THE SIGNALMAN

CLASS 8- JUNE 2021

WRITING CONTENT

GLOSSARY

1. Premonition-intuition
2. Impending-drawing near, about to happen
3. Seer-fortuneteller, soothsayer
4. Assassination- murder of an important person for political reasons
5. Dismal-gloomy, depressing
6. Jagged-rough, uneven
7. Barbarous-uncivilized, uncultured
8. Forbidding-unpleasant

POINTS TO PONDER

1. Genre-Short story; mystery and horror

2. Narration-The story is narrated by an unnamed narrator; written in1st

Person narrative.

3. Setting- The story takes place in and around a cabin station of a railway
signalman, next to the entrance to a tunnel. It is a dark and isolated site
haunted by a sinister presence. There is an atmosphere of isolation,
mystery, eeriness, gloom, and anonymity through the description of the
railway tunnel and the signalman’s post where the narrator and the
signalman met.

4. Conflict- The major conflict in the story is the signalman's inability to

decode the specter's ambiguous message. He feels responsible for taking
action but doesn't know what action to take without appearing to have lost
his mind.

5. Symbolism-
 Red Light -The red light that hangs at the tunnel's entrance is both a literal
signal of danger and a symbol for impending death. Whenever the
signalman's telegraph bell rings without moving, he leaves his box and
looks at the red danger light, because the spectre always appears near the
light. The red light that the ghost stands by whenever it haunts the
signalman comes to represent the unavoidability of death.

 Tunnel -The signalman's box is situated at the entrance of a train tunnel,

with its other side invisible, representing the unknown. The narrator
describes the tunnel's abyss-like darkness and earthy smell to emphasize
the tunnel's gloomy, otherworldly quality. As the narrator learns of the
deaths that continually occur at the tunnel's entrance, it becomes clear that
the tunnel symbolically demarcates the entrance to the world of the dead.

6. Literary devices-
 Foreshadowing- Foreshadowing is a literary device that writers utilize
as a means to indicate or hint to readers something that is to follow or
appear later in a story. Foreshadowing, when done properly, is an
excellent device in terms of creating suspense and dramatic tension for
readers. At the beginning of the story, the signalman looks toward the
tunnel rather than up to the narrator calling down to him. His peculiar
behavior foreshadows the eventual revelation that the signalman has
been visited by the specter.

 Visual imagery-Visual imagery is a technique that involves

constructing mental images that appeal to the sense of sight and plays a
large role in descriptive writing. When used well, visual imagery can
transport readers to a 15th-century castle in Italy or a bumpy road in
Ireland, riddled with puddles and sheep. The description of the
signalman’s post, the path leading down the line, the gloomy and
architecture of the tunnel etc. creates a mental image in the minds of the
reader.
TEXTBOOK QUESTIONS

