Compare the two short stories, 'The Signalman' by Dickens and 'The Withered Arm by Hardy.
Compare the two short stories, 'The Signalman' by Dickens and 'The Withered Arm by Hardy. 'The Signalman' and 'The Withered Arm', are two short stories showing supernatural events. Authors, Dickens, and Hardy intrigue readers by using certain techniques. These techniques add suspense and mystery to the story, which makes the reader, want to read further on. The openings in both narratives begin with a short dialogue. The dialogue in 'The Signalman' begins with the narrator talking to the Signalman: "Halloa! Below there!" This throws the readers into action and engages them into the story. It introduces them to the characters. The setting of the place is one of an eerie atmosphere. It hints that something unnatural and ominous will occur. The setting is described as a dreary and hostile place. It creates an image of a dangerous and "barbarous place". The opening of 'The Signalman leaves the readers engrossed in the story by creating a mysterious plot. In the opening, we are introduced to the two characters. The characters remain nameless which ties the reader into the plot and therefore makes the reader thrilled, wanting to find out about the identities of the characters. From the outset of the story, Dickens creates a sense of mystery that startles readers. The strange behaviour of the Signalman creates tension and raises mysterious questions such as, why is he behaving
Compare and contrast the ways in which Dickens and Hardy use superstitious beliefs and supernatural elements to present and develop their main characters in their social settings and local environments
"Compare and contrast the ways in which Dickens and Hardy use superstitious beliefs and supernatural elements to present and develop their main characters in their social settings and local environments" Both of the short stories revolve around the supernatural and superstitious. Dickens and Hardy use these themes to help perceive and advance our understanding of the main characters and stimulate interest in the locations. They also these techniques to bring out the social settings and the local environments, portraying them in such a way that the reader feels as though they knows the places. They are also used to add to the setting and to help personify emotions and feelings of certain characters. The characters of the story help influence the supernatural feel of each. In "The Signalman" there are two main characters, the narrator and the signalman. We know very little about the narrator as we are told little about him or his background, just his thoughts and feelings at the time, although this does create an air of mystery and suspense around him. The signalman is very supernatural in himself. Adjectives such as "dark" are repeated and also the narrator's thoughts project the supernatural to the reader "there was something remarkable in his manner of doing so, though I could not have said for my life what". In "The Withered Arm" there are once again two main characters
How does Dickens create suspense in
signalman How does Dickens creates suspense in "The Signalman" In the following essay I will discuss how Dickens creates suspense in "The Signalman" by exploring the settings and the characters. The novel was written by Charles Dickens in the 19th century. It is set in a deep cutting adjacent to a tunnel with a railway running through. Suspense is created through supernatural, horror and ambiguity. A good suspense story should have all of these. I will explore these qualities which make up a good suspense story. The story opens with the quote "Halloa! Below there" This short, but effective line becomes very decisive as the story unfolds. We don?t know who?s speaking and so creates tension already. The man he is shouting to below looks round to face the tunnel "Looked down the line". Any normal person would look upwards in response to this. Again Dickens is creating the unexplainable which builds up the tension and suspense. At this time we don?t know who either of the men is. We know it is a ghost story so which one if any is the ghost. He is making you ask yourself questions which create suspense. You are already hooked and trying to figure out who is the ghost. He then goes on to describe the man below "There was something remarkable in his manner of doing so". This is evidence for the argument that he is possibly the ghost because of his weird actions. The actions
How does Dickens create suspense in
Shannon Phillips The Signalman - Charles Dickens How does Dickens create suspense in "The Signalman"? I am going to be studying "The Signalman" written by Charles Dickens in 1866. I will be looking at, and analysing, how he creates suspense in the story and how effective this is. "The Signalman" is a short story written amidst an exciting time period in British History: the Victorian, Industrial Revolution. This was a time of great innovation and invention, a time of modernisation and a time of which many of the everyday items that we use today, were invented such as; telephones, toilets and trains. There were several influences to Dickens's story. A year previous to the story being written, Charles was himself was involved in a fatal train crash in which ten people died and many more were injured. This could, as well as others, could have been the main influence to the story. Also as trains were a new invention, Victorians were excited and fascinated by them. A story involving a train would have interested the target audience greatly. Also stories including a supernatural element were highly popular at the time due to books such as "Frankenstein" written by Mary Shelley 1818. Both elements of the modern, futuristic and supernatural referrals both being included in "The Signalman" was quite unusual. Most popular stories of the time, with a horror genre were
'How does Charles Dickens create suspense And fear in The Signalman?'
'How does Charles Dickens create suspense And fear in The Signalman?' I think the reason this story is seen as a mysterious, fearful and rather frightening is because it is set on a railway, where in the past bad things have happened on railways and train stations. It is written in first person narrative so you don't actually know who's telling the story. The story opens with, "Halloa! Below there" This short, but effective line becomes important as the story unfolds. We don't know who's speaking and so creates tension already. The man he is shouting to below looks round to face the tunnel "Looked down the line". Any normal person would look upwards in response to this. Dickens is creating mystery, which builds up the tension and suspense. At this time we don't know who either of the men are. We know it is a ghost story so which one if any is the ghost. He is making you ask yourself questions, which creates suspense. You are already hooked and trying to figure out who is the ghost. He then goes on to describe the man below "There was something remarkable in his manner of doing so". This is evidence for the argument that he is possibly the ghost because of his weird actions. The actions create mystery, which is effective to create the overall suspense. Also you still haven't had any kind of a physical description of the signalman so at this time you don't even know if he's
How Does Charles Dickens Create Suspense And Fear In The Signalman?
