The Signalman

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                                                                    Kasim Hassan

          The Signalman

Dickens uses, and exploit’s the culture around him in order to convince and draw the reader into the Signalman. The way in which he does this is through several techniques which build up suspense, tension, and mystery in The Signalman.

The Signalman begins with a very brief description of the setting. The Narrator is beginning his journey of descent downwards. The use of language is chosen very carefully in order to achieve Dickens’ desired effects on the reader.

In particular to the text is the use of adjectives. These are used in order to create a sense of disturbing and supernatural.

All these words build up a sense of apprehension.

There is an immediate sense of the unknown. The first line in the story is “Halloa, below there!”. This opens the story with a sense of mystery. There are two people unknown to each other, one high, and the other below. The narrator is seen as the being in the presence of light and the signalman is in the dark.

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This is an extreme contrast to suggesting there is a sense of difference between the two characters.

The description of the railway cutting is ‘extremely dark’.

“His past was in a solitary and dismal place as I ever saw. On either side a dripping wet wall of jagged stone, excluding all view but a strip of sky”.

The description describes a very depressing place, almost reminding the reader of Hell, or something equivalent. This gives the reader the feeling of a bad place, which builds up tension, suspense, and suspicion, as to what will happen in this horrible ...

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