Signalman And Napoleon And The Spectre example essay topic

How Is The Atmosphere Of Mystery And Suspense Built Up In The Two Short Stories The Signal Man An Both of the stories are very gripping and keep you in apprehension throughout When it comes to ghost stories, both hold the general key to a first-class story, mystery. They both take a slow approach to getting to the main climax, which encourages you to keep reading. When making a scary film, it is a lot easier to make a viewer scared as you can use music, sound effects, surprise elements and many other attributions, however, when writing a book the whole approach seems to be completely different. The writers have no special effects or music to entice the reader, so they use very strong expressions and describe the scenery enough for you to feel you are actually there and have a picture of the scene in your mind. This also gives your imagination the chance to play a part which can sometimes be the more elaborate and chilling in design then the original description.

The stories have similarities between them in many areas. A main Joining point between the two is the fact that they both only have a small number of characters. This is better as you can follow the stories easily and pay more attention to the detail given. You are also able to understand the characters more deeply and get to know the surroundings described better. As opposed to trying to figure out whose whom and whats what. Both of the stories have a twist at the end, which gives each a sense of individuality.

In The Signalman the twist is all that the people say and in their actions, as there seems to be a mysterious connection between the spectre and all the other characters which I personally found to be very disturbing. However the most significant connection appears to be between the narrator and the spectre in that th narrator repeats the words that the signalman hears from the Spectre. The clue that there is a connection is given at the beginning of the story when the narrator and signalman first meet. The narrator, when he first saw the signalman shouted down to him the words, hallo a below there, and in departing the signalman asked him what made him say those exact words.

You had no feeling that they were conveyed to you in any supernatural way This shows that there must have been some connection between the Spectre and the narrator as on their first meeting the signalman senses something strange or even ghostly about the narrators manor and words, and clearly feels a connection or else he would not have asked. The signalman also says at one point that he mistook the narrator for someone else, the Spectre. Also when the signalman tells the narrator of his troubles with the Spectre, he shows him the action that he makes every time he appears, In the narrators mind he thought of the action as saying for Gods sake, clear the way. Now what may seem as a coincidence, but is really the connection between the characters is the fact that the warnings of the driver to the signalman before he was cut down were the exact words which had haunted the signalman and the narrators thoughts of what the actions of the spectre meant. Below there! look out! look out! For Gods sake clear the way.

The Spectre also seemed to have warned the Signalman in a way that something would happen to him. As before he was cut down by a train, there were two large accidents previously where the Spectre had been at the scene giving a warning sign of danger. It seems very strange as if the Spectre is not bad, but just wants to warn the Signalman of danger. In Napoleon and the Spectre the twist is that the Emperor does not realise that he is sleep walking In a daze, and believes everything that is happening is real. We do not find this out either though until near the end of the story when the Empress speaks to Napoleon and the world for him starts to become normal again. No curtain intervened between him and the light.

It had been removed as if by magic Throngs of ladies, richly dressed, but without deaths-head masks. Despite this, points are given throughout the story, that if you think back are there to make it seem like more of a dream then a reality. The fact that elegant and rich females were wearing Ghastly masks, representing deaths-heads would not occur in real life. Also that there was a curtain drawn across the hall which generally would not have been there but gives a flowing mysterious feeling to the room. Concealed by a curtain drawn across, through the half transparent folds of which a bright light might be seen burning with dazzling lustre Regardless of the whole dreamy feeling towards the story we know that he really believes what is going on when he says to the Empress. What! , are you in this infernal place too However not to long after saying this he slowly came back to his normal state and wakes up properly.

There also seems to be a connection between the Spectre and Napoleon, in that he seems to be compelled to follow it. Both stories, The Signalman and Napoleon and the Spectre are ghost stories and although they have their similarities, they also have their differences. In Napoleon and the Spectre the ghost is in his dream which in away takes away a certain amount of fear due to the fact it is not real. But in the Signalman the ghost is real which enhances the fear in the signalman as it is a reality and gives you the thought of, it could happen in real life. Both Authors took very different approaches to writing their stories. In Napoleon and the Spectre there is such a detailed description of the ghost that you can actually visualise it.

Tall, thin man dressed in a blue surtout It wore a black cravat very tightly round its neck tongue protruded from between the teeth, and the eyes all glazed and bloodshot started with frightful prominence from their sockets. With this description you are able to in your mind create and image. It seems to come across as the more traditional ghost, and has all the features you would expect a creepy Spectre to have. It is similar to how they portray them in movies In The Signalman the only information they give you about the ghost is the position he stands in. The left arm is across the face, and the right arm is waved. As they give you such little description of the ghost it adds another tinge of mystery to the story, as your mind is left to wonder, along with your imagination.

The ghost in Napoleon and the Spectre acts as a guide which is a rather traditional part for a ghost to play in these kind of stories. However the ghost in the Signalman has come to warm him about something, which is an unusual concept of a ghost. This makes the ghost strange and unpredictable, which again contributes to the build up of the story. In Each story only a small amount of characters were involved. The Characters in a story sometimes add to the fear, in The Signalman I found this to be very true. One of the main characters was the Narrator, a very normal educated and well mannered man.

