The Signalman and The Man with the Twisted Lip Essay -- Charles Dicken

The Signalman and The Man with the Twisted Lip Originally stories were sung or spoken and handed down through word of mouth from one person to another. There were thousands of traditional stories all over the world, from King Arthur and his knights of the round table in Britain to Hercules and the Gods on Mount Olympus in Greece. In the middle ages this was how stories were told, these stories were sometimes shown as plays, which many people could pay to watch. These plays were based on love, war and religion and were very popular with everyone. Some mystery plays were based on bible stories and shown throughout Europe. Others were based on the courtly love tradition where women were worshipped like Gods. In contrast other stories were shown as having the â€Å"damsel in distress† such as Robin Hood, with knights and a great battle of good versus evil. Some even took the myths and legends and included them in their stories; this could have been where princesses were saved from a beast such as a dragon or a small boy performing the colossal act of defeating a giant. The Signalman By Charles Dickens The setting is a railway line at the bottom of a steep cutting, where the sunlight â€Å"barely penetrated†. It was a â€Å"dark, dank, gloomy and depressing place near a tunnel with a red danger light at its entrance.† The signalman’s box was but a few hundred yards from the entrance of the tunnel, giving the impression that this is the last outpost of life before entering the tunnel, which could go down to the underworld. NB. In Ancient Greek legends, the entrance to Hades Underworld or death was often portrayed as a dark tunnel or cave. The main character is a signalman, he is working class but â€Å"educated beyon... ...The Man With The Twisted Lip Greed, deceit and shame changed Neville St Clairs life as he became something he wasn’t i.e. the beggar to gain more money; the deceit was the manner in which he gained the money, he developed a character by dressing up under a disguise, and shame if the high class society found out how he gained his money it would be social suicide for himself and his family 15. The characters willingly move towards their own doom. The Signalman focused on his job to keep the train safe, willingly tended to the red light near the entrance to the tunnel but was not focused enough on his own safety and so was cut down by the train The Man With The Twisted Lip Neville St Clair conscientiously chose to be a beggar and also would have willingly gone to prison or the executioner rather than have revealed the secret and disgraced his family.