"The signal man" and "The withered arm" both create mystery, intrigue and suspense effectively. Consider the methods used by Dickens and hardy to arouse the interest of the reader. Which story did you prefer?

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“The signal man” and “The withered arm” both create mystery, intrigue and suspense effectively. Consider the methods used by Dickens and hardy to arouse the interest of the reader. Which story did you prefer?

In your answer you should consider:

        Narrative Style

        Setting

        Plot

        Context

Today in the 21st century we are well used to entertainment that includes horror, suspense and intrigue, although it is now usually in films and it seems to be a good alternative to books. Horror films are becoming more and more popular and recent statistics prove this, the most popular films today are chilling and psychological thrillers. What makes these films so good? It may be because of the special effects, the storylines, the music or perhaps just the whole package. Can a good story have the same effect as a good film?

“The signal man,” and, “the withered arm,” are very similar but also very different. Both stories include death, spectres, premonitions, and both contain a lot of suspense and mystery. The writers use different ways to create different effects.

Charles dickens was born in 1812 in Portsmouth, England. He was educated for a total of four years in two different schools. On the ninth of June 1865, while returning from France, dickens was involved in the “Staplehurst” train crash. He had a lucky escape as his was the only 1st class carriage not to plunge off a bridge that was being repaired. He spent time helping the wounded and dying before rescuers arrived. This horrific tragedy may well have influenced Dickens’s views on trains and technology in general. This event in his life may well have given Dickens the inspiration for “The Signal man”.

Everything in, “the signal man,” happens over a very short period of time, 3 days; I found this had a positive effect on the story as it kept the story intense and gave the reader a sense of involvement. Also the fact that there are only a few characters in this short story kept the focus on the main characters, I thought this was good in the way that it kept it simple and easier to follow. I think that Dickens wrote this story to show how he felt about trains and new technology and to warn people that new technologies including trains are not all good.

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The setting of, “the signal man,” and his hut being very isolated was a good way of showing how cut off and lonely the man was. The way that the story is limited to only one place helps us to focus on the place and allows more detail of the setting and makes it easier to follow. Dickens goes into a lot of detail as far as setting is concerned this creates a cinematic picture for the reader; this helps to create mystery and suspense in the readers mind. Dickens uses such literary devices as symbolic topography and sensory ...

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