The Signal Man By Charles Dickens – Summary Of The Short Story
THE SIGNAL MAN BY CHARLES DICKENS – We are now going to read a summary of a short story by Charles Dickens entitled The Signal Man.
As mentioned above, this short story is a first-person horror/mystery story written by greatest novelist of the Victorian era Charles Dickens.
Summary
Here is the summary of this short story uplifted from eNotes:
It starts with the narrator greeting a signal man by a railway line. “Halloa, below there!”, he said. The signal man seemed to appear unsure where the voice came from. The narrator asked the latter permission to descend, which he did.
Upon reaching the line where the signal man is standing, he feels oddly. The narrator asked why the latter reacted so strangely to the narrator’s appearance. The signal man said that he might have seen the narrator before—by the red danger light. This confused the narrator since he never was there before.
They talked about the signal man, which the latter showed the signal box and explains how he operates the lights, holds out flags for passing trains, and pulls the occasional iron handle.
The signal man got up for no reason and went out to look at the danger light. He admitted to the narrator that he is troubled and said that he will elaborate this should the narrator returns the next day.
The narrator returned the next day and met the signal man. The latter admitted after entering the signal box that he mistook the narrator for someone else the previous night, which is an apparition he has seen with an arm across its face.
It stood just outside the entrance to the train tunnel and was nowhere to be found after it abruptly disappeared. The figure also said “Halloa, below there!”
The narrator explain this as a figment of the Signal-man’s isolated mind, but he is unsettled. The signal man explained that every time the apparition appears within six hours, an accident happens.
He later saw the apparition a few months later, with both hands before the face in an attitude of mourning . At the same time, a young lady was found to have died aboard the passing train. The signal man admits that he has seen the spectre several times during the past week.
The narrator explained that the signal man is suffering from hallucinations. At that time the signal man saw a ghost and hears his bell ring eerily. The narrator sees and hears nothing and insisted that the latter’s imagination has been overtaxed and suggests taking him to see a doctor.
The next day, the narrator visits the railway and sees a mysterious figure at the mouth of the tunnel. It was, however, an official of a group investigating an incident on the line. The narrator learned that the signal man was struck by a oncoming train.
The driver of the said train explained that he attempted to warn the signal man of his danger: as the train bore down on the signal man, he said “Below there! Look out! For God’s sake, clear the way!”.
The driver waved his arm in warning even as he covered his face to avoid seeing the train strike the signal man. Tha narrator cited the significance of the similarity between the driver’s words and actions and those of the spectre described by the fatality. However, it is up to the reader to know the nature of that significance.