The following piece of work is an analysis of the short story called

The following piece of work is an analysis of the short story called

the signalman by Charles dickens.

“The signal man” is set in the mid 19th century. The main setting is

that of right beside a train tunnel where the main character the

signal man stays to let trains through etc.The storyline is set mostly

in the night time. The story has an eerie effect on me as a reader.

While I was reading the signal man I picked up on the tense

atmosphere. At one point early on in the story, there’s a moment which

brought the tension to the story in a strong way.

“He looked up at me without replying, and I looked down at him without

repeating too soon.”

I think this moment brings some tension as, it made me eager to see

what was going to happen next.

I also think that the silence of the signal man brings some darkness

to the story. His silence made him seem like a sinister character.

Charles Dickens describes him to use hand actions as well. In a

strange way I enjoy how the signal man is so creepy. I think I find

this, as it gives more depth to him as a character. “He pointed to the

red light he had looked at”.

“His manner seemed to make the place strike colder to me”.

Throughout the story Dickens presents the narrator and the signal man

differently.

I feel the signal man is portrayed as lonely, quiet sinister

character. “He had taught himself a language down here,--if only to

know it by sight, and to have formed his own crude ideas of its

pronunciation”. This shows that he has hardly any contact with

external influences.

I could imagine seeing the signal man on a frosty winter’s morning,

feeling his stare, burning through my skin like a concentrated sun on

paper.

He works alone in the middle o...

... middle of paper ...

...f the signal man, it helped me realise what

Dickens meant by the certain hand gestures made by the signalman

himself. Also it gave another level to the tension and the ending was

more forceful as well.

The ending of the story does its job well. It brings the little pieces

that the story has accumulated together, explaining the truth about

explaining things that I questions earlier on. Like why the signal man

puzzled about why the narrator yelled "Halloa! Below there!” As well

as the strange stories that the lonely signal man had spoke of.

Even though the story was short and realistic, I would not recommend

it to other readers.

I think it has a good impact, but is not my type of book overall. It

takes a while to engulf the reader, and when it does, the story is

almost over. The ending is not powerful enough to change my thoughts

on the story though…