Literature G.C.S.E Prose Critique
Thursday, 2nd March, 2004 Wayne Owens
Literature G.C.S.E Prose Critique
Q = Which of the two short stories studied did you most enjoy and why? In your critique explain briefly where each story is set, when and what happens. Despite your preference, comment on whether both stories meet the criteria for good ghost fiction. Make close reference to the writers' skills and language (make comparisons.)
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After reading 'The Signalman' by Charles Dickens and 'Harry' by Rosemary Timperley, I have come to the conclusion that I prefer 'Harry'. Both stories, however, are brilliantly written ghost stories with well-created atmospheres and plots that create tension and suspense.
'The Signalman', by Charles Dickens, is a pre-20th century story which is set in the 1800's. It takes place by a train line and in a signal box which is occupied by the signalman. In the story the signalman befriends a man and later confides in him that he has seen an 'appearance' at the entrance to the train tunnel. He tells the man, who is the narrator of the story, that after he has seen the appearance something bad has always happened. After the first sighting, a train crash took place where a number of people died and, after the second sighting, a young lady died whilst on a train. The signalman then explains that he has recently seen the appearance again and is worried what might happen. He is scared - trying to answer questions as to what the appearance is trying to tell him and why it has chosen him to visit. He can answer none of these questions and knows that something tragic will happen that he has no control over. The narrator returns to the signalman the next morning but finds that he is dead. A group of men explain to him that the signalman was run over by a train that morning. We then learn that the 'spectre' or 'appearance' was warning the signalman of his own death as the actions and shouts of the train driver match exactly the spectre's. This dramatic and unexpected ending proves to be great twist in the story.
'Harry', by Rosemary Timperley, is, on the other hand, a modern ghost story and as a result the language is more accessible and familiar to a modern reader. Unlike 'The Signalman's' railway location this story is set in a family home and the main characters are the family of three - Mr and Mrs James and their young daughter, Christine, who we later find out to be adopted. Christine begins to talk to herself in the back garden but insists that she is talking to her brother Harry. Christine is not known to have a brother but not much is known about her past due to her being adopted. Mrs James immediately becomes worried that something is wrong but she and her husband decide that Christine just has an imaginary friend. As her conversations with Harry become more frequent, Mrs James becomes more worried and feels increasingly alone as no one understands what she is so obsessed with. Eventually Mrs James takes her daughter to the doctor and he also says that this is normal and that she just has an imaginary friend. Mrs James, however, is still not happy with the situation and realises that her relationship with Christine is not as strong as she would like it to be.
Then Mrs James visits a lady at the adoption centre where she is told that Christine had a brother called Harry who saved her life when she was a baby. Her father had tried to kill the family and so Harry jumped out of the window to save his sister but he died. Understandably Mrs James is now very worried and goes to Christine's old house to see if she can find out more. She meets a neighbour who claims to have seen Harry since he died and says that he is after Christine. Following this news Mrs ...
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Then Mrs James visits a lady at the adoption centre where she is told that Christine had a brother called Harry who saved her life when she was a baby. Her father had tried to kill the family and so Harry jumped out of the window to save his sister but he died. Understandably Mrs James is now very worried and goes to Christine's old house to see if she can find out more. She meets a neighbour who claims to have seen Harry since he died and says that he is after Christine. Following this news Mrs James is desperate to collect her daughter from school but by the time she gets there it is too late. Christine has already gone with her brother and, furthermore, she has not been seen since.
Both stories begin very effectively but very differently from each other. The exposition of 'The Signalman' is a combination of plunging straight into the story's action with, ' "Halloa! Below there!" ' and then the posing of a puzzle;
'When he heard a voice thus calling to him, he was standing at the
foot of his box, with a flag in his hand, furled round its short pole.
One would have thought, considering the nature of the ground,
that he could not have doubted from what quarter the voice
came from but, instead of looking up to where I stood on top of
the steep cutting nearly over his head, he turned himself about
and looked down the line.'
The speech at the beginning of the story brings the reader straight into the action but the reader also wants to know who is talking to whom. We, the readers, also wonder why the signalman is acting in the way he is. Dickens has cleverly secured our attention: we are intrigued immediately and so feel compelled to read on.
The story of 'Harry' resembles 'The Signalman' in that it too begins by posing a puzzle.
'Such ordinary things make me afraid. Sunshine. Sharp
shadows on grass. White roses. Children with red hair.
And the name - Harry. Such an ordinary name.'
This exposition too commands our attention as the reader inevitably wonders why this person is afraid of such ordinary things. We later find out that all of the things that this person is afraid of have a great significance to the rest of the story. However, this beginning is more puzzling because 'sunshine' and 'white roses' have positive connotations and are usually associated with pleasure. The 'I' before the name Harry is clever as it creates extra tension and suspense before the name is revealed. The writer uses punctuation cleverly too as the. '-' also tells us that important information must follow, revealing that the name 'Harry' will be significant.
Both writers have adopted the same authorial stance by choosing to tell the stories in the first person and, although both stories have very different settings, there are certainly some similarities.
One of the striking things about the setting of 'The Signalman' is its unpleasantness: it is a lonely, dark and depressing environment, described as having
'Barbarous, depressing and forbidding air'.
Being in this environment is not a pleasant experience for the narrator and in a way we feel his discomfort.
Although 'Harry' appears to be set in a very different setting, in a loving, happy and familiar home environment, it is later described to be 'strangely cold' to Mrs James. Both stories are, for the main character, familiar environments which they are used to but later represent fear. Although the atmosphere of the signalman is depressing and dark, the signalman is used to this area and it is familiar to him so he does not feel frightened because of his surroundings, but only because of the 'spectre'.
