Comparing Description and Imagery in The Foghorn and The Signalman

Description and Imagery in The Foghorn and The Signalman

For this assignment I will be looking at two short narratives. One was written by Bradbury, in the mid twentieth century ,'The Foghorn' and the other was written by Dickens, 'The Signalman'' over one hundred years before. Both are based on supernatural themes and ideas.

It is obvious that Dickens tale was written in the mid nineteenth century because his style of writing is very different to the more modern techniques writers employ today. In his story he tells us about objects which no longer have a place in modern society ,such as 'the telegraph' and the 'steam train'. Therefore it was necessary to look more closely at Dickens' script to identify how he creates a sense of mystery , a complete contrast to the Brabury script which was easy to follow, and therefore easy to become fully absorbed in the story. Ultimately this meant that the 'Fog horn' automatically absorbs the reader enabling the audience to detect the deeper meaning, unlike the 'The Signalman'.

Not only was the age of Dickens' script evident in his style of writing, but also in the actions and reactions of his characters. Both the signal man and the narrator were uncomfortably polite and their language was noticably archaic:

'I do apologise sir, but you were without your box'.

'The Signalman' opens with a lot of shouting and commotion. This is the first indication that something strange is due to happen. The narrator is shouting, from the top of an embankment, to the signalman who is standing on the lines. The first particularly strange happening occurs when the Signalman, does not reply to the calls of the narrator. He hears them, but does not respond. This c...

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...of the narrators, although we immediately come to trust Johnny from 'The Foghorn' because he is young, innocent and in a way quite vulnerable, he does not appear threatening in the least. This adds to the mystery of the tales. We do not know a lot about McDunn or the Signalman, their pasts are a mystery. The settings in both of the narratives are desolate and lonely, eerie and mysterious. In both stories the mystery is something which humans do not understand, so this is the real mystifying element.

Both Dickens and Bradbury use effective description and imagery to describe the happenings, which also adds to the mystery of their tales.

Works Cited

The Mammoth Book of Victorian and Edwardian Ghost Stories ed. Richard Dalby Carroll & Graf Publishers 1995.

Ray Bradbury Collected Short Stories, illustrated by Robert Court, Peterson Publishing, 2001.