The Monkey's Paw by W.W.Jacobs and The Signalman by Charles Dickens - How do the two stories build up an atmosphere of tension and suspense? Which is the most effective?

The Monkey’s Paw by W.W.Jacobs

The Signalman by Charles Dickens

How do the two stories build up an atmosphere of tension and suspense? Which is the most effective?

In the 19th Century a new genre of book was introduced, this genre was known as short spooky stories. They were often published in magazines and short collections at the time. These stories used many techniques to help built up and keep the atmosphere of tension and suspense, two examples of these stories are The Signalman by Charles Dickens and The Monkey’s Paw by W.W.Jacobs. These stories are written to involve the reader in the paranormal and unnatural. Similar stories all used tension, and had a final twist in the ending to scare and capture the reader.

The Signalman was written in 1865, Steam trains were a very recent invention, and would have seemed very modern. From the very beginning, a suggestion that all is not right, the narrator makes his way down to the railway he feels as if he ‘had left the natural world’. The reader can imagine for himself or herself the way the mind could play tricks on anyone there. The introduction then merges into the sense sight. Dickens describes the Signal Man's bodily movements to reinforce his actions providing more to the bazaar circumstances, Dickens uses pathetic fallacy as he describes an “…angry sunset…” to adjoin to increase dramatic tension.

As the story progresses the sense of touch is introduced. He speaks of' “…clammy stone…” this quote gives me the feeling of an eerie surrounding, and as he clambers down the deep cutting, it evolves into a, “…oozier and wetter…” wall.

The Monkey’s Paw is set in an isolated house, the home of Mr. and Mrs. White and their son, Herbert. The story starts off in the small parlour of the family home, where ‘the blinds were drawn and the fire burned brightly’. Mrs. White is described as ‘knitting placidly’, and the two men are playing chess. This creates a ‘happy family’ atmosphere – a comforting setting to begin the tale. However a feeling of fear is caused for the reader. When the Sergeant Major enters the house, he seems to bring the cold outside in with him, speaking of ‘wild scenes and doughty deeds’. The next morning however, ‘in the brightness of the wintry sun’, it is as if the night before is forgotten. Jacobs uses pathetic fallacy here to reflect the mood of the characters. This stark contrast from the night before lulls the reader into a false sense of security before the old man’s wish comes true. The sergeant major starts off his story by telling the readers about a happy family that are living in a cosy little house. The farther mother and son live in the same house and play chess and take the Mickey out of each other. This cosy setting that W.W Jacobs has put us into makes us wonder what could possibly go wrong?

Whilst all these happy things are going on around the family Mr. White the father says 'I shouldn't think he'll come tonight.' This sentence sparks off lots of questions in the reader like, who is not coming tonight? Why does the father chose to mention this now? Are they afraid of this mans visit? Again Jacobs is creating these questions for the sake of keeping the reader interested. With these particular questions he has made an aurora of suspense around the visiting of this stranger.

Eventually this stranger arrives and brings with him a monkey's paw, which ...

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Eventually this stranger arrives and brings with him a monkey's paw, which is what the book takes its name form. This visitor is a soldier has been serving in India. He got this paw from an old Indian Fakir and it grants three wishes. After we are told all of this or imagination is stimulated. The reader will start to think, what would I do with three wishes?

The Monkey’s Paw and the Signalman are similar in setting in that the writers both use pathetic fallacy to reflect the uneasy feeling of the signalman’s quarters and the outside night of the Monkey’s Paw. In both stories isolation is a common factor - the signalman works alone at his post, and the White’s house is a long way from anywhere. This feeling of isolation makes the characters seem even more helpless and extraordinary. These contrasts give some variety to the story, and also lull the reader into a sense of security before the real twist in the tale strikes. It is the calm before the storm.

There are only two main characters in The Signalman. The first his character is introduced as a strange and troubled one. When the narrator shouts ‘Halloa! Below there!’ instead of replying to him, he ‘turned himself about, and looked down at the line’. This mysterious behaviour is later explained as the signalman’s wariness of the visions, which haunt him. His physical appearance also adds to the eerie atmosphere. He is described as dark, sallow man, with a dark beard and rather heavy eyebrows...fixed “eyes ...saturnine face" This description of the signalman is very similar to a ghostly like face, which again adds to the spine-chilling atmosphere, because he has this particular look.

Also the language and expression used to describe the signalman's actions and behaviour add to this mysterious tone.

At the beginning of the story, when the narrator calls out to the signalman from the top of the cutting, the signalman hesitates to answer "he looked up at me without replying" this creates a mysterious atmosphere because it makes the reader think why did he hesitates to reply. Then, when the signalman and the narrator are in the signal box together for the first time, Dickens again adds to this mysterious atmosphere by implying that there is something distracting the signalman "twice broke off with a fallen colour...little bell when it did not ring” This adds to the mystifying atmosphere, as the reader does not know if the bell did ring or not.

The signalman is described as having ‘fixed eyes’ so the narrator wonders whether the signalman is mad. All the descriptions and observations create a feeling of apprehension – what is this man? Why is he acting so oddly? The second time the narrator meets with the signalman, the signalman tells him of how in the past the spectres have warned him of dangers in the future, and how one has appeared recently. His character is described as very troubled and anxious he talks of these events as being ‘a cruel haunting of me’. The signalman’s anguish helps to increase the tension, and makes you sympathise with him. The narrator explains that, “…instead of looking up to where I stood on the steep cutting nearly over his head he turned himself about and looked down the line…” .The narrator is astounded at this 'There was something remarkable', he thinks.

The narrator’s purpose for visiting the signalman is never fully explained. He tries to reason with the signalman when he tells him about the visions, saying that the ‘figure must be a deception of his sense of sight’. He provides a scientific explanation for every claim the signalman makes, which creates a sense of fear. Through the story the author’s scepticality is slowly twisted, inducing fear in the reader.

In The Monkey’s Paw there are four main characters. The sergeant major is visibly scared of the paw. He knows of its powers, but is being very secretive. This induces tension in the story. Herbert is perky and offhand. This is in strong contrast to the Signalman, which does not have a humorous character. Mrs. White is a curious and voracious woman. Her hysterical persona creates a feeling of apprehension and unease in the story. Mr. White is more down-to-earth than his wife. He wants the paw for the wishes he could have, though he doesn’t know quite what to wish for. He is more wary of the paw than his wife, and he is scared of the paw when it twists in his hand as he wishes. The characters in both stories help to build up suspense. In both stories there is a character who does not believe the mystical element of the story.

I found I enjoyed The Monkey’s Paw more than The Signalman. I think this was because the Monkey’s paw was easier to follow, and had a clearer storyline. The old idea of three wishes was used very well to make a persuasive and frightening story. The characters in The Monkey’s Paw were more colourful than in The Signalman, particularly frivolous Herbert and hysterical Mrs. White. I found that I also felt more sympathy for the Whites; that their only son and light in their life should die as a result of a wish made by them was very sad, but was ale to be brought back for them to see in a horrendous wish made by Mrs White. The Monkey’s paw was also more successful at being a supernatural horror story. If the two stories were to be turned into a film or a play, The Monkey’s Paw would be more terrifying because of the grisly idea of their son returning to see them from his grave, all crushed and gory from being caught in the machinery. However, in The Signalman there are many pieces of very successful imagery, such as the ‘frozen finger tracing out my spine’. This is a quote that you could imagine being put into a horror story as it is one thing that can make people cringe and shiver, the thought of a cold, icy finger being run down their spine!