He seems to be very inquisitive so when he asks the signalman what bothers him and the signalman tells him about the ghost, at first he puts it down to the deception of sight even though he is clearly unnerved by being told this A disagreeable shudder crept over me, but I did my best against it. He also tried to put it down to coincidence or the signalmans imagination. Despite this after hearing the end of the signalmans recollections of his visits from the Spectre the narrator actually starts to refer to the Spectre as if it really exists and stops making excuses. did you see it Did it ring your bell Did it wave its arm This would make it seem that the Narrator really starts to believe that the Spectre exists, and if the Narrator starts to believe it gives a feeling of insecurity as the narrator is supposed to be the normal, educated man, if he believes its as if it must exist. This in a way proves to the reader that the Spectre must really be real and not in his head or a dream. Also the fact that he is a grown man and gets scared by the things that the signalman tells him makes you think that this must be serious. it struck chill to me as if I had left the natural world disagreeable shudder crept over me My mouth was dry. With the description of the Narrators actions and the way he says things after talking to the Signalman brings more uncertainty and greater fear to a certain extent.

Also what he thinks in his head rather then saying shows he has opinions but is very unsure of what to make of everything. However the Signalman himself as a character is rather unusual as from what we know about him he also seems a clever man He is also very precise in his job, so when he was cut down for standing to near to the outer rail, its slightly coincidental and shows he must not have been thinking of his work. He had taught himself a language He had also worked at fractions and decimals, and tried a little algebra This says that he teaches himself and he seems very level-headed and completely sane. This worries because he is all those things he would not make up or dream of a Spectre, which in a way encourages us to believe in what we read even more. The Characters in Napoleon and the Spectre are not so much scary as they are odd. The Ghost is very traditional, which makes it slightly predictable.

Napoleon however does bring fear to the story because he seems so scared and shaken. The fact that every noise he hears in his room he presumes must be someone or something. He grabs his pistol at the first noise he hears and his sword the second. Sweating with terror. Napoleon is also a well educated man so until we find out that he is actually dreaming the fear rating is far higher and more chilling because of this.

The settings in both stories were probably one of the most important factors of building fear if not the best. The setting in a story builds up the suspense of what is going to happen or what could happen and tells you the situation people are going to be in. If the setting is at night in a dark ally you know there could be trouble ahead, or if its set on sunny day in a playground you know you are on slightly safer ground there. In the signalman the setting was essential to get the true feeling the writer wanted to illustrate in you mind, it gave you the chance to imagine what the character was doing and in what type of place.

The cutting was extremely deep and unusually precipitous, It was made through a clammy stone that became oozier and wetter as I went down With this you can focus it and get a mental picture of the path as clear as if you had been there. On either side, a dripping wet wall of jagged stone, excluding all view but a strip of sky The gloomier entrance to a black tunnel so little sunlight ever found its way to this spot, that it had an earthy, deadly smell and so much cold With that short yet descriptive paragraph a whole picture comes to life and you come to terms with the surroundings. These settings build up fear in the story as they add suspense. Every now and then more description will be added until you have the full picture in you mind at the end, with your imagination adding final touches. The settings described seemed rather mysterious and murky. The description words used give a whole feeling to the situation, misty, murky, dismal, gloomy and dreary all bring a new aspect to the surroundings.

The settings in Napoleon and The spectre were also vital for the writer to build up fear and mystery. Charlotte Bronte describes every place which Napoleon enters which very deeply which allows to see what he sees. A dim light which shone round the ghost and revealed the damp walls of a long, vaulted passage Ere long a cool, refreshing breeze, which rushed wailing up the vault. When setting the scene and adding description you are keeping the reader in suspense of what is about to happen so it builds up fear. Silence, said the guide, lolling out still further his black and bloody tongue. Silence, if thou wouldst escape instant death.

Charlotte Bronte sets the scene however by adding in small, but significant descriptions The Emperor felt his pillow becoming rather hard He was disturbed by a sensation of thirst The Fact that the Emperor is uneasy and unable to sleep due to hearing noises builds up a lot of fear. She takes her time setting the scene which adds to the suspense and mystery. The endings of the stories are completely different. The ending in Napoleon and The Spectre was quite traditional, where it all turned out to be a dream. In a way this gives a rather weak ending compared to The Signalman, as this ends with a twist and keeps your mind thinking and wondering even after you have finished reading the book.

Ending with it all being a dream is like taking the easy way out. In conclusion I would say overall both stories were brilliant, However, I did prefer The Signalman by Charles Dickens to, Napoleon and the Spectre by Charlotte Bronte. I found the suspense and twists in the Signalman to be more enticing compared to a dream. Charlotte Bronte was only seventeen when she wrote this story so it would be fair to say that she was not as experienced as Charles Dickens at that time, which could be the reason why her story was less successful. Despite this when it came to building suspense and mystery both fulfilled this, which made the stories come to life, and I enjoyed reading both stories immensely.