As the narrator follows the “descending” path, he enters into insecure isolation within the bowels of the earth. The atmosphere is described as becoming “Clammy”, “oozier, “ and “wetter”. This is yet again another lengthy description to emphasize the preparation for death, delivered through the symbolic terminology, as the surroundings become increasingly sinister. For example darkness was, associated with death and danger of the unknown, whereas light signifies the safety and security of visible environments. The impact of the inspired state of insecurity and suspense emphasise the emotional dismay,
which circles continuously around the main character of each story, be it Holmes, the Signalman or the narrator in “The Red Room”.
The notion of isolation triggers an immediate attachment to danger, being alone in such a desolate place heightens the tension because people are aware that visitors are few and far between, therefore if an accident should take place, help will not be readily at hand. Further on, the infamous “red light” is first referred to. Initial impressions do not place any significance on “the red light” in the story, nevertheless “the red light” is mentioned another twelve times, thus showing its relevance, and building anticipation as to its relevance.
When confusion is created regarding the two characters, surrounding the disassociation of facial and vocal expressions, the narrator and the audience are left guessing, as the signalman moves on to describe his mundane profession. This leaves the audience to believe him to be a meticulous employee. Worry comes into the equation as Dickens continues to add to the tension and imagery; the signalman looks at “the little bell”, for no apparent reason and “makes certain entries”. A resolution is soon close at hand as the narrator vows to “come at eleven” the next evening, to intensify the growing unease.
True to ghost story tradition, the signalman begins his account of events previous to the appearance of the narrator with “One moonlight night”. This is the sort of predictability, which disappears within the other two stories. The language that consequently follows this scene highlights the unpleasantness and eeriness of the surroundings and of the featured “blackness of the tunnel”. Another significant piece of speech is the alliteration of “frozen finger tracing out my spine” this raises the fear of the narrator and brings his feelings into the story once again.
Preceding this, the pace quickens with short utterances and several questions, “Did it cry out? ‘No. It was silent.’ ‘Did it wave its arm?’ No.”, this is a technique enforced by Dickens, to answer questions which may be racing through the audience, who until this point have been kept in suspense. This series of ‘question time’, leads to a description of the next series of events. Again Dickens implements the effect of physical contact into the role of the signalman through; “He touched me on the arm with his forefinger twice or thrice, giving a ghastly nod each time.” To add to the traditional ghost story case, the subsequent paragraph continues the good versus evil theme in, “for God’s sake”. Now the repetitiveness of the story brings importance upon the “little bell” and “Halloa! Below there!” There is also the point where the reader is once again very much involved in the plot; we are made to think about possible reasoning’s for the narrator’s failure to hear the bell ringing the previous evening. Pieces of the puzzle now slot together “the danger light” is once again used and as the story draw to a close, Dickens gives us slight hints as to the final fate of the signalman and yet at the same time allows us to come to our own conclusions.
In using “That I more than once looked back at the red light as I ascended the pathway, that I did not like the red light”, the narrator begins to cast his opinion onto the audience by stating that he does “not like the red light”. He then begins to consider possible ways out for the signalman, counselling or confessing to his employer about his hallucinations. However, the narrator then begins to doubt his own state of mind and his own opinions as to whether there is a ghost or if the signalman is insane, through spending so much time secluded from the general public and of fellow ‘human’ company.
Towards the end of the story, Dickens ‘throws in’ a surprise factor, as this was more common to do in the early nineteenth century, used to make the ending more unpredictable for the audience. The language “a lovely day” is not usually associated with the gothic mystery genre. “The mouth of the tunnel,” is once again mentioned at this point in the story and this leads the audience to assume that the narrator will too see the ghost. The metaphor, which surrounds the “mouth of the tunnel”, is that it is the opening to hell because the Signalman cannot see beyond “the mouth of the tunnel” and so casts the aspersion that it is the entry to the brinks of desperation that again links in with the dark and light theme. This presumption is strengthened by the indication of “The Danger Light”. As the reader is under the impression of this, Dickens cleverly implements, within the description of the signalman’s death the significant actions, which were referred to in the first paragraph of the story.
