearly see that this has been written for a mature and highly educated audience.

The first phrase of the story means so much. ‘Halloa! Below there!’ is said by the narrator in the first line of the story. Although when reading the story for the first time it seems like an innocent greeting once you have finished the story you realise how much meaning those words hold. This is because those were the exact words used by the spectre that came in the story later on. Also, in that phrase we see the historical influence on the story. This is because that was the language of that time and so when we read it in the modern day we can see that this is a story written in that period. This first phrase also gets us straight into the action with an exclamation mark that grabs the attention of the reader and makes the want to read further.

We then have a series of long sentences that allow the flow of the narrators thought and the setting of the scene for the story. It is here that we also get the first sign of the supernatural. The word remarkable is repeated twice to describe the signalman’s behaviour. The narrator notes that something about him was distinctly different and odd – ‘attract my notice.’ This suggests that perhaps the signalman cold be the ghost. Such deliberate mystification of the reader is common through the story and adds to the supernatural suspense. The long sentences also give a contrast between the short phrases of the dialogue. The key phrase of the story ‘Halloa! Below!’ is repeated again after the set of the long sentences. Dickens does this to make sure we do not forget about the phrase when its importance comes into the story later on.

Now we have the first real hint of the supernatural. We have the two phrases ‘vague vibration’ and ‘violent pulsation.’ These are strong phrases and give the impression that something big is about to happen. Also there is alliteration where the Vs are repeated. Also, Dickens positions them in such a way so that they end up on top of each other and then the internal rhyming of the two phrases stands out. We then have the phrases ‘oncoming rush’, ‘…force to draw me down’ and ‘vapour as rose.’ This when read all together suggest that we are about to read about the first coming of the ghost, instead we find he is just describing the oncoming train. This is clever, since it builds up suspense but without giving away any story to the reader. This technique can be paralleled with that used in modern day horror movies where there can be a jolt in the movie just to build up suspense and pressure in the audience. The narrator then ‘descends’ down to talk with the signalman. The word descend is used deliberately by Dickens and, coupled with the phrases ‘oozier’ and  ‘air of reluctance’ give the impression of a descent into the underworld or hell.

We then have, at the bottom of page 109, an eerie description of the signalman’s post. The words used are, solitary, dismal, dripping-wet, jagged, dungeon, gloomy, gloomier, black tunnel, barbarous, depressing, forbidding, earthly, deadly, cold, and chill. The narrator also says, ‘…as if I had left the natural world.’ All this is used I to describe where the signalman lives. So, as you can imagine, it give the place a very spooky feel and makes you think of on thing, hell. The mouth of the tunnel seems to be prominent as being the darkest place and this is amplified by Dickens and so makes reader think of it as the entrance to hell (comes into play later on). This is the section that really sets the tone for the remainder of the story. It is the point at which one might consider pulling the blankets in a bit closer.

There are suggestions made that the man could be the ghost – ‘there was something in the man that daunted me.’ We find out later on in the story that he is not a ghost but the point is that it gets the reader thinking and that is why the story is so effective. Often the fear a person feels is caused by his or her own mind trying to find answers to unanswerable things and it is when you cannot find answers that fear comes about. Dickens uses this and leaves questions in the air that cannot be answered, either by the reader or the narrator; it is this that gives the suspense and the fear of the story. Good technique.  This is further backed up with the use of statements like ‘The monstrous thought…’ ‘…This was a spirit, not a man.’ ‘…Infection in his mind.’ This again gives us unanswerable questions as well as the deliberate mystification that is a characteristic of the story.  The mystification adds to the supernatural and the suspense and also gets the reader thinking about the story that then adds another dimension to the story.

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There is then a passage where the narrator and the signalman get acquainted. In this passage the suspense dies down a little. However, there are still the references to the supernatural to keep the atmosphere. The references are a little ambiguous in the sense that they could be supernatural or it could just be he reader interpreting them as such because of the descriptions that have come before. It is the latter that is true. This is because the hellish descriptions before have the primed the reader to receive more supernatural references and so it is almost as if ...

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