The Signalman

First impressions last. In “The Signalman,” the narrator meets a signalman frightened about the apparitions he has been seen. After every apparition he sees, a disaster happens on the Line. The signalman wonders what the apparition means. A look into how the narrator perceives the signalman, the conflict of the story and the narrator’s realization of the meaning of the signalman’s apparition will help understand “The Signalman.” This analysis shall be done through …

…gut feeling of the signalman. The narrator felt apathetic towards the signalman. He proved the signalman “to be intelligent, vigilant, painstaking, and exact,” yet he could not overcome the inner conflict to believe or not believe the words of the signalman. Unfortunately, the only way the signalman convinces the narrator is by dying. The way the train driver describes how he acted before the death of the signalman confirms what the signalman had to say.