Similarly to the Red Room, the signalman’s post is very dark and there is hardly any light. This is a typical piece of gothic imagery, the fight between light and darkness, which can also be conveyed by the fight between good and evil. Also the smell makes the atmosphere seem more terrible, and forbidding. Moreover the narrator feels he has left the natural world and travelled into a supernatural world, which makes us think that something may happen to the narrator at any time.
The start of the story is also very vicarious:
“There came a vague vibration in the earth and air, quickly changing into a violent pulsation, and an oncoming rush that caused me to start back, as though it had force to draw me down”
Here the description of the train going passed makes us imagine as if we were actually there. This makes the reader feel stronger feelings for things which happen to the narrator since the reader feels that they are actually there. This causes more fear and suspense to be built up.
The signalman’s post is solitary and very dull and dark; “His post was in as solitary and dismal place as I ever saw” The signalman’s post is very similar to the room in ‘The Red Room’. In the Red Room the narrator is trapped in the room just like the signalman is somewhat stuck in his solitary post. Also the dark and gloomy atmosphere in both stories builds up fear in the reader:
“The shorter perspective in the other direction terminating the gloomy red light”
The ‘gloomy’ red light makes the atmosphere dull and makes the reader feel sad and unhappy. Also the red light symbolises some gothic features. These include death, danger, blood, and terror. The light is also another piece of gothic imagery. There are many other uses of gothic imagery in the story:
“The cutting was extremely deep, and unusually precipitous. It was made through a clammy stone, that became oozier and wetter as I went down”
The path towards the signalman’s post is very dangerous and is typically gothic. This is similar to the journey the narrator in ‘The Red Room’ makes when he is heading to the room. It is as if it the narrator is descending down to hell and there is no coming back. This description is also vicarious and makes us feel we are actually there with the narrator. This causes tension in the reader since the reader feels insecure and worries for the narrator’s safety and well being and feels the same things as the narrator. Another instance of hell is the angry sunset: “so steeped in the glow of the angry sunset.” This reminds the reader of hell, and fire in hell and can represent the end of the world because it was believed that the sun would mean the eventual destruction of the earth.
When the narrator begins to start thinking of supernatural things it scares the reader:
“The monstrous thought came into my mind, as I perused the fixed eyes and the saturnine face, that this was a spirit, not a man”
This builds fear up in the reader because the reader feels and thinks the same as the narrator. As soon as he starts thinking these intangible things, the reader thinks that they will probably be true. This makes us worry for the narrator. Also when the narrator says “His manner seemed to make the place strike colder to me” he once again shows that he is starting to believe in the supernatural. This makes us feel insecure and feel nervous for the narrator.
Later on, the signalman describes a ‘spectre’:
“The arm left arm is across the face, and the right army is waved – violently waved”
This ghost makes us feel frightened and nervous because we think that it can harm the narrator. Also the use of the word ‘violently’ makes everything seem more sinister.
We soon find out that the narrator is getting nervous - “Resisting the slow touch of a frozen finger tracing out my spine.” This makes the reader feel nervous as well as sorry for the narrator as he has been caught up in the signalman’s problems. It builds up fear because we know something is going to happen to the narrator or the signalman.
We then learn that the narrator is trying his best to ignore the supernatural:
“A disagreeable shudder crept over me, but I did my best against it”
Here the narrator tries to ignore the supernatural goings on but fails. It makes the reader feel scared as another supernatural thing has happened.
