How effective do you find

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English Coursework:

How effective do you find “the Signalman” as a ghost story?

This story utilizes a lot of horror and uses it in conjunction with mystery to move the plot along and keep the reader on the edge of their seat. When the author incorporates the horror into the story, not only is he keeping the reader puzzled, but he is also making the reader afraid. When an author can make the reader feel like this, then the elements of the story have been used effectively. The reader's feelings are a measure of how effective the author has been in using horror, mystery or any other elements. I will refer closely to two moments in the story perhaps indicating how effective “the signalman” is as a ghost story. A complexity arises in the story and that is was there really a supernatural apparition, or was it just coincidence that the disasters happened after the signalman thought he saw something? There is a very powerful opening as the Narrator shouts "Halloa! Below there!", which are key words throughout this chilling short story. The exclamation marks at once produces an alarming suspense and raises tension as the reader cannot acknowledge which character speaks. What is the significance of this phrase?  The name of the story is “the signalman” but what does it really stand for, why is the story called the “signalman”? How effective is “the signalman” as a ghost story? How is the story created and sustained?  

The first moment I have chosen is the signalman and the narrator’s first meeting when the narrator is about to leave the signalman. A sense of tension is created in the story from the beginning; the questions posed by the narrator are replied by the signalman in such ways that it develops tension. We get a strange and mystifying feeling towards the signalman, with a slight uneasiness. However, the signalman is then shown in a better view, and just as we are starting to trust and like the signalman, the setting is made uneasy, due to the things that preoccupy him. There seems to be a pattern made by Dickens of putting us at ease and then unsettling us, causing uncertainty and effectiveness, for example the ringing bell (page 3), the fact that “whenever the bell did NOT ring, he opened the door and looked out towards the red light near the mouth of the tunnel,” the fact that “NOT” is emphasized suggests that the narrator is quite bemused by what the signalman does, and the things that preoccupy him, the narrator seems to believe that when the bell is not ringing should not haunt the signalman. This emphasis of “NOT” by Dickens is a very effective technique in highlighting the signalman’s preoccupations and strangeness about him it develops and sustains the tension built previously. Dickens then shows that curiosity of the narrator, by him posing constant questions at the signalman with hurriedness. This seems to conform to what the reader wants to ask the signalman too, Dickens uses a good technique in asking the signalman through the narrator the questions that the readers would want to ask themselves. The signalman then further adds to the mystery, he orders the narrator “when you have found the way up, don’t call out!” Another preoccupation is introduced, a preoccupation of shouting and calling. The fact that he repeats himself in telling the narrator not to call out means it is something important to the signalman, perhaps a fear or something that haunts him, and this uncertainty and limited knowledge adds to the effect that Dickens is trying to produce; it adds to the mystery and urges the reader to read on. What has made the signalman so afraid of these things?, these strange preoccupations of light and calling out. However then the signalman reveals the phrase which puzzles him, a phrase that he cannot understand why the narrator shouted out, “Halloa! Below there!” and the fact that he emphasized that these were the exact words seems to be eerie. One wonders how he knows the words. Is there any significance? There is a strange intense sense of feeling about the signalman, and a real intense feeling that something supernatural is occurring, however we have limited knowledge. He then, on the second meeting between the narrator and the signalman reveals the fact that he saw a person, a person with is “left arm across the face, and right arm waved… violently waved,” the identity of the entity is not revealed, which adds to the mystery and suspense… also the idea that what was it a human being or a supernatural being? Why was it there? What was it doing? This uncertainty, mystery and limited knowledge is a good technique used by Dickens and is effective in making the story a ghost story. As one discovers more about the mystery/story more questions are posed and one feels as if the mystery is expanding, this is effective as a ghost story because it keeps the reader interested and quite afraid, not knowing what/who the signalman is, perhaps a ghost himself, or a tortured soul. Why is the signalman so disturbing himself at first? The signalman is disturbing himself at first and this is due to his silence, the reader is immediately wondering who this figure is, here is where the reader begins to come to the judgement that there is something peculiar about the mysterious man, with Dickens building suspense by providing as little knowledge as possible at all times. The fact that the reader has limited knowledge adds to the mystery and scariness of the Signalman, not giving away too much information. What adds to the Signalman being disturbing is the fact that he is without a name, no name adds fear into the story.   

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The signalman, in the same moment, continues to talk, he seems to have opened up a little bit, the signalman seems to welcome the narrator and “let his guard down” and starts to tell a story. He starts off by setting the scene well “one moonlight night” always giving a supernatural feel, and a sense of morbidity to it. He continues to use “some one else” as the thing that he saw waving, giving a mysterious feel to it, and with the reader not knowing at all what that thing is. Dickens utilizes this technique well, and this is effective ...

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