Moral of Washington Irving's The Legend of Sleepy Hollow Essay

Unlike “The Tell-Tale Heart”, ‘The Legend of Sleepy Hollow’ plot is built around the main theme of superstition. Ichabod tends to be horrified and terrified with the Headless horseman stories. ‘Irving depicts a strong, controversial understanding between the supernatural superstitions the townspeople believed and the natural Sleepy Hollow setting ‘(Hoffman, 425). Despite the story describing in details the natural setting such as trees and birds of the area, there is also a vibrant understanding of privileging supernatural ideas. For instance, Irving believes that it is simply Brom Bones in disguise when finally, the headless horseman appeared.

(Page 1) “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” has different tones throughout the story. At the beginning the tone is somnolent yet peaceful, then the tone gets spooky slightly sarcastic, humorous, mocking and surreal.

Female behavior in Sleepy Hollow is a result of its feminine setting. Irving's tale preserves the maintenance of the feminine and the landscape is described as having maternal characteristics. For example, Sleepy Hollow lies "in the bosom" of a cove lining the Hudson (Irving 948), and the valley is "embosomed in the great state of New York" (Irving 950). Clearly the repose and security of Sleepy Hollow rest in the maternal landscape - an assumption so pervasive that even our male narrator attests to it. For as he observes, the act of naming falls to women in this Dutch village. For example, "The good house-wives of the adjacent country, from the inveterate propensity of their husbands to linger about the village tavern on market days, " have named the nearby "rural port" "Tarry Town" (Irving 948). The name and power of naming thus operates as a gently sarcastic means of reproaching unruly husbands and of preserving female dominance over the Hollow.

Washington Irving’s, the author of the story “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow”, uses imagery throughout the story to interpret the setting and mood of the story. At the beginning of the story, Erving uses suspenseful imagery to describe the location of the valley that he lives in as one of the quietest places on earth . He ackno in the story “Not far from this village, perhaps about two miles down the road, there is a little valley or lap of land among the hills, which is one of the quietest places in the world.” The main character Ichabod Crane is a school teacher, Erving the author uses imagery in such a way to give the readers the full effect of what his classroom looks like. “His schoolhouse was a low building of one large room, rudely constructed of logs; the windows partly glazed, and partly patched with leaves of old copybooks,” he says this in such a way that the reader can imagine the school room as if they were there and it adds suspense to the rest of the story. Washington Irving set the mood of thrilling suspense and the spooky setting of a quiet town by using imagery throughout his story of “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow”.

“The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” is short story of speculative fiction written by Washington Irving, published in 1820. It follows the journey of Ichabod Crane and Brom Bones in their attempt to win over Katrina Van Tassel. Many adaptions have been made of Irving’s original story with one of the most known being “Sleepy Hollow” a 1999 American horror film directed by Tim Burton. The movie follows a different but similar plot to the original story with the murders of the headless horseman being the main focus of the movie. In both versions it can be clearly seen how the setting has a huge impact on all aspects of the book and film particularly the themes, values and characterisation.

Over time, a change has occurred from the typical horror story to a violent and bloody legend. The original short story " The Legend of the Sleepy Hollow" is an example of a simple, yet mysterious fable in which Ichabod Crane acts as the protagonist. Ichabod becomes the victim of the feared headless horseman after believing the superstitious tales of this spirit preying in the night. The film that is supposedly based upon the tale provides a deceiving, yet compelling title of Sleepy Hollow, as one might assume that the film is a reenactment of the short story. The film and original tale differ in that the film has blood, gore and controversy while the story depicts a

The short story I have chosen to read by Washington Irving is 'The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.'; This story takes place in a little village on the Hudson River which by some is called Greensburgh, but which is more generally known as Tarry Town. The main character in the story, Ichabod Crane, who 'tarried'; in Sleepy Hollow came about for the purpose of instructing the children of the vicinity. The main point of the story began with the arrival of a Negro with an invitation to Ichabod to attend a party at the Van Tassel's mansion. After receiving the good news, Ichabod fixed up his best and only suit and borrowed a horse from Hans Van Ripper, in order to impress Mynheer Van Tassel's daughter, Katrina. He did so

In Washington Irving’s “Rip Van Winkle,” an allegorical reading can be seen. The genius of Irving shines through, in not only his representation in the story, but also in his ability to represent both sides of the hot political issues of the day. Because it was written during the revolutionary times, Irving had to cater to a mixed audience of Colonists and Tories. The reader’s political interest, whether British or Colonial, is mutually represented allegorically in “Rip Van Winkle,” depending on who is reading it. Irving uses Rip, Dame, and his setting to relate these allegorical images on both sides. Irving would achieve success in both England and America, in large part because his political satires had individual allegorical meanings.

