The narrator is very scientific and educated. He is possibly the most interesting of the three characters in the story. He will not believe that the spectre is an indication of bad things to come; he says it is just a “remarkable coincidence.” I think that this creates a conflict in the story between the narrator and the signalman. However I also think that the narrator comes across as self-confident and arrogant. This is because I think that he is quite condescending to the signalman at the start. Then when the narrator realises that the signalman is quite well educated, he becomes more respectful and increasingly friendly with him. The narrator thinks there is “something remarkable” about the signalman’s behaviour, but he can’t really express it. The other thing that is noticeable about the narrator is that he is the only character that we have no description of.
On the other hand, Dickens is careful to give an initial, scary description of the signalman. He is a “dark sallow man with a dark beard and rather heavy eyebrows.” He is always wary, tense and preoccupied. The signalman is a well educated man, who does not appear to fit into his job. However he is particularly conscientious in carrying out his duties as a railway signalman. The signalman is not the sort of person who would be expected to see and believe in apparitions or the paranormal.
Dickens describes the spectre dramatically: with his left arm hiding his eyes, and his right arm waving vigorously. The impact that he gives creates an urgent effect to the story. The spectre never appears to hear the signalman; whenever he answers the signalman’s calls, the reply is just a repetition of “Hallo! Below there! Look out! Look out!” which intensifies the whole effect of the spectre. The first time the signalman hears this, there is a train collision in the tunnel shortly afterwards. The second time he hears it, somebody dies inside one of the train compartments. I think this build-up of accidents successfully increases the horror surrounding the spectre.
Dickens chooses his language precisely. He uses phrases like, “vague vibration”, “violent pulsation” or “the glow of an angry sunset” to give off terrible and ominous hints. His language is evocative. For example, he says “as if I had left the natural world” to explain the signalman’s workplace. A brilliant but subtle touch to the story is that it never gives us any names. This keeps the chilling atmosphere of the story continually active.
Dickens creates an atmosphere in a number of ways, particularly through the descriptions of location in the story – “as solitary and dismal a place as ever I saw”. He gives a series of details which appeal to the senses of the reader: “dripping wet wall”, “jagged stone”, “gloomy red light”, “earthy deadly smell”, “cold wind”. Dickens gives the impression that the signalman is imprisoned in a vast edifice. He mentions “massive architecture”, “great dungeon”. The only way out of this prison is through a “black tunnel”. No wonder the narrator gets such an impression of the deeply depressing and oppressing surroundings.
In conclusion, Dickens uses several different methods of creating the intense atmosphere in this story. Some of these are: his use of vividly descriptive language for example a “barbarous depressing and forbidding air”, by describing in detail the surrounding landscape and area. For example “so little sunlight ever found its way into this spot that it had an earthy, deadly smell; and so much cold wind rushed through it, that it struck chill to me as if I had left the natural world.” Also one of the most important things in this story is Dickens’ use of characterisation. There are two main characters the signalman and the narrator but there is also the spectre. Here arises the question, does the title “the signalman” refer to the physical signalman, or the spectre who signals disasters. The main power of this story comes from Dickens’ skill in making the reader ask questions, which can never be answered. To me it is this that makes “the signalman” such a puzzling and mysterious narrative.
