"The Signal-Man" and Other Stories Essay Questions

How might Dickens' historical context have contributed to his decision to write "The Signalman"?

Britain's passenger railway system—one of the oldest in the world—was approximately forty years old when Dickens wrote "The Signalman" in 1866. Having grown up in the age of rapid expansion of the rail system, Dickens was familiar with the modern technology, including its high-profile disasters. Five years before he wrote the story, the Clayton Tunnel Crash of 1861 killed 23 people and injured another 176. A signal failure was found to be the cause: the signalman at the south end of the tunnel was late in waving his flag, and the driver of the second train did not see the warning, barreling into the train that was already ahead of him. At the time, it was the worst rail accident in British history. Dickens experienced his own brush with a rail calamity in 1865. The Staplehurst Rail Crash resulted in ten deaths, and though Dickens survived, he was left shaken. For the rest of his life, he avoided train travel. The Staplehurst crash was also caused by a signaler's error, and no doubt influenced Dickens when he penned "The Signalman."

What is the significance of the story's opening line?

The opening line of "The Signalman" is a motif that recurs throughout the story, gaining new meaning with each utterance. While the phrase "Halloa! Below there!" is friendly and innocuous-sounding at first, the phrase seems to stun the signalman and throw him into a reverie. The phrase's haunting quality is developed further when the signalman asks the narrator if he said "Below there!" because the phrase was conveyed to him in a supernatural way. This peculiar question throws the narrator off, but he obliges the signalman's request that he not call down to him when he visits the next day. Later, the signalman discloses that the specter has shouted "Below there!" to him. The narrator understands the repetition as an eerie coincidence, but the phrase's ultimate significance is revealed when the train driver explains how he shouted "Below there!" to the signalman before he ran him over. In this way, the opening line transforms from casual to eerie to tragic as the supernatural story unfolds.

What role does helplessness play in "The Signalman"?

As one of the story's major themes, the concept of helplessness plays a significant role in "The Signalman." The inverse of the story's preoccupation with responsibility, helplessness plagues both the signalman and the narrator. When the specter visits the signalman to presage disaster, the signalman has no tools to help him decode the cryptic messages: all he can do is wait anxiously to see what tragedy will strike next. Similarly, the narrator, who feels responsible for assisting the signalman, is helpless to decipher how much of the signalman's story he should believe. He would prefer to chalk up the specter's appearances to coincidence, yet he cannot shake the eerie feeling he gets from the signalman's stories and the red light next to which the specter shows himself. In the end, the signalman is helpless to move when the train runs him down, and the narrator fails to help the signalman in time. Both men are helpless in the face of the supernatural force that foretells the signalman's death.