They both involve premonitions of fate and the future. In 'The Signalman', the narrator attracts the attention of the signalman by shouting "Halloa! Below there!" These were the words recited by the ghost who warned him of an accident that would happen in the near future. Also, these were the words shouted by the train driver as he alerted the signalman of the speeding train heading towards him. Also, In 'The Withered Arm', Rhoda dreamt that she had grabbed Gertrude's arm. It was later discovered that Gertrude woke up with a painful arm on the exact same night and at the exact same time that Rhoda had the dream. Also, Rhoda knew exactly what Gertrude looked like before she had even seen her. In both of the stories some of the characters experience loneliness and isolation. Although both Dickens and Hardy express this through their characters, Dickens does so in a more intense manner, as more sympathy is felt for the signalman than for Rhoda or Gertrude. In 'The Signalman', the signalman inhabits a small, "solitary and dismal" signal box. He stays in the "dripping-wet dungeon" for hours each day with nothing to do except to occasionally "change that signal, trim those lights, and turn his iron handle". Dickens may have created this character to express his sympathy for those who are lonely. He may have wanted us to pity the signalman, as he is a "well educated" man constrained by a primitive occupation. This sympathy was heightened because of the death of the signalman. Possibly the fact that Dickens does not give the signalman a name shows that he is deemed unimportant to most people. Dickens may want us to counter this view and to think that all human beings are important. In 'The Withered Arm', Rhoda's best friend is Gertrude and so she is terrified that Gertrude will discover that she was the cause of the skin complaint. This shows Rhoda's former loneliness as she only just met Gertrude and previously hated her, but Gertrude instantaneously became her best friend.