The Signal-Man

The narrator suggests a connection between the first apparition and the train driver, but what are we to make of this connection? Is it possible to reach any definite conclusion about the apparitions and their reality? Does their reality (or unreality) affect the story’s meaning in any way?

The signal man never expects that the ghost’s warning could concern his own life. Why? Is this a result of him being a poor reader? A result of his selflessness? Are the two connected?

Communication with other signal men occurs in the story through lamps, flags, and bells, but the signal man works in physical isolation. Discuss how this tension between isolation and connection informs the story’s meaning.

The signal man lives a solitary life, or so it seems. But what do we know of the signal man’s life outside of work? Why do we know so little? How does this relate to the signal man’s narrative function and/or the narrator’s interest in him?

Most traditional plots follow a narrative arc of introduction, rising action, climax, resolution, and denouement. In this story, however, there is no resolution that wraps up loose ends and provides a definitive “reading.” Are the reader and the narrator in the same position by the end of the story? What do you think of the narrator’s final paragraph?

How does Dickens foreshadow the story’s conclusion? In what ways does this foreshadowing echo the story’s themes?

Is the narrator to be trusted? Why or why not?

The signal man feels responsible for the deaths that have occurred on his watch, and the narrator feels at least partly responsible for the signal man’s death. However, it’s unclear whether either could have prevented the respective tragedies from unfolding. Does the story suggest that there is any “point” to the characters’ sense of responsibility?