Both stories contain many literary devices which emphasise the atmospheres that the writer has created. In 'the Signalman', Dickens has used personification to describe the sun:
'the glow of an angry sunset'
This description of the sun acts as a warning to the narrator. The word 'angry' implies that the sun does not want the narrator to be there. It is inhospitable and not welcoming.
Dickens has also used enjambement to help create an atmosphere that provides the reader with a false sense of security. It also provides a contrast fro the paragraphs before and afterwards.
'Next evening was a lovely evening, and I walked out early to enjoy it. The sun was not yet quite down***********************
The long flowing sentences create a happy, positive and comfortable atmosphere which is quickly abolished when the narrator sees the 'appearance' which the signal man has described. This paragraph also contains many commas which also add to relaxed and comfortable atmosphere.
Alliteration is used to create forcing sound of a train coming through the tunnel.
'Just then, there came a Vague Vibration in the earth and air, quickly changing into a violent pulsation.'
The 'v' sound represents the sound of the train and adds to the negative atmosphere.
Harry also contains some brilliantly created literacy devices. This simile describes how Mrs Jones sees her daughter.
'It was as if she'd walked out of the world of light into darkness.'
When Christine is talking to Harry, Mrs James immediately feels worried and feels as though her daughter has gone from good to evil. As readers we may think that she is overreacting but we later find that she was not.
Timperley uses another negative simile in 'Harry' but this one describes the sun.
'The sun struck me like a hot blade.'
This simile implies that the sun is an enemy to Mrs James and that it is against her. A hot blade would normally be associated with pain, being attacked or even death.
In the next paragraph of the story Mrs James is suffering from sunstroke. Timperley has used literary devices here to make this a very effective piece of description.
'The roses glared whitely.'
This is personification and from this we can imagine how Mrs James is feeling and what she is seeing. Roses, of course, can not 'glare whitely' but the white roses have been significant in Mrs James' life recently and her brain is playing tricks on her because of her sunstroke. In this paragraph the roses 'danced' before her eyes which is another use of personification..
To evoke an atmosphere both authors use very descriptive language which makes both stories very effective.
In 'The Signalman,
Dickens uses lots of negative words to add to the dark and depressing mood. He uses words such as 'gloomy', 'deadly', 'solitary', 'barbarous' and 'forbidding'. All of these words are negative and fantastically set the scene for the reader.
'Harry' also contains some brilliantly created descriptions. Throughout the story Mrs James describes her daughter.
'Her little plump legs defenceless and endearing beneath her too short blue cotton skirt.'
This is such a loving description of her daughter although she has said that she is afraid of red hair, which her daughter has. As a reader we wonder why she seems so cautious of her own daughter and how she is behaving.
Rosemary Timperly uses very realistic dialogue throughout the story which makes the plot and characters more realistic.
'Chrrriiiiiss!
This piece of dialogue realistically represents how a distresses parent in real life would react in such distress.
Throughout both stories, we are given clues before we reach the climax of the story. In 'The signalman' we are told of the strange behaviour of the signalman when he is visited by the narrator. He looks into the tunnel rather than at the man which to us, and the narrator, is strange behaviour.
'There was something remarkable in his manner of doing so, though I could not have said for my life, what.'
The narrator who said these words, is as puzzled as we are as readers. We wonder why he has behaved this way and also why he is so unfriendly to the narrator. During the first visit, we witness how the signalman keeps looking at the bell when it has not rung and how he asks the narrator not to call out to him when he next visits. Some of these clues are explained to us when the signalman explains what he has seen. However we, like the narrator and signalman, are still puzzled to what the appearance is trying to show. This is not revealed to us until the very end of the story when the signalman dies.
Right at the beginning of ;'Harry' we are told of the things that Mrs JANES IS AFRAID OF. As well as posing a puzzle to the reader, it also provides us with clues. 'White roses', red hair' and 'sunshine' are all mentioned at the beginning of the story and repeatedly mentioned. We know that they must have significance and at the end we find out they have.
Rational voices play a major part in both stories and tear the reader two ways - wondering who's story to believe. There is only one rational voice in 'The signalman' - the narrator. He tells the signalman that it is a 'remarkable coincidence' and that what he has seen is a 'deception of his sense of sight.' As the signalman reveals more of the story, however, the narrator becomes more scared.
'Harry' contains many rational voices. Mr James, Dr Webster, Miss Cleaver and the teacher all try to comfort Mrs James but no one convinces her. At some points during the story she even tries to be her own rational voice.
'Don't be silly. Lots of children have an imaginary companion'. I told myself desperately. 'Just carry on as if nothing were happening. Don't listen. Don't be a fool.'
No matter how much Mrs James tries to convince herself she cannot put her mind at rest.
Although a main character dies at the end of each story, the story endings are very different. In both stories the climax and ending have little space between them which makes the stories even more dramatic. At the end of 'The signalman' the main character dies and his life ends but in 'Harry' we see Mrs James as the one main character and, still suffering, her life has to go on. We never really know what has happened to Christine and in the story Mrs James is the only one who knows that Harry has taken Christine. With both stories, when we reach the end our questions are immediately answered. The ending of 'Harry' is particularly clever as the last paragraph is exactly the same as the beginning. However, at the end this paragraph is more clear and we understand it a lot more.
The stories are similar in another way. Both Mrs James and the signalman feel alone and they cannot tell anyone else how they feel because they will not be believed. Mrs James said:
'He thought I was going 'round the bend''
Both her husband and her daughter are moving further and further away fro her.
In conclusion, I feel that both stories are brilliantly written ghost stories with well created atmospheres and plots that create tension and suspense. However, I prefer 'Harry' because the language is more familiar and accessible. The story has a brilliant story line which keeps the reader full of suspense and the end is a very good twist