The Signalman by Dickens and The Withered Arm by Hardy

“The Signalman” by Dickens and “The Withered Arm” by Hardy

The story of "The Signalman" opens with the words “Halloa! Below

there”, this short, but effective line is very significant to the plot

of the story. A questioning atmosphere is already created, as it is

not clear to the reader as to who is speaking, or whom the anonymous

figure is being shouted at? The opening paragraph of the "The

Signalman" is unexplained, leaving the readers questioning. For

example when the Narrator is shouting from above, the Signalman

behaves strangely as he looks round to face the tunnel, whereas a

normal person would look upwards in response to this. Dickens

portrayal of the “black tunnel” that has a “barbarous, depressing, and

forbidding air” to it creates a mood of anticipation. Moreover, the

words expressed are so effective that the reader immediately gets an

apparent image of the tunnel and feels more involved in the story. It

also raises the question as to why the Signalman looked down there,

and this maintains the curiosity. The mood becomes more intense and

penetrating as Charles Dickens’s explanations give the impression that

one or both of the characters might be spectres. The reason being,

that the Narrator considers the Signalman as having something

“remarkable in his manner”, and how he cannot say for his “life what.”

On the other hand, the signalman appears to be afraid of the Narrator,

as his reactions to the Narrator calling down suggests that he regards

him to be the spectre. The “dark” setting deep in the trench, which

admits “so little sunlight”, and where the “on coming rush” of the

train causes “vague vibration” and “violent pulsation” in the “earth

and air” sets the mood for the supernatural occurrences. This haunts

the readers as the narrator feels he has “left the natural world.”

Furthermore, the surroundings and atmosphere of the “lonesome post”

which the Signalman occupies appears very mysterious, especially the

“black tunnel.” The opening scene which is set in the “cold”, “damp”

and “lonely” railway cutting near the end of a “tunnel” is described

well, as being “Extremely deep and unusually precipitous” and

“solitary and “dismal.” There is particular emphasis on the loneliness

of the place; it seems like a location isolated from the real world,

making the reader pity the Signalman as he spends many “lonely hours”

there. Yet is also generates the eerie idea of the place being

perfect, again for supernatural happenings.

In comparison to the "The Signalman", "The Withered Arm" also has a

questioning mood at the opening of the story. At the start, Rhoda is

described as “A thin fading women of thirty that milked somewhat apart