The director Tim Burton created his own vision on The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. Sleepy Hallow was a movie about a detective named Ichabod Crane who has his own vision on how crimes can be solved. He is sent to a small, dreary town called Sleepy Hollow, to solve the

The town of Sleepy Hollow is isolated, dark and gloomy, it also has contains mostly gothic architecture. This is to support the spine chilling atmosphere that Tim Burton has intended in the film. This is to create a theme of fear and panic towards the viewer because the idea of gothic horror is to create a suspenseful, isolated and dark environment in the movie. An example of this is when Ichabod Crane arrives at sleepy hollow and is instantly greeted by a grave yard and a gloomy, foggy and gothic looking town. The setting of the place in this scene is an excellent example of how gothic horror differs from other styles of horror.

“In the dark shadow of the grove… [Ichabod] beheld something huge, misshapen, black and towering...up in the gloom...some gigantic monster” and “summoning up, [from his trembling body] a show of courage...he demanded in stammering accents- ‘Who are you?’”. In the short story, the “Legend of Sleepy Hollow”, Washington Irving, tells the adventures of a schoolteacher, Ichabod Crane, in the haunted town of Sleepy Hollow. There, he pursues the local beauty, Katrina van Tassel, competing with the town’s rowdy prankster, Brom Bones. As the plot intensifies, Ichabod’s superstition eventually leads to his downfall when he is chased by the legendary ghost of the Headless Horseman in a terrifying and vivid scene after a party at Katrina’s house. The next day, Ichabod has disappeared, his fate unknown. Throughout the story, Irving creates suspense with the use of imagery to build up a frightening scene in the reader’s mind and ambiguity to make them anxious as they feel a sense of mysteriousness as to what really happened.

Huck Finn, a narcissistic and unreliable young boy, slowly morphs into a courteous figure of respect and selflessness. After Pap abducts the young and civilized Huck, Huck descends into his old habits of lies and half-truths. However, upon helping a runaway slave escape, Huck regains morality and a sense of purpose. Throughout The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, Huck lies to characters, casting the authenticity of the story into doubt but illustrating Huck’s gradual rejection of lying for himself and a shift towards lying for others.

The film Sleepy Hollow directed by Tim Burton, centres around a detective who is sent from the city to a small country town to investigate a series of bizarre murders. While he is in town he has to deal with love, past issues and also discover why the horseman has returned from the dead to kill townspeople. The story is based around the battle of good and evil with Ichabod Crane being good as he believes in finding the truth in everything and the Horseman being evil personified as he will not stop killing. Burton displays the constant battle between good and evil throughout the film through the characterization of Ichabod Crane and the Hessian. Burton also uses settings to show what each thing represents like the forest is the gateway to hell

There are many facets that can either make or break someone as a “hero”. In literature, a hero does not necessarily have to be a knight in shining armor, a caped crusader, or an exact replica of the archetype but, there are certain qualities and expectations that determine what makes a hero. A typical hero has strength, appeal, courage, righteousness, and success, meaning that they have the physical and mental capabilities that can lead them to eventually achieve their goals. In most cases, the protagonist of a story is the hero, but this is not true in “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” by Washington Irving. Set in Sleepy Hollow, the story chronicles schoolmaster, Ichabod Crane’s, time and sudden disappearance from the “haunted” town.

“The dominant spirit, however, that haunts this enchanted region, and seems to be commander-in-chief of all the powers of the air, is the apparition of a figure on horseback without a head.” Although the movie Sleepy Hollow is based upon the book The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, there are also distinctions which allow each to tell their own tale. Washington Irving’s short story inspired Tim Burton’s film but did not limit it. The foundations of the two are much the same but their story lines unfold diversely. Some of the similarities include the setting, characters, and plot points. Two of the many contradicting ideas are the character of Ichabod Crane and the conclusions. The similarities and differences of both accounts can be stated plainly