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The legend of sleepy hollow by washington irving analysis
The legend of sleepy hollow washington irving
The literary analysis of the legend of sleepy hollow
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Reggie dela Cruz 3rd Block Horrors of the Hollow The Legend of Sleepy Hollow is a work by Washington Irving about the tale of a character named Ichabod Crane. The work is filled with tension and horror, and has a spooky and mysterious ambience throughout the work. To achieve this feeling through his text, Irving uses the character called the Headless Horseman, nature, imagination, and onomatopoeia. The Headless Horseman is a main part of the spooky and mysterious ambiance of Sleepy Hollow. On page five, paragraph one, Irving writes, “And how often was [Ichabod] thrown into complete dismay...in the idea it was the Galloping Hessian” (another name for the Headless Horseman). This shows that Ichabod was often frightened by the thought of the
A philosopher named Paul Brunton said, “We should control our appetite, otherwise we will lose ourselves in the confusion of the world.” Washington Irving’s short story, “The legends of sleepy hollow” spins a tale about Ichabod Crane's experiences as a city teacher, while living in a magical place known as Sleepy Hollow. Appetite defines Ichabod Crane in the three following ways: food, wealth, and superstitions.
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. Seemingly the “good guy” and hero of the story, it is made apparent that Ichabod is a man of many faults which undermine this surface assumption. Ichabod’s gangly and bird-like physique is the first indication that he is not cut out to be the triumphant hero. In the face of danger, a hero stands up with bravery while Ichabod shrinks back from mythical tales and superstitions. Likewise, the simple fact of being morally upright is challenged by Ichabod’s overwhelming greed. Affirming his lack of heroism is the story’s conclusion in which Ichabod’s overactive imagination was so prevalent that it clouded his sense of reality and caused his downfall and failure. In “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow”, Ichabod Crane is shown to be an anti-hero through his mere physical description, cowardice and greed, and ultimately destructive imagination, all of which completely contradict the traits that make a true hero.
The characters Ichabod Crane and Brom Bones in Washington Irving’s “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” are an example of two American types, brains and brawn. The brainy American type is intelligent, book smart, and usually thin and tall. The brawny type is characteristically strong, muscular, and street smart, but not necessarily book smart. These descriptions epitomize Irving’s characters Ichabod Crane and Brom Bones.
Sleepy Hollow, New York a town who changed their name thanks to Washington Irving 's story. The original name was Tarrytown, just like in "Legend of Sleepy Hollow". With Irving telling the tale of the small town in the 1800 's there have been adaptations on the silver screen. One told by Walt Disney and the other, Tim Burton. Disney holds most of the original concept of Irving 's tale than the Tim Burton’s movie. However, the changes in the bridge scene, the concept of the characters, and the horseman takes valuable meaning away from Irving 's timeless classic “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.”
Benoit, Raymond. Irving's The Legend of Sleepy Hollow." The Explicator. Washington: Heldref Publications, 1996. "
From 1804 to 1806 Irving traveled throughout Europe and spent most of his time away in England, allowing him to experience European culture as well as how it feels to be a foreigner (May). Irving parallels his alien status in his characterization of Ichabod Crane, a character that one analyzer identified as “an outsider, a Yankee schoolmaster among the canny Dutch farmers” (Yarbrough). It is clear that Irving felt out of place in Europe, but he embraced his differences proudly and enjoyed absorbing the foreign culture just as Ichabod did. This willingness to absorb the surrounding culture is clearly paralleled