Discussion Topic
The protagonist and his evolution in "The Signal-Man" by Charles Dickens
Summary:
The protagonist in "The Signal-Man" by Charles Dickens evolves from a curious observer to a deeply empathetic character. Initially intrigued by the signal-man's strange behavior and stories of supernatural warnings, he becomes increasingly concerned for the signal-man's well-being. This evolution highlights the protagonist's growing understanding of the psychological toll of isolation and the burden of foreseeing tragic events.
Who is the protagonist in "The Signal-Man" by Charles Dickens?
The protagonist in Charles Dickens's short story "The Signal-man" is the signal-man because he is the character who comes into conflict with opposing forces and is affected in some way.
Since the train has disturbed nature with the carving of the tunnel as well as by the intrusion of the looming black machine, supernatural forces are released; moreover, these forces are too strong for the signal-man to control. For, they seek what may be retribution. This signal-man is at odds with the spirits of the area; consequently, he sees ghosts warning him of disaster. The narrator describes him in this way:
His pain of mind was most pitiable to see. It was the mental torture of a conscientious man, oppressed beyond endurance by an unintelligible responsibility involving life.
The signal-man tells the narrator about the apparitions that have appeared to him, but to no avail. For, on the day that the...
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narrator has arranged to visit again, he sees instead a group of officials who are conducting an investigation of the death of the signal-man. Evidently, he had been standing on the line, peering down the tunnel when a train bore down upon him. The conductor reports that he shouted, “Below there! Look out! For God’s sake, clear the way!”
Furthermore, the engineer of the train has waved his arm in warning even as he has covered his face to keep from witnessing the train strike the signal-man. The narrator notes the remarkable similarity between the driver's actions and the actions of the phantom as the signalman has earlier related.
Who is the protagonist in "The Signal-Man" and how does he change?
The protagonist is actually the anonymous narrator who meets the signal man and becomes involved in the fascinating story that the signal-man tells him. We don't actually know much about the protagonist: we are never told his name, and we know nothing of his occupation or way of life, except that he obviously likes to walk. However, what we can see as the story progresses is the way in which he changes through the course of the narrative.
Note the way that he responds to being told about the first ghostly apparition that appears to the signal man, and how he works to discount it:
Resisting the slow touch of a frozen finger tracing out my spine, I showed him how that this figure must be a deception of his sense of sight; and how that figures, originating in disease of the delicate nerves that minister to the functions of the eye, were known to have often troubled patients, some of whom had become conscious of the nature of their affliction, and have even proved it by experiments upon themselves.
The narrator is keen to find a reasonable explanation for the supernatural events that the signalman relates. He stresses science and advances in our understanding to reassure both himself and the signalman. However, in spite of this stance that the narrator takes at the beginning of the story, it is clear that at the end, the horrifying events concerning the signalman's death have convinced the narrator, as he points out the various coincidences that stress the truth of the ghostly apparitions. He has moved from incredulity to reluctant and terrified belief.