For one reason or another the signalman has had very little luck in life and may have already been tortured in his mind prior to starting work as a signalman. The reality is that his life is in as much darkness as his job. It is also possible that Dickens is suggesting that the signalman though he has had opportunities in the past to improve his life.
He has no natural light in his hut which would be not only unhealthy but would lead to the signalman’s mind again playing tricks on him. The setting of the story may also contribute to the hallucinations that the signalman sees. Leaving time for his mind to play tricks on him. However what is certain is that the signalman is afraid and it may not help that while he is working he is isolated for long hours. That perhaps the signalman’s imagination is running wild or that the night is playing a trick on his mind. All that is known is that the signalman believes he is seeing a spectre or ghost and he cannot be persuaded by the narrator that there is nothing to see. It is as though he cannot logically process them in his mind or give them reason which would help him to understand what he has seen. Though he can see that the signalman is frightened or fearful of the appearances he has seen. He appears to be more level headed and looks for a rational reason for the signalman’s sightings. The narrator unlike the signalman does not believe in ghosts or spectres. Narrated in the first person by an unnamed narrator it becomes clear to the reader after reading the story that Dickens may be exploring the theme of uncertainty. In The Signalman by Charles Dickens we have the theme of uncertainty, fear, isolation, madness, trust and respect.
0 kommentar(er)
