The Signalman by Dickens and The Withered Arm by Hardy :: Signalman dickens Withered Hardy Essays

The Signalman by Dickens and The shrunken Arm by HardyThe story of The Signalman opens with the words Halloa Belowthere, this short, hardly effective line is very significant to the plotof the story. A questioning atmosphere is already created, as it isnot clear to the reader as to who is speaking, or whom the anonymousfigure is being shouted at? The opening paragraph of the TheSignalman is unexplained, leaving the readers questioning. Forexample when the Narrator is shouting from above, the Signalmanbehaves strangely as he looks go to face the tunnel, whereas anormal person would look upwards in response to this. Dickensportrayal of the black tunnel that has a barbarous, depressing, andforbidding furrow to it creates a mood of anticipation. Moreover, thewords expressed are so effective that the reader immediately gets anapparent image of the tunnel and feels more involved in the story. Italso raises the question as to why the Signalman looked down there,and this maintains the cu riosity. The mood becomes more intense andpenetrating as Charles Dickenss explanations give the impression thatvirtuoso or both of the characters might be spectres. The reason being,that the Narrator considers the Signalman as having somethingremarkable in his manner, and how he cannot say for his life what.On the former(a) hand, the signalman appears to be afraid of the Narrator,as his reactions to the Narrator calling down suggests that he regardshim to be the spectre. The dark setting deep in the trench, whichadmits so little sunniness, and where the on coming rush of thetrain causes vague vibration and violent pulsation in the earthand air sets the mood for the supernatural occurrences. This hauntsthe readers as the bank clerk feels he has left the natural world.Furthermore, the surroundings and atmosphere of the lonesome postwhich the Signalman occupies appears very mysterious, especially theblack tunnel. The opening scene which is set in the frigorific, dampand lonely railw ay cutting near the end of a tunnel is describedwell, as being Extremely deep and unusually precipitant andsolitary and dismal. There is particular emphasis on the lonelinessof the place it seems like a location isolated from the real world,making the reader forbearance the Signalman as he spends many lonely hoursthere. Yet is also generates the eerie idea of the place beingperfect, again for supernatural happenings.In comparison to the The Signalman, The Withered Arm also has aquestioning mood at the opening of the story. At the start, Rhoda isdescribed as A thin fading women of thirty that milked or so apart