The Signalman was written by Charles Dickens. The story is about a man who visits the railway line and meets a signalman who behaves weirdly and sees things that no one else can see. The message that Charles Dickens was trying to get across to the reader is that loneliness can do strange things to people, or alternatively he just wanted to entertain. The main character in this story is the signalman, however his name is not revealed to the reader. Charles Dickens has done this so that it is left to the imagination of the reader. In the Signalman the suspense is created by the mystery surrounding the Signalman himself, he is described as ‘a dark sallow man, with a dark beard and rather heavy eyebrows.’ By describing him as ‘sallow’ Charles Dickens makes it clear that he is an unhealthy person who is of an pale/yellowish colour. The Signalman is a mysterious character because at the end of the story it is revealed that the Signalman had died, however the narrator had been talking to him that very day. This leaves the reader wondering whether the Signalman was a ghost or even a figment of the mans imagination.
The three stories are each narrated in different ways. The Signalman is narrated in the first person, by the man who visits the railway. This makes the readers feel more involved with the characters and the story. For example ‘And I stood up before the fire with my glass in my hand.’ However the Red Room and the Withered Arm are written in the third person. This way it is more distant and the reader gets a more balanced view of the story. Also there is no connection between the characters and the reader. I think that the type of narration that is the most effective is the stories written in the first person, which is used in The Signalman. This is because it makes the reader feel more involved in the story.
The purpose of the narrator is to tell the story from their point of view and their perspective. The narrator introduces the reader to the other characters in the story.
In The Withered Arm there are many other characters apart from Rhoda Brook. For example there is Farmer Lodge, conjuror Trendle, Rhoda’s son, milking maids and Gertrude. At the start of the story Gertrude is described as ‘a rosy-cheecked-titsy-totsy little body enough’ this shows that she is bouncy, lively, skinny and perfect. She is also described as ‘A lady complete.’ This shows that she is every thing a lady should be. However towards the end of the story she is described as ‘longed for the death of a fellow creature.’ This shows the reader that she has turned into a creature longing for the death of someone. Gertrude’s character changes dramatically from the start to the end. At the beginning she is bouncy, friendly and perfect, however at the end she becomes irritable, superstitious and desperate for her looks so that she can win back her husband. Another character in The Withered Arm is conjuror Trendle who is a very secretive character and doesn’t advertise his powers as he claims to sell turf. In the Signalman there is only a few characters. There is the Signalman, the visitor to the signal box and the train driver. The visitor to the signal box is the narrator. He is not described in the story at all, even though he plays a major part in the story. In the Red Room there are a few extra characters, there is a man with the withered arm, the old woman and the man with the shades. All three of these people are old. The most effective type of mystery story is one with fewer characters this way the readers attention is mostly on the main character. Also it stops the reader getting confused with other character.
The three stories each have very different settings. The Withered Arm is set in many different places. Firstly there is Rhoda’s house in Holmstoke, the heath, conjuror Trendle’s house and the water side hermit. Thomas Hardy describes the heath using pathetic fallacy ‘thick clouds made the atmosphere dark’. He also uses personification as he described the wind ‘The wind howled dismally’. Also the thick clouds make the atmosphere feel dark and sad. Another setting in The Withered Arm is the Water slide hermit, in which Thomas Hardy uses a lot of strong imagery for example ‘steady roar’, ‘deep slow river flowing’. The water in this setting symbolises a stat of mind. There is a link between this setting and the setting in Holmstoke because it says ‘same stream waters the Holmstoke meads’ this also shows that there are deep hidden secrets that get passed along slowly. In the Red Room there is only two settings there is the red room and the living room. The living room is not described much; however the red room is described in great detail. ‘The great red room of Lorraine castle in which the young duke had died’ this makes it seem as though there is a supernatural presence is there. Also ‘and left an ocean of stillness’ this makes it seem as though the floor is a deep dark never ending space. Also before he entered the room H.G Wells the journey he made from the living room to the red room. H e described the passageway as a ‘Subterranean passage’. This increased the suspense, by making it seem as though he is going down into hell. Also to increase the suspense, just before he enters the room it says ‘the door to the red room …. were in a shadowy corner.’ In the Signal man there is only one setting which is by the train track. He describes his journey down to the train track ‘extremely deep, and unusually precipitous. It was made through a clammy stone, that became oozier and wetter as I went down.’ This shows that it was a wet but clammy time of year probably spring which gives the idea of new begging’s. Nothing more is described about the setting. Techniques that are used to increase the reader’s sense of suspense are pathetic fallacy, personification and excess punctuation. The story that has the most mysterious setting is in The Withered Arm. This is because it has examples of personification, pathetic fallacy and has more descriptions in it. Also because it enables the reader to visualise the settings better. I think that the setting in The Signalman represent loneliness. The setting in The Red Room represents paranoia and terror and the setting in The Withered Arm represent fear and superstition.
Therefore, Victorian writers successfully created mysterious short stories through using chapters, less characters and detailed setting. The most effective story is The Withered Arm this is because it has the most imaginative and interesting story line. Also because Thomas Hardy doesn’t reveal everything to the reader as it lets them debate over whether Rhoda is a witch or not. It shows a modern audience the effects and consequences of superstition. The moral or message of the story may have been be careful what you wish for as it may come true.
