During the first meeting of the narrator and the signalman, the reader notices many aspects about the signalman. We can see the signalman’s confusion from the start of the story, when instead of looking up at where the narrator’s voice is coming from, “he turned himself about and looked down the line even though no one could have doubted from what quarter the voice came.” When the signalman came to confront him, he was not “removing his eyes” from the narrator’s and when the narrator “pursued the fixed eyes and the saturnine face”, he thought the signalman was a spirit , not a man or with a man with an “infection in his mind.” When the reader finds out that the signalman actually has some “latent fear” of the narrator, we once again see the confusion in his mind. It is revealed to the audience that the signalman is a very conscientious worker as he was “several times interrupted by the little bell and had to read off messages and send off replies.” He would do this instantly even if the narrator and he were in the middle of a conversation. Sometimes when the bell would not ring, he would still open the door of the hut and would look “out towards the read light near the mouth of the tunnel. Once again this shows the agitation of the signalman and also, his confused stare of mind.
As promised, the narrator met up with the signalman the next day as well. This is when the signalman reveals that he really is agitated and disturbed. He tells the narrator that he is seeing a “specter.” He says that every time he sees this ”specter” , a few moments after that something horrible happens , someone dies. This shows the readers that the signalman is very confused because he himself does not know what this “ghost” is because it is now that he reveals to the narrator that he thought that the narrator was the “specter” , when he came to meet him the first time. The signalman says that six months later when he saw the specter for the second time, it really disturbed and terrified him and “he came in and sat down , partly to collect my thoughts , partly because it turned me faint.” To make matters worse, the signalman has seen the “ghost for the third. This was during the narrator’s and signalman’s first meeting.
What makes the signalman even more confused and agitated is that, he knows something terrible is going to happen but he can not do anything about it. If he telegraphs danger , he can “give no reason for it” and everyone would think he was gone “mad.” What he wants to know most of all is that , if the “ghost” is trying to tell him something bad is going to happen , why not tell him specifically and properly and why is this “ghost” telling him and not someone else.
The third time the narrator goes to meet the signalman; he is shocked to see that the signalman is dead. He is told that the signalman was hit by a train and that the man who was driving the train was telling the signalman, “Below there! Look out! For God’s sake , clear the way!” This was the exact same thing the signalman had said to the narrator earlier. This is when the reader realizes that the visions the signalman was seeing was of his own future. His confusion had lead to his death.
The language used in this story is very different from the modern day’s one. This type of language and description adds to the dull surroundings of the signalman and places more emphasis on the signalman’s agitation and confusion.
In my opinion, this story is a work of art as it is very well written. It is a thrilling tale as there is a lot of suspense in it which makes the reader want to read more and finish it. This story was released during the Victorian age. This was the time when science was prevailing and was very influential and heavily used. People at this time wanted to be treated as a mature audience and wanted something different, like this. That is why I am sure this story was very well received.
