Discussion Topic
Themes and the Role of Fate in "The Signal-Man"
Summary:
Themes in "The Signal-Man" include isolation, the supernatural, and fate. The role of fate is significant, as the signal-man's premonitions and the inevitability of the tragic events suggest that the characters are powerless to change their destinies.
How is fate a theme in "The Signal-Man"? Provide three examples.
"The Signal-Man" by Charles Dickens reflects the anxiety that the Victorians felt about technological progress occurring during the Industrial Revolution. In this story, tragedies occur in spite of the careful measures established to ensure safety, a fact that clearly suggests the interference of fate. These technological communications as well as the assiduousness of the signalman are ineffective against the fateful power of the train that seems to possess an untamed power of a preternatural nature.
Here are some illustrations of the impervious power of the fateful train that overrides the strategies of the people who try to control this technological monster:
1. The signalman, upon hearing the narrator's call to him, mistakes the narrator for someone else since the narrator has somehow spoken the exact same words as those which were spoken prior to a tragic incident. The signalman explains,
One moonlight night...when I heard a voice cry, 'Halloa! Below there! Look out!...I...
Unlock This Answer Now
Start your 48-hour free trial and get ahead in class. Boost your grades with access to expert answers and top-tier study guides. Thousands of students are already mastering their assignments—don't miss out. Cancel anytime.
Already a member? Log in here.
advanced so close upon [the figure who spoke these words] that I wondered at its keeping the sleeve across its eyes. I ran right up at it, and hand my hand stretched out to pull the sleeve away, when it was gone."
This apparition has presaged the fateful ending of the signalman. Despite the warning to look out, a terrible train wreck has occurred. Upon hearing this report, the narrator suggests that the words were communicated to the signalman in "a supernatural way." The signalman is disturbed by the inexplicable repeated messages he hears:
"Why not tell me where that accident was to happen,--if it must happen? Why not tell me how it could be averted,--if it could be averted?...And I, Lord help me! A mere poor signal-man on this solitary station! Why not go to somebody with credit to be believed, and power to act?"
2. Fate seems a much stronger force that the two men who are isolated. The signalman is
...remarkably exact and vigilant, breaking off his discourse at a syllable, and remaining silent until what he had to do was done.
Yet, despite his careful attention to all the safety measures, the signalman becomes doubtful as he hears warnings when no one is around. And, in his isolated state of "feverish distress," with the narrator away at the time, the fated signalman is killed by the relentless and uncontrollable power of the train.
3. The railroad company has installed safety devices such as the telegraph signals, red lights, flags, and bells. Conscientiously, the signalman ensures that all these devices operate. However, despite the tecnical safety devices and spiritual warnings that the signalman conscientiously checks, the inexorable fate of the accident occurs.
What are the themes in "The Signal-Man"? Is fate one of them?
"The Signal-Man" by Charles Dickens certainly has Fate as a theme; Isolation and the Supernatural can also be motifs. And perhaps all three contribute to the final outcome of this story.
SUPERNATURAL
Dickens's story opens with a railroad signalman's becoming fearful of the narrator as his call to the signalman has strangely reminded this man of the very same words that a supernatural apparition has uttered when seen at a nearby tunnel. This ghost haunts the signalman who seeks to comprehend the meaning of his appearance and gestures and the significance of its words. Rather than improving the signalman's attentiveness, the apparition seems to serve more to disturb the man who is already assiduous and vigilant in his duties. For, the signalman becomes increasingly disturbed and anxious that misfortune is presaged.
ISOLATION
Contributing to the signalman's anxiety is, certainly, his terrible isolation. Without someone with whom to measure occurrences, the signalman has come to doubt the reality of his surroundings. The dark gloom of the tunnel as well as the loneliness of his work have wrought changes upon the signalman, whom the narrator finds initially "a spirit, not a man." The narrator remarks that he has speculated since the initial meeting whether "there may have been infection in his mind."
FATE
That the signalman is so cautious, so vigilant, so diligent in his duties and observation yet the tragic accident occurs nevertheless points to the possibility that there is a force that controls all living beings. The ever-meaningful third time of hearing the words is also a factor that connotes fate.