This English literature course have made me think about how through fictional and non-fictional stories, literature makes us reflect and appreciate societal issues. Since we have been reading and discussing some literature pieces we are being able to realize that literature is the mirror of society and it gives voice to those who are voiceless, it gives life to the lifeless and it also gives hope to the hopeless. However, because literature is the mirror of the society, some writer attempted to write or describe the flaws of life and weaknesses of humanity to justify both sides of mortal and immortal life.
If we start to analyze the book called “The Signal-man” a ghost story written by Charles Dickens we are going to realize that his author wanted to portray to the readers societal issues that were occurring during the Victorian time as well as his own view of life. As we know “The signal-man” was setting in the middle of the 19th century, a period of time in which industrialization and progress were the main issues among the European society.
As I mentioned before, there are many real elements of a society that we can find in a literature piece and sometimes those real elements are mixed up with non-fictional literature elements in order to represent in an enjoyable way of reading the society problems. In the signalman both elements; societal issues, non-fictional elements and metaphors were portrayed to show to the readers how the main character saw the society, he was just a specter of what was happening in the 19th century mechanized environment.
Literature elements such as; supernatural things (the ghost) and the box in which the signalman used to lived, represent Charles Dickens’ state of mind. He also wanted to depict in his book his realistic perspective in which he was feeling the societal changes and the mechanization of humanity.
Good points, but how would you relate this story to our society? Do you think that we are been hunted by ghosts too, if that’s the case of which kind?
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