2. When the narrator of the story encounters the signalman for the first time, he
notices that the man appears to be under some strain. Quote three statements
made by the narrator which reveals this.
A. The three statements that reveal this are ‘His attitude was one of such…
wondering at it’, “that while he was speaking to me….of the tunnel”, and “On
both of those occasions he came back… earlier noticed”.
3. How does the narrator describe the place in which the signalman carries out
his work? What effect does the place have on the narrator? What are your
feelings at this point of the story?
A. The signalman worked in a solitary, dull and impenetrable place. It was a
crude and gloomy place that had dripping wet walls of jagged stone on either
side that blocked every view but a strip of sky.The dismal state of the place
builds on the narrator and makes him feel uncomfortable. He specifically
mentions a long dark tunnel at the end of a gloomy corridor and describes it to
be as deprived of sunlight as the rest of the place. The sordidness of the place
with a deadly smell and a barbarous air made it seen unnatural and eerie and the
narrator felt as if he had left the natural world. The reader too relates the feelings
of the narrator and can feel the uncanniness and is curious to know what will
happen next. It gradually sets a note of suspense,a fear of something eerie.
4. What was the nature of the signalman’s duties? What did the narrator think
about the way in which he carried out his duties? Quote a sentence to justify.
A. The signalman was responsible for controlling the movement of the trains by
operating the railway signals from a signal box. He would communicate with the
engine drivers by way of flags. He had an official book for making certain
entries, a telegraphic instrument for reading-off messages and sending replies.
The narrator observed him to be exact and vigilant who carried out his duties
with precision and dedication.
5. In a word, I should have…..
What was the circumstance that the narrator found strange about the signalman?
Quote something said by the narrator when he first met the signalman that
foreshadowed the man’s behavior here.
A. The narrator marveled at the way the signalman discharged his duties with
exactitude. However, he would often loose color while glancing at the bell, fling
open the door of the hut, and stare at the red light near the mouth of the tunnel
as if expecting someone. When the narrator first met the signalman,what he
found strange about him was when he called out to him from a point above the
signalman, instead of looking up to where he stood, he turned himself about and
looked down the line.
8. Some dreadful calamity will happen….
a. Who is the speaker of these lines? To whom is he speaking? Why is he so sure
that some dreadful calamity will happen?
A. The speaker of these lines is the signalman. He is speaking to the narrator. The
previous two times he saw the spectre, dreadful calamity followed. First there
was an accident that caused a lot of death and destruction and the second time,
beautiful girl had died in the carriage. So, he is sure that there is an impending
gloom of a dreadful calamity that will soon take place as he had once again seen
the spectre.
b. Why does he describe this as a ‘cruel haunting’ of him?
A. The signalman is a solitary man living in a dull, somber place. Twice he has
witnessed a spectre in the past preceding a dreadful calamity and both the times
he was inept to avoid them. It is indeed a cruel place since neither the place nor
he does have the capacity to avoid the mishaps. Hence this is what is haunting
him.
c. What is the speaker’s state of mind at this time? How does the other person
react to the words of the speaker?
A. The speaker is in fear and agony, awaiting the impending gloom. He is
troubled by the course of the events and the foreboding danger. While the
narrator feels pity and empathizes with the signalman’s plight, the queerness of
the situation has grappled him too.
 9. With an irresistible sense that something was wrong….
What causes the narrator to feel that something was wrong? Is he right?
A. When the narrator was on his way to the signalman’s post, he noticed the
spectre at the mouth of the tunnel. The appearance was similar to what the
signalman had described the previous evening; a man with his left sleeve across
his eyes and waving his right arm feverishly. He sensed that there was
something wrong. He ran down the narrow mountain pass only to learn that this
time the tragedy struck on the signalman himself. He was run down by an
engine.
10. What does the narrator learn about the circumstances of the signalman’s
death? What was strange or unusual about the manner of his death?
A. The narrator learns about the mysterious death of the signalman who was cut
down by an engine. The signal man was killed as he was coming out of the
tunnel holding a lamp with his back to an oncoming train. The driver said that he
tried to attract the signal man's attention, first by using his whistle and then by
shouting out, but the signal man didn't hear him, and the driver didn't have the
time to stop. The narrator asks the driver what he shouted out and the driver
tells him he shouted, "Below there! Look out! Look out! For God's sake clear the
way!'" It is almost the same phrasing that the signal man had said the ghost had
used six hours before a terrible accident had occurred a few years before.

QUESTION BANK

1. Describe the character of the signalman.

Pointers- physical features- mental state-anxious-scared-helplessness-tragic end.

2. Describe the strange experiences of the signalman when he had encountered the
ghostly apparition. What followed after the encounters?
Pointers- the apparition appeared on three separate occasions-two appearances were
followed by terrible accidents- after the third occurrence, signalman himself was
killed.
3. Why was the signalman worried and anxious when the narrator met him?
Pointers- he had seen the spectre again- no peace-anxious-worried about the
impending unknown danger.

4. How does the narrator feel after leaving the signalman following the second
visit?
Pointers- feels concerned for the emotional and psychological well-being of the
signalman-offers to spend the night-feels genuine compassion-believes in his
story-worried for the man’s state of mind-plans to return the next day and
accompany him for medical help.

5. How was the signalman killed? What makes his death particularly disturbing?
Pointers- Ironically and tragically, the signal-man is killed in the same manner as
per the ghostly premonition- run down by a train-despite his cautionary and
painstaking actions, he is "cut down" by a train- in fact, the third premonition
was for him and he couldn’t save himself from meeting a tragic end.