As we reach the final paragraph of the story, we realise looking back that significant words, phrases and actions are pointed out to us. The final paragraph is a close from the narrator, in this he states how the “curious circumstances,” relate not only to the way the ghost signified death when it ‘appeared’ to the signalman, but also to himself and the way he greeted the signalman on the first evening when they met. The signalman had been certain of seeing the narrator previously; this leaves the audience questioning what the narrator had to do with the death of the signalman.
Moving on to the next story “The Man with the Twisted Lip”, the setting relies heavily upon places, which are possible for the audience to relate to, for example, specifically mentioned is “Upper Swandam Lane…East of London Bridge”. This location also provides a way for Sir Arthur Conan Doyle to get the audience involved in solving the mystery, by subtly posing such questions as; what is the “Principal of the Theological College of St. George’s” doing in an opium den? Already we are captivated by the plot and so expect a simple clean-cut finish. However, when Dr. Watson finds, the missing Isa Whitney he is simply horrified to discover his close friend, Sherlock Holmes among the “sottish” men. “Walk past me, then look back at me.” Holmes says this to Dr. Watson, it is used to signify life, people usually are described as taking one step forward and two steps back, and so for every pleasant characteristic that we possess, we usually have more downfalls. This affects the reader, by allowing them to associate with
the characters and use their own empathy with the feelings of Dr. Watson. It also suggests questions to the audience as to whether Sherlock Holmes has “added opium-smoking to cocaine injections and all the other little weakness” it had been suggested, by some newspapers from the time of the Sherlock Holmes mysteries, that in his pipe Holmes did used an illegal substance which provided him with his somewhat ‘magical’ solutions to the most ridiculous of cases.
Sherlock Holmes “Shuffled along with a bent back and an uncertain foot,” for two streets along side Dr. Watson, which must have shocked Dr. Watson into thinking what possible reason other than being an addict to the opium, could have lead Holmes to such a “ceaseless” place, full of “drunken feet” and “bodies lying in strange fantastic poses”. This endeavour supports the reader’s imagination and provides certain representation as to the current setting. Watson, relieved when his companion revealed that he was “in the midst of a very remarkable inquiry, “ and had only been there “in the hope to find a clue”. Sherlock Holmes also shows his disbelief at seeing Dr. Watson in such a place.
After Holmes ‘returns’ to his usual self, he begins to tell Watson how he had come to be in “the Bar of Gold”. At this point, the audience along with Dr. Watson are in a state of confusion and are a little worried for the safety of Sherlock once he says, “had I been recognised in that den my life would not have been worth an hours purchase, … and the rascally Lascar has sworn vengeance upon me.”
Once again a specific place is referred to when Sherlock and Watson depart heading for “Kent”. “But I am all in the dark,” Watson refers to his lack of knowledge about the case and metaphorically shares this unease with his friend. Sherlock along with the audiences first views upon the case, were that “it seems absurdly simple”. Here one would think that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle did not wish to lull the audience into a false assumption about his main character, but in fact wished to reveal as little about Sherlock Holmes as possible to help maintain the reader’s intrigue and mystery about the plot and the characters as well.
As the two associates reach Lee (which once more assists the reader in picturing the setting) the Private Investigator starts to describe the background of the case to Dr. Watson. He tells of how “Mrs. St Clair walked slowly”, due to Monday being “an exceedingly hot day”. Whilst she “glanced about in the hope of seeing a cab,” she was “struck cold to see her husband looking down at her”. Already we begin to jump to conclusions about why her Mr. St Clair was not at work but in “Swandam Lane”. Consequently this allows Sir Arthur Conan Doyle to continue to intrigue his readers be let Holmes carry on with his description of events. The effect of a sub plot is added by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle to mislead the readers and associate people into the famous ‘Whodunit’ plot.
The detailed account of events allows, Dr. Watson and the audience to get a clear picture of the situation. Throughout most of the story, it is a conversation
between the two main characters describing in the narrative form. However as the companions reach “The Cedars”, which is the residence of Mr and Mrs. St Clair, Sherlock begins to worry about what he can tell the “little blonde woman” that he has had an unsuccessful day of findings. For the woman to have “most kindly put two rooms at my disposal” and have “a stable boy” and her “own grounds” she must be in no large state of financial difficulty, taking into consideration the circumstances and that her husband was the “bread winner” of the family. This may lead to presumptions upon everyone’s minds, like has she told the truth to the investigator, or does she have more to do with the disappearance of her husband than she cares to say.
