The Signalman and The Man with the Twisted Lip

The Signalman and The Man with the Twisted Lip

Originally stories were sung or spoken and handed down through word of

mouth from one person to another. There were thousands of traditional

stories all over the world, from King Arthur and his knights of the

round table in Britain to Hercules and the Gods on Mount Olympus in

Greece.

In the middle ages this was how stories were told, these stories were

sometimes shown as plays, which many people could pay to watch. These

plays were based on love, war and religion and were very popular with

everyone. Some mystery plays were based on bible stories and shown

throughout Europe. Others were based on the courtly love tradition

where women were worshipped like Gods. In contrast other stories were

shown as having the “damsel in distress” such as Robin Hood, with

knights and a great battle of good versus evil. Some even took the

myths and legends and included them in their stories; this could have

been where princesses were saved from a beast such as a dragon or a

small boy performing the colossal act of defeating a giant.

The Signalman

By Charles Dickens

The setting is a railway line at the bottom of a steep cutting, where

the sunlight “barely penetrated”. It was a “dark, dank, gloomy and

depressing place near a tunnel with a red danger light at its

entrance.” The signalman’s box was but a few hundred yards from the

entrance of the tunnel, giving the impression that this is the last

outpost of life before entering the tunnel, which could go down to the

underworld. NB. In Ancient Greek legends, the entrance to Hades

Underworld or death was often portrayed as a dark tunnel or cave.

The main character is a signalman, he is working class but “educated

beyon...

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...The Man With The Twisted Lip Greed, deceit and shame changed Neville

St Clairs life as he became something he wasn’t i.e. the beggar to

gain more money; the deceit was the manner in which he gained the

money, he developed a character by dressing up under a disguise, and

shame if the high class society found out how he gained his money it

would be social suicide for himself and his family

15. The characters willingly move towards their own doom.

The Signalman focused on his job to keep the train safe, willingly

tended to the red light near the entrance to the tunnel but was not

focused enough on his own safety and so was cut down by the train

The Man With The Twisted Lip Neville St Clair conscientiously chose to

be a beggar and also would have willingly gone to prison or the

executioner rather than have revealed the secret and disgraced his

family.