In this essay I will compare the two protagonists in the stories The "Signalman" and "The Foghorn".

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Matthew Walker 10KL

An essay to compare the two protagonists The Signalman and The Foghorn

In this essay I will compare the two protagonists in the stories The “Signalman” and “The Foghorn”.

Although the stories were written one hundred years apart they have many similarities.

Firstly, The Signalman appears wary but well-educated who has thrown his life away. This may well be why he is stuck in a little booth by himself controlling trains. This setting is very simple. The setting is simple because The Signalman has his own small room, which is described like a dungeon. The quotations “A crooked prolongation of this great dungeon” and “a solitary and dismal a place as ever I saw” show this.

He is alone in the booth with his thoughts and only a passing train for company. It is in this setting where he meets his apparitions.

When The Signalman sees the ghost he appears scared, “his eyes prominent and strained”. The quotation “shows a latent fear” suggest this. Short sentences, “what’s wrong”, “what’s happened”, “where”. These short sentences try to create a feeling of fear. This builds up suspense for the reader.

The Signalman is faced with a difficult decision when he sees the third apparition because if he told someone about the ghost they may think he’s mad, but if he keeps it to himself without his warnings people’s lives may be in danger. He is a conscientious person “with a feverish distress” not knowing how to deal with this apparition. We know this because The Signalman’s narrator says, “In the discharge of his duties, I observed him to be remarkably exact and vigilant, in a word I should have set this man down as one of the safest of men to be employed in that capacity”. This shows The Signalman to be conscientious.

I will now look at the setting for Mcdunn and I will try to compare the two characters together.

Mcdunn’s setting is also a lonely one.  He is in a tower alone looking after ships not trains. Mcdunn does not appear to be scared of the sea monster he appears to admire it. This is shown by the quotations, “it swam slowly and with a great dark majesty” and “the head rose a full forty feet above the water on a slender beautiful dark neck”. Mcdunn seems to relate to the sea monster, as they are both loners. A quotation to show this is “maybe it’s the last of its kind”. Mcdunn relates to the sea monster “all alone in a world not made for you”. They both appear to be living their lives alone.

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Mcdunn has a similar decision to make as The Signalman. He has to decide whether or not to tell any one about his sighting. If he tells someone they may try to catch the sea monster and Mcdunn doesn’t want this to happen.

The Signalman has a similar problem because if he tells someone about his sighting people will think he’s gone mad. The two protagonists have a choice to keep quiet about their secret or to tell someone about their sighting.

After writing about the setting of the two characters I find there are ...

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