How typical are The signalman by Charles Dickens, The monkeys paw Essay

How typical are The signalman by Charles Dickens, The monkeys paw by W.W Jacobs and The red room by H.G Wells of the gothic genre? Gothic stories were written in the middle of the eightieth century these include ‘Frankenstein’ written by Mary Shelley and ‘Jane Eyre’ written by Charlotte Bronte. Other gothic stories also include ‘The Signalman’ by Charles Dickens, ‘The Monkeys Paw’ by W.W Jacobs and ‘The red room’ written by H.G wells. Gothic stories were started by Horace Walpole who wrote ‘The castle of otranto’ in 1765. Gothic stories tend to include the supernatural, isolated places such as derelict houses and castles also in graveyards this is so the setting and atmosphere will be eerie and spooky also gothic stories will contain some sort of death or ghosts. For example in ‘The Signalman’ there is a ghost, it is set in an isolated place and it makes the plot mysterious. One of the ways what gothic stories are written is in short stories. The first short story is ‘The signalman’ by Charles Dickens. The story begins with the narrator who is standing at the top of a hill calling down to the signalman. The narrator then approaches the signalman and thinks that he may be a ghost. â€Å"This was a spirit, not a man.† The word ‘spirit’ suggests that the signalman may be supernatural. This is ironic because the signalman thinks that the narrator is a ghost as does the narrator think the signalman is a ghost. The signalman invites the narrator into his box because he realised that he wasn’t a ghost and they talked after a while the narrator left the signalman and returned the next day. â€Å"†¦turned his face towards the little bell when it did not ring, opened the door of the hut and looked out towards the red ligh... ... him and Herbert dies so it brings the genre of death and ghosts into the story. The setting and atmosphere of ‘The Monkeys Paw’ is of a gothic genre because the house is set in the middle of nowhere and it is lighted by candles and a log fire that will create dark shadows. â€Å"The candle end, which had burned below the rim of the china candlestick, was throwing pulsating shadows on the ceiling and wall†¦Ã¢â‚¬  This quote is typical of the gothic genre because it tells us that the house is shadowed and it is candle lit so it will cause areas of the house to remain in darkness. In conclusion ‘The Monkeys Paw’ is typical of the gothic genre because it does contain a sense of supernatural because the paw grants wishes and it made the son come alive again so this is also suggests ghosts. This can be also linked to the mystery of the paw and the thing at the door.