How do Dickens and Wells create a sinister and supernatural atmosphere in the opening of The Signalman and The Red Room?
In the pre nineteenth century the gothic genre was extremely popular. The stories were set with a horror theme in a supernatural way, including odd behaviour in "The Signalman" and "The Red Room". These usually consisted of dark, gloomy places like castles where supernatural happenings could occur. In this essay I will be talking about two novels “The Signalman” by Charles Dickens and "The Red Room" by H.G. Wells. The story "The Signalman" is a 19th century gothic horror story. The plot of the story is about an isolated railway cutting. It all begins when a traveller meets a lonely signalman who has a tale to tell. "The Signalman" is being haunted by mysterious figure that lurks in the mouth of the rail tunnel, warning him of tragedies. He has appeared not once but twice before and both occasions "The Signalman" witnessed terrible accidents, one a train crash and then a young girl falling from a speeding carriage. "The Red Room" is about a man who visits a castle and wants to enter "The Red Room" that no one enters but he wants to enter. He is warned not to enter but does and faces the consequences. The pensioners and the narrator are the main characters in this novel.
Dickens and Wells create a sinister and supernatural atmosphere on the very first page in "The Red Room" narrator who I feel is overconfident in what he says “Eight and Twenty years I have lived…..” who believes that only his experience of to be taken account of nothing else. As well as this he ignores warnings form the old people. He will only believe in what he can touch and see. ‘It will take a very tangible ghost to frighten me’ form this quote we are able to recognise that the story opens in mid conversation therefore the reader becomes immersed and is straight away intrigued by it.. "The Red Room" story starts with the narrator who is talking to an old man, with a “withered arm”. As well as the old man there is also an elderly woman in the room who keeps “staring into the fire” like she is hypnotized. The third character described is “more bent, more wrinkled, more aged” which appears to be more peculiar than the others. “Wells” has made all the characters deformed this help giving a sinister and supernatural atmosphere. The odd behaviour of "The Signalman" starts from the opening of the story “glow of an angry sunset” the connotations for this are daunting and forbidding furthermore when narrator shouts “Halloa! Below!” the Signalman looks down the line instead of looking up demonstrates the reader his odd behaviour. Reasons for this are because the signalman has not interacted or come across any human beings therefore demonstrating a supernatural atmosphere “Dickens” has created. More odd behaviour is discovered as story progresses. “He directed………and then looked at me” exemplifies that he has been alone and confused, which in hand puzzles the reader. Furthermore “Wells” in addition uses triplets like “Dickens” “their gaunt silences, their bent carriage, their evident unfriendliness” to highlight the supernatural atmosphere. Danger is represented by repetition in "The Red Room" “This night of all nights?” causes the narrator to be scared and not so confident in entering the red room. Techniques such as these are used by both “Wells” and “Dickens” to create a sinister and supernatural atmosphere.
