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A review by imme_van_gorp
The Signal-Man by Charles Dickens
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
3.0
Oh, how creepy!
The story follows a man who says he is being haunted by a ghost who keeps warning him before terrible tragedy strikes. The man is beside himself because the ghost appeared before him again, and he now fears danger is looming ahead. Yet, the man does not know how to stop the upcoming tragedy from happening, nor does he know what the danger entails. He is scared and wants to do something to help, but knows he is useless to do anything. He is terribly frustrated because why would the ghost warn him without telling him what he can do to prevent the tragedy?
He confides his troubles to a complete stranger, who comes to the conclusion that the man’s senses must be betraying him, and that the ghost’s appearances and previous tragedies have to simply be a coincidence. Still, the stranger doesn’t want to outright call the man crazy, or expose his secret to others, especially since the man seems intelligent and controlled in all other aspects, so the stranger decides to let it be for the time being. However, the next night something happens that proofs the stranger wrong, and it certainly has dire consequences...
I think the reason this story worked so well for me is because I never figured out if the man’s loneliness made him see things that weren’t there, or if maybe he truly was being haunted by something supernatural. It all depends whether the end could be seen as a coincidence... Could it? I’m not sure.
The story follows a man who says he is being haunted by a ghost who keeps warning him before terrible tragedy strikes. The man is beside himself because the ghost appeared before him again, and he now fears danger is looming ahead. Yet, the man does not know how to stop the upcoming tragedy from happening, nor does he know what the danger entails. He is scared and wants to do something to help, but knows he is useless to do anything. He is terribly frustrated because why would the ghost warn him without telling him what he can do to prevent the tragedy?
He confides his troubles to a complete stranger, who comes to the conclusion that the man’s senses must be betraying him, and that the ghost’s appearances and previous tragedies have to simply be a coincidence. Still, the stranger doesn’t want to outright call the man crazy, or expose his secret to others, especially since the man seems intelligent and controlled in all other aspects, so the stranger decides to let it be for the time being. However, the next night something happens that proofs the stranger wrong, and it certainly has dire consequences...
I think the reason this story worked so well for me is because I never figured out if the man’s loneliness made him see things that weren’t there, or if maybe he truly was being haunted by something supernatural. It all depends whether the end could be seen as a coincidence... Could it? I’m not sure.