The darkness prominently reduces visibility between the narrator and the signalman as said “'I was near enough to have touched him” and therefore increases the tension as both men get closer to each other.
The use of sounds also plays a big role in creating suspense as “Vague vibrations” turns into a “Violent pulsation”. The vibration of the ground captures the senses and in turn adds more tension. However instead of scaring the reader, tension is lost when Dickens enlightens the reader by saying it was a train. In my opinion the sense of suspense is also reduced at this point due to the change in the climax.
On the other hand The Red Room is located in a castle, not just an ordinary castle but a haunted one. This straight away changes the way the reader thinks about the story, because first of all, a castle is big but in contrast to The Signalman, is enclosed and only focused on one room: The Red Room. The color red also symbolizes danger and death which in turn is also used to create suspense and tension like in The Signalman. The use of shadows and symbolism foreshadows something might be there and will cause trouble later “The echoes rang up and down the spiral staircase, and a shadow came sweeping up after me, and one fled before me into the darkness overhead” The spiral staircase also raises the tension level of the reader as it is curved, and the narrator will never know what he or she is facing or going to face if he goes around the bend. The use of shadows also makes the ghost seem more alive as it is said to be moving. What’s worse is that route to the red room is very confusing and foreshadows, when on the way to the red room, the presence of supernatural things occur.
The language in both stories differ however both attract and engage the reader. The Signalman starts of by “Halloa! Below there!” it starts of with dialogue which is somewhat obviously trying to gain the attention of the reader, as the reader would want to know who is saying that and he or she is saying it too, which in turn creates a mystery and makes you read on. The air of mystery is again sustained when the narrator says “Is there any path by which I can come down and speak to you?” this again creates confusion and curiosity, in the reader thinking to him or herself, why would he want to speak to the signalman?
Dickens has also used a lot of description “I found a rough zigzag descending path...” gives a sense of suspense in the atmosphere. However Dickens, does not always have long descriptive paragraphs, but has broken the paragraphs in to parts, as long paragraphs are followed by short thrusts of dialogue between characters. This likewise seems to help hold the reader’s attention because
The adjectives such as "solitary", "dismal" and “jagged” were also used to create a sense of suspense, the use of onomatopoeia such as "dripping wet" makes it sound more realistic and this also makes the place sound very isolated and alienated.
Emotive language such as “tomb” is also used to remind the reader about death.
The phrase "Terminating in a gloomy red light and the gloomier entrance to a black tunnel" clearly shows that Dickens uses the idea of the symbolic colors. This in turn helps create an image of descending into hell. The black tunnel makes us think of the narrator entering hell from heaven. The phrase “as if I had left the natural world” indicates that the writer himself believes in faith and is basically suggesting that he has left the known world.
Like The Signalman, The Red Room, also starts off with dialogue “I can assure you…..that it will take a very tangible ghost to frighten me” In Well’s story, he is insisting that it will take a very scary ominous object to frighten him. As most ghost stories or ghost movies there always has to be one person who is not scared, and for this one it is the narrator. This makes the reader want to find out about what he will do to meet a ghost.
Alliteration “deafens and darkness” makes it sound more dramatic, as well as the phrase “the nights of all nights”, this makes you curious and foreshadows that something terrible will happen. The wide use of metaphors such as “tongue of light” and “ocean of mystery” creates more tension and dilemma for the reader. This is because, all the descriptions of the house use imagery to clarify the darkness and which in turn creates fear inside The Red Room.
The use of personification such as “the moonlight picked out everything in vivid black shadow or silvery illumination” exaggerates the darkness and eeriness of the room, this creates imagery for the reader and makes them feel as if they are actually visualizing the room.
The use of “candles” instead of light or electricity also plays a part in using old objects or forms, instead of using modern technology; this is likely done to create a realistic sinister effect of the olden days. This in turn makes the story scarier in a way, because mostly supernatural presents occur by using candles and olden objects; this also makes it seem gothic in style. The phrase “I could warn him not to trip over” creates a sense of humor and a break through, from all the tension, in contrast to The Signalman, Dickens has no sign of humor in his story, this could likely be because, he wants the reader to feel insecure and scared all the way through his story.
Both stories are written in the first person as said “seemed to make the place strike colder to me, but I said no more”- The Signalman and “I postulated quite unreservedly that nothing supernatural could happen- The Red Room, this creates suspense as we get first hand information from the writer as if we are actually there in his shoes.
The Signalman and The Red Room, both consist of eerie characters. The Signalman only consists of two main characters where as The Red Room consists of many. As said in The Signalman “A dark sallow man” it shows that the narrator is trying to build up the tension as he gets closer to the signalman. We also learn that the signalman himself is quite an intelligent man “Worked at fractions and decimals”, this straight away strikes the reader in to thinking and asking himself, why would such a person be working as a signalman? This technique of fooling the reader to ask questions adds mystery to his identity and builds up more suspense. Mystery is again present when the narrator is talking to the signalman, but as they talk, the signalman looks away towards the tunnel a couple of times. This in turn creates an anticipation to know what’s going to happen next. The signalman is clearly going to play a major role in this story as he is described “Not even then removing his eyes from mine” these weird signs of the signalman prove that he is mysterious and will be involved very much in the story. The signalman also tells the narrator not to say these words “Halloa! Below there!” it evidently tells the readers that there is something about those words, in which they make the signalman scared. The narrator also says “I will come at eleven” this keeps the tension as they are going to meet each other in the night, instead of meeting in daylight.
Contrastively, The Red Room contains more characters, a young twenty eight year old man, who is sceptical about ghost, and three old people. The old lady and the man warns “This night of all nights!” and “It’s your own choosing” which shows and creates suspense and makes the feel that maybe a ghost or something supernatural maybe present. The warnings are said many times and also could be a technique of tension building. The old people are described ;One man with a “withered arm”… “old woman…swayed from side to side”, other man with “a single crutch”, “bent wrinkled” “eyes covered by a shade constantly coughs and splutters” The great description adds more tension in to the story because the three grotesque and distorted old people make the setting sound all weird with a sense of decay or death about them and which in turn makes the narrator feel “uncomfortable” with them. The young man is also very confident about going in to The Red Room even though he is warned many times “You go alone” – the old man… “Very well, I answered” this shows that the young man looks down on the old people, even though he is suppose to believe them because they have been staying there for a much longer time. Many clues are given by the old people such as “There’s a candle on the slab outside the door said the man with the withered arm, looking at my feet as he addressed me” the way the man looked down at his feet indicates that he is scared and also suggest that there would likely be something there. At the end of The Red Room, the old people have to save the young boy anyway; this makes the story have a moral – which would likely be: “don’t be over confident and trust older people”
In conclusion I think The Red Room by HG Wells creates more suspense than The Signalman, due to the fact it’s all set in just one room and he has adopted the old gothic literature style which makes it very effective. Its also has many contrasts because it starts off in darkness and ends in daylight, whereas The Signalman ends in a twist which also occurs in darkness. HG Wells has also used symbolism very well and also ended with an ambiguous ending, which in turn lets the reader decide what you would think happens. At the time the story was written, this was a whole new concept; scary idea, the reader is also is kept interested because he or she wants to know what is in The Red Room.
