The Signal-Man (Masterplots II: Short Story Series, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: Charles Dickens
- First Published: 1866
- Type of Plot: Ghost story
- Time of Work: The nineteenth century
- Setting: A train track in rural England
- Principal Characters: The narrator, The signalman
- Genres: Short fiction
- Subjects: Nineteenth century, Rural or country life, Ghosts or apparitions, England or English people, Fear, Accidents, Death or dying, Trains, Loneliness, Disasters, Western Europe or western Europeans, Railroads, Isolation
- Locales: England
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,...
[The entire page is 1286 words long]
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