The Signalman

“The Signal-Man” (1866)

Charles Dickens

Charles Dickens

Charles Dickens (born February 7, 1812, Portsmouth, Hampshire, England—died June 9, 1870, Gad’s Hill, near Chatham, Kent) was an English novelist, generally considered the greatest of the Victorian era. His many volumes include such works as A Christmas Carol, David Copperfield, Bleak House, A Tale of Two Cities, Great Expectations, and Our Mutual Friend.

Dickens enjoyed a wider popularity during his lifetime than had any previous author. Much in his work could appeal to the simple and the sophisticated, to the poor and to the queen, and technological developments as well as the qualities of his work enabled his fame to spread worldwide very quickly. His long career saw fluctuations in the reception and sales of individual novels, but none of them was negligible or uncharacteristic or disregarded, and, though he is now admired for aspects and phases of his work that were given less weight by his contemporaries, his popularity has never ceased. The most abundantly comic of English authors, he was much more than a great entertainer. The range, compassion, and intelligence of his apprehension of his society and its shortcomings enriched his novels and made him both one of the great forces in 19th-century literature and an influential spokesman of the conscience of his age.

(From Britannica.com)

Discussion Questions for “The Signal-Man”

What effect do you think the author hoped to create by having a train pass through the scene at the beginning of the story?

We do not know anything about the narrator’s past, yet we learn many details about the signal man’s past and present. Why does the narrator not provide any background regarding himself? How does this absence inform the story?

The narrator suggests a connection between the first apparition and the train driver, but what are we to make of this connection? Is it possible to reach any definite conclusion about the apparitions and their reality? Does their reality (or unreality) affect the story’s meaning in any way?

The signal man never expects that the ghost’s warning could concern his own life. Why? Is this a result of him being a poor reader? A result of his selflessness? Are the two connected?

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