Student Question
Is the narrator the same as the signal-man in "The Signal-Man"?
Quick answer:
The narrator and the signalman in Charles Dickens's "The Signal-Man" are distinct characters. The narrator, an unnamed individual on a countryside walk, encounters the signalman, who works on the railroad. The story is primarily a first-person narrative with dialogue, where the signalman shares his experiences of seeing apparitions. This narrative style offers a filtered perspective, crucial as the signalman dies, preventing him from narrating posthumously.
In Charles Dickens’s story, there are two main characters: the first-person narrator and the signalman. Both are unnamed. They are not the same person. The narrator is out for a walk in the countryside when he meets the signalman; the latter is working on the railroad. Most of the story is straightforward first-person narrative, but there is some dialogue in which the signalman tells the narrator about the apparitions he has been seeing. Using a first-person narrator creates a biased view of events, as we hear the signalman’s opinions only through the filter of the narrator. In this story, this perspective is important because the signalman dies. He would have been an unreliable narrator if he had told his story from the grave.
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