A shock factor is added at this point in the story, as it reaches its climax. To keep readers interested in the plot of the story and to make the pace quicken, Mrs. St Clair knows something that Sherlock Holmes does not, and so as to create suspense she asks for his opinions on the whereabouts of her husband. She questions his professional theories and tells him that she “received a letter from him”, earlier on in the day. This not only captivates the audience, but also Mr. Holmes and it is unclear exactly how this affects his emotions, but in the paragraph it does say that “he roared” in answer to his client. Another insight as to his feelings could be that “he snatched it from her”, or possibly he was just intrigued by the sudden contact from her husband as this may give him a ‘lead’ in the case. Even through his “eagerness” he is still unsure of the authenticity of the handwriting and so, asks Mrs. St Clair several times if she was “sure that this is your husbands hand”. The content of the note provides another insight as to the resolution of the story, “A huge error which may take some little time to rectify” this can be interpreted as him being away for a while, however will be able to sort out the unfortunate misunderstanding which has caused her to call in the services of Sherlock Holmes.
Sherlock Holmes then begins to examine the evidence for hope of further clues as to the logic behind this obscure note. No sooner has he done this, but decides to look at the facts once again, within this we begin to see the ending shape into an understandable explanation. “But it might have been a cry of surprise. Astonishment at the unexpected sight of you might cause him to throw up his hands?” this suggests that Mrs. St Clair may not have such a close relationship with her husband as she would like to think, we later realise that she does not entirely know her husband at all. Sherlock Holmes now looks at the case from a different viewpoint.
When Holmes and Watson retire to the “large and comfortable double-bedded room” Watson tells the audience how “Sherlock Holmes was a man, however, who when he had an unsolved problem on his mind would go for days and even for a week, without rest,” surely this may lead to the assumption that Sherlock Holmes may use opium in his famous pipe, “he perched himself crosslegged, with an ounce of shag tobacco and a box of matches laid out in front of him”.
Dr. Watson has already explained that his companion often spent time like this, and so created a homely setting by barricading himself into a ‘think-tank’, could Holmes have an insecure and unchastely inner-self? When Watson awakes he describes the room being “full of a dense tobacco haze, but nothing remained of the heap of shag”.
When the two companions once again set out onto the road, it is in the very early hours of morning, it is after a considerate amount of discussion. Sherlock Holmes has discovered a key to fit his theory, only Sir Arthur Conan Doyle leave this to the imagination of his readers. The final conclusion is no further than a cab ride away, however, it is still left up until the last possible moment to be revealed, but by this point it is quite predictably a case of “walk past me, and then look back at me”. Despite this, the way in which the ending is written and indeed set portrays a totally different side to the story. The ‘whodunit’ soon turns into a fraud case. Mr. Neville St Clair was in fact Hugh Boone the ‘professional’ beggar.
To finalise the humiliation of Hugh Boone, a deal is struck between all present, this is again a way of portraying Sherlock Holmes as the better detective than the police force, because the police are willing to cover up this mistake to save them from their own embarrassment. Regardless of the eventual discovery and explanation to the case, Sherlock Holmes has not fulfilled his original plans to solve the case. He was supposed to solve a murder case and yet there was no murder to be solved, also the idea of Sherlock Holmes was that he showed up the police and their investigative resources and methods, however winds up working hand in hand with the police. Was this a deliberate or accidental confusion by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle?
“The Red Room”. The story opens with direct speech and so the audience is thrust straight into the plot. Immediately we are aware that the genre is a gothic mystery, as is mentions “a very tangible host” within the first line. The significant line in this story would appear to be “It is your own choosing,” and this is related to the ending of the story, where the narrator says, “you choose what you want to be scared of”. All throughout the story there are definite descriptions of strange and unusual objects, for example, the “queer old mirror”. Also hints as to the conclusion of t he story like “pale eyes wide open, “ and “droning insistence”.
The way in which H. G. Wells describes and depicts the three other characters in the story is magnificent in the way that, it allows the audience to visualise such “grotesque custodians”, for instance, “more bent, more wrinkled, more aged than even the first” with “decaying yellow teeth” this suggests that the setting may once have been a grand respectable stately home, and yet now was inhabited by “atavistic” and “inhuman”, liquor intoxicated individuals. The way, in which the speech is written, allows the author to add attitude, into the characters’ image, to enhance the lack of respectability towards them.
A long and detailed account of the corridor, which the young man is to take in order to get to the “haunted room”, is provided. The young man, dithers and lingers around the lighter area near the main room, which yet again we associate with safety, he looks back for assurance and yet receives little more than “intent expressions on their ancient faces”. The narrator begins to analyse the behaviour and character of the three “grotesque custodians”, this is to pass the time and to take away some of his thoughts surrounding his safety, state of mind and his views upon the so-called “haunted room”. “The long draughty subterranean passage”, the narrator is very alert and aware of his environment at this point and again is trying to take his mind off the fate, which awaits him. He is also aware of little details that eventually will help him to overcome his ‘fear’. As the passage dulls and light becomes scarce, he is startled by something which “shadow fell with marvellous distinctness”, this misleads him into thinking that something is looming in the “silvery illumination”. As he reaches for his “revolver”, he “advanced only to discover a Ganymede and Eagle glistening”, this shows how he was uneasy around the dark surroundings, and how when people are afraid their fear gets the better of them; this then sets him at ease for the rest of his journey towards the featured “Red Room”.
He then shows his reluctance to enter “the door of the red room”, as he describes having “a sudden twinge of apprehension,” and “with his face half turned to the pallid silence of the landing” entered, this description, tells the audience that his weariness has grown and his confidence has shrunken since entering the dark corridors and since leaving the safe light room where the ‘grotesque custodians’ remained, and by using the word “pallid” the audience are aware of the narrator’s expressions and possible thoughts and feelings. This is a crucial point in the story, as it leaves the audience in suspense as to whether the young man will walk out of the room alive, and what his business with the red room is, because he thinks about the “predecessor “ who “was found” before the opening of the door.
A little further on, and we still do not know his business there, however we learn about the history behind the room and the wonderful metaphor about his candle being “a little tongue of light in the rooms vastness”; “an ocean of mystery and suggestion beyond its island of light”, this description enables the author to provide an atmospheric setting which relates to the ghost story theme without being to straight forward and boring. The young man also shows a state of uncertainty in that he has conversations with himself and as the network of candles simultaneously go out, begins to speak to any ‘presence’ that may be there. The fear that he feels is greatly shown by H. G. Wells as “my hands trembled so much that twice I missed the paper of the matchbox.”
As the story reaches a magnificent finale, the audience are lead to believe that the young man has met his fate and lost his life in the same way as his predecessors. However, the next paragraph ties up the loose ends, and explain
more about the ghost. When the old “grotesque custodians” first re-enter the story, it leads the imagination to believe that the narrator is dead, and is seeing the ghosts of the people from downstairs. Nevertheless, H. G. Wells proves us wrong, and holds a discussions between the characters surrounding the evidence that “There is neither ghost of earl nor ghost of countess in that room, there is no ghost there at all; but worse far worse”, at such a late stage in the story, it is rare to see another twist in the plot, with so little time left to explain it. When the three other characters hear the man’s explanation, they are initially in a state of disbelief, and there is “an interval of silence”.
The settings, in “The Man with the Twisted Lip”, and “The Signalman” are alike, because they both use surroundings that the audience can relate to and use subjects, which are of public interest. The stories can be linked together by the author’s use of darkness and light, to signify, heaven and hell. In the same way, the first person narrative, which each story is told in, allows us, the audience, to experience the emotions, thoughts and feelings of the narrator. The authors use different temperatures, to create a certain ambience, which have an effect on the narrator and therefore the audience is aware of them, because people associate heat with life and blood being pumped around a body, whereas coldness with a dead body without any blood running through the veins. The changing shapes seen in “The Red Room” signifies fear and life also, because when life’s candle is burnt out, you are said to be dead.
To conclude, I would surmise that the later pieces of literature, relate more to each other, than with the earlier piece. This is because the way in which the authors portray characters and their personalities through such short stories differs immensely from that of Dickens’ style of writing. However, just because I have made this point, does not automatically mean that, “The Signalman” does not bare any resemblance upon the writing from the late Victorian era, because it does in that the use of settings and uses of light and dark symbolism remain the same throughout the period. I preferred reading the story “The Signalman”, because it keeps you enthralled with the plot as it is constantly changing the pace. Overall, the Victorian short stories, utilise a range of devices, which ultimately make them a literary accomplishment to their relevant audiences of the period.
