The Signal-Man by Charles Dickens
"The Signal-Man" is a chilling short story by Charles Dickens that explores themes of fear, supernatural phenomena, and fate through the unsettling experiences of a railway signalman. The narrative begins with an encounter between an anonymous narrator and the signalman, who reveals his deep-seated fears and experiences with ghostly apparitions near a railway tunnel. The signalman describes a haunting figure who waves desperately and issues warnings, only for these signals to go unheeded, resulting in catastrophic train accidents.
As the story unfolds, the signalman's mental anguish grows alongside a sense of grim inevitability. The narrator's skepticism shifts to horror as he becomes entwined in the signalman's tragic fate. The climax reveals that the narrator himself sees the apparition, mirroring the signalman's earlier experiences. The story concludes with a poignant and tragic twist, highlighting the tragic consequences of miscommunication and the spectral warnings that haunt the signalman. Dickens' tale not only captivates with its suspenseful elements but also evokes reflection on the interplay between human agency and the supernatural.
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The Signal-Man by Charles Dickens
First published: 1866
Type of plot: Ghost story
Time of work: The nineteenth century
Locale: A train track in rural England
Principal Characters:
The narrator , a man walking by the railroad tracksThe signalman , a railroad employee who signals to trains as they pass by.
The Story
"The Signal-Man" describes an eerie encounter between two men, the anonymous narrator of the story and a railway signalman. The signalman confides to the narrator that he has seen some disturbing sights that he believes are ghostly apparitions. The story reflects the narrator's initial skepticism, which turns to horrified belief at the conclusion.
The story opens as the narrator is taking a walk in the country. He sees a signalman by the train track at the bottom of a steep cutting. He calls to the signalman, makes his way down a zigzag path to the track, and converses with him. The signalman is strangely fearful of the man, revealing that the man's greeting reminded him of a disturbing supernatural apparition he has seen—and heard—at the mouth of a nearby tunnel. The narrator wonders briefly if the signalman himself is a spirit because of his strange manner.
The signalman invites the narrator to return and meet him at his signal box on the following night. At that time, the signalman tells his visitor more about the apparition. It took the form of a man who appeared in front of the tunnel waving desperately and crying, "Look out! Look out!" The signalman telegraphed warnings to other stations along the line but to no avail. Six hours later, a terrible train accident occurred. On another day, the figure reappeared and assumed an attitude of extreme grief. A few hours later, a woman died on one of the trains going by the signalman's post. The signalman is tortured by his inability to make any life-saving use of these supernatural warnings. The signalman's visitor considers with deep anxiety how he might help the man but can think of nothing efficacious.
Not long after this conversation, one evening when out walking, the narrator also sees the apparition at the mouth of the tunnel, standing with his arm over his eyes and desperately waving a warning with the other arm. Running to the signal box, the narrator learns that the signalman was run over and killed by a train that morning. One of the men working by the railway tells the narrator that the signalman was standing with his back to the oncoming train. Like the ghostly apparition the narrator saw that evening, this man covered his eyes to avoid seeing the signalman destroyed while continuing to wave his arm in warning.