How Does Charles Dickens Create Suspense And Fear In The Signalman? Charles Dickens wrote the Signalman during the 19th century. The story is about a signalman that is haunted by a spectre. A stranger (the narrator) befriends the signalman and he learns of the signalman's past. Charles Dickens creates suspense and fear in The Signalman in a variety of ways. In this essay I will discuss how he does this. Dickens begins to create suspense right at the start of the story by writing it in the first person narrative. He does this to put the readers into the story, to make the reader more involved and it makes us want to know what happens next. In my opinion To add to the suspense, Dickens' sets the story in the 19th century; during this time people were more likely to believe in supernatural happenings, they weren't so sceptical. Thus the readers are more receptive to the idea of a ghost story than perhaps we are today. Dickens' sets this story mainly at night; this provides more atmospheric tension and we could perceive more strange things happening in the story. Setting the story at night creates a more gloomy setting for the story, nothing is seen very clearly and it all relates back to the supernatural thoughts of the 19th century. Modern work for television/films tends to be set at night. We have fixed ideas about things set at night. Dickens uses descriptive language
Both 'The Signalman' and 'The Darkness Out There' have unexpected endings. Compare the way tension is built up in both stories so that the reader is surprised by how the stories end.
Both 'The Signalman' and 'The Darkness Out There' have unexpected endings. Compare the way tension is built up in both stories so that the reader is surprised by how the stories end. This is an essay concerned with how both 'The Signalman' and 'The Darkness Out There' both build up tension to make their readers anticipate what is going to happen during and throughout the stories. They are both similar in the way they both speak about death and have death incidents during the stories. The two stories have unexpected endings. The writers of the two short stories are Charles Dickens for 'The Signalman' and Penelope Lively for 'The Darkness Out There' both experts when it comes to suspenseful writing. One of the reasons for the differences between the stories is that they are written in different times, different centuries. 'The Signalman' is written pre-twentieth century for a Victorian audience interested in the supernatural i.e. ghosts. Two supernatural horrors/thrillers-'Dracula' and 'Frankenstein' both written late 19th century had sparked people's fascination in the 'Gothic'. Since there was no proof that in the 'Gothic' or lack of it, it lets people's imagination play with the thought of mythological creatures. But the author of 'The Darkness Out There' Penelope Lively is writing nearly one hundred years later, when peoples' horror and fascination has moved to a
Discuss how suspense is created in the ghost story "The Signalman" by Charles Dickens
Discuss how suspense is created in the ghost story "The Signalman" by Charles Dickens In this essay I am going to examine how Charles Dickens creates suspense. Written during Victorian times, Dickens wrote the piece after being personally involved in a train crash. The Signalman is themed over the gothic supernatural and The Industrial Revolution. The Signalman is about a signalman who foretells different accidents and events on his line. Later he foretells something far more sinister. The piece was at the time when Frankenstein was written by Mary Shelley. The Signalman opens in the first person. This immediately creates suspense not just through the person its wrote by the words used these being: "Halloa Below there" The person who shouts this is the narrator. With the reader not knowing what's going on it causes natural apprehension. At this early stage we do not know which of the men, if any are ghosts, as they have not verbally interacted with each other. When the narrator does call to the Signalman he only reacts physically not verbally: "He looked up without replying" This creates a mood of great tension for the reader, as they don't know what is about to happen. The story is set at the mouth of a tunnel along a railroad. The tunnel is dark inside and unwelcoming. This helps to create mystery. As readers we are intrigued by this opening, as we don't know what
Outline the means whereby Dickens creates atmosphere in "the signalman"
Outline the means whereby Dickens creates atmosphere in "the signalman" Dickens' "The Signalman" is one of his best known short stories. Written in the late eighteen-fifties it is a chilling story about a railway signalman who has visions of a spirit. The signalman works in a very dismal, dreary place and when he is found by the narrator, he appears to be wary of him. When the narrator goes down to the signalman, it is as if he was waiting for someone. The spirit that is seen by the signalman on many occasions, appears to signify that something bad is about to happen. It always has its eyes covered by its left arm, and it is waving, standing by the danger light. The spectre is a very intriguing character. For instance: why are his eyes always covered? Why is he always waving? How can the spectre make the bell ring in a different way from normal? Why can only the signalman hear the spectre's bell ringing? And why can only the signalman see him? The reason the spectre is so interesting is that none of these questions can be answered. 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
Referring closely to the text, discuss the techniques that Charles Dickens uses in "The Signalman" to build up tension and explain how effective a ghost story it is. Explore the social and historical context in your answer.
The Signalman Referring closely to the text, discuss the techniques that Charles Dickens uses in "The Signalman" to build up tension and explain how effective a ghost story it is. Explore the social and historical context in your answer. "The Signalman" by Charles Dickens is a very pre 20th century story. There are many clues given to the reader about the period in which it was written. The first and most obvious clues are the multi-clausal sentences. These long-winded sentences are all descriptive passages, split up in between by the use of commas. There are quite a few of them in the story. Another clue that leads us to the conclusion that it is pre 20th century written, is that the idea of class is brought up, "If I telegraph danger, on either side of me, or on both...they would displace me." The signalman is frightened because if he signals danger and can't give a reason for it, they wouldn't believe and therefore they would "displace him". The signalman is 'trapped'. He also has no rights; he is of a lowly class, a low standard, and a bad job and has no authority. Another very easy clue is the fact that there is a signalman on the track that waves flags to the train drivers and controls the movement of the trains. Nowadays, it is all computerized. Also, they had no telephones or other source of communication except telegraphs, which sent messages. Old language is