There is and immediate sense of the unknown. The first line in the story “Halloa, below there!” suggests and opens the story with a sense of mystery. There are two people unknown to each other, One high above, and the other below. The narrator is seen as the being in the presence of light and the signalman is in the dark. This is an extreme contrast to use suggesting there is a sense of difference between the two characters. The description literally deciphers the two from each other.
This is supported with the line which the Narrator describes the Signalman:
“something remarkable…”
This is an immediate reference to something which is different and unique, perhaps supernatural about the signalman. The purpose of this description is to give a sense of suspense to the reader.
The sensorial triggers also help in the effect that Dickens desires. He uses the several references to the senses of the Human body. Touch, smell, sight and hearing are made reference to in order to draw the reader into the story.
“…dripping wet wall of jagged stone”, “deadly smell”, “gloomy red light”.
These are direct references to not only the readers senses but also to a more supernatural nature. This creates an unnerving ambiance which helps the reader become more immersed in the theme of mystery.
The impact of the action in The Signalman combines with the structure of the story. The first encounter within the story sees the narrator “descend” into the dark world of the Signalman. This is when his confidence in his rationality is tested and undermined.
When the narrator descends for a second time, his rationality becomes questioned once more. This time, it is derived from dialogue between the Narrator and The signalman.
“Resisting the slow touch of a frozen finger down my spine”. This is reference to how the Narrator is beginning to feel during the dialogue. There is clearly a disturbing feeling and nature to the signalman’s stories which Is shown through the narrators actions and feelings.
The action of the story structures the story together well. It is clear by the time the story ends, the events which occur are inexplicable, actions progressively become more mysterious.
“Signalman killed this morning, sir”
This is served as to slowly build up the suspense creating more mysterious circumstances each time the narrator descends down to the train tracks.
Each time the narrator descends he becomes less controllable and more drawn into the supernatural. At the end it becomes all too inexplicable: the sense of mystery progressively increases.
The dialogue in the signalman is simplistic at first. The dialogue is very short and reveals nothing. It is only later that the dialogue develops and becomes more in the stories progress itself. The dialogue is short at first but it slowly builds up to create a sense of understanding and builds up as the story and action progresses. They are all central in helping the build up of mystery and structure.
The dialogue reflects, initially, the distance and mistrust between the two characters – it is short and direct. Later though, the fluidity of the dialogue reflects a growing trust between the characters. This trust, however, also indicates that the two different worlds which the characters inhabit, the narrators world of 2light” and rationality, is beginning to merge with the signalman’s “darker” world of the supernatural, or unknown.
The intermingling, then, of the rational world of the narrator and the “supernatural” world of the Signalman serves ultimately to undermine the faith that the narrator has in his own rationality.
“that only in my mind, to the gesticulation he had imitated.”
Also, perhaps, this makes it more difficult for the reader not to believe and engage in the fears and the nature of the misgivings of the signalman.
The Signalman is a story which is based on the proliferation and the development of Railroads. This is also the merge of the different class types. Perhaps Dickens was trying to use this class system of working and middle class and show in The Signalman that there is little difference between the two and both are closer together than it is perceived in life. This is the grounds which Dickens uses and is able to relate and engage to the reader and make them more immersed into the story.
