Dickens manages to create atmosphere in the beginning of "The Signalman" by portraying the signalman as a withdrawn and deliberate man. The way that the signalman looks down the tracks rather than upwards after being greeted by 'halloa! Below there'. A greeting which there could have been no confusion as to where it came from. This reveals to us that the signalman is a strange character with a somewhat indescribable manner of doing things. After …
showed first 75 words of 568 total

showed last 75 words of 568 total
…narrator for the next visit shows that he is a haunted man, and his strange rituals like 'don't call out' are either part of his insanity or a means he uses to fight it. The way Dickens uses the signalman to emphasis and reflects the surroundings builds up a very convincing air of mystery and coldness, which I think, is summed up when the narrator says 'his manner seemed to make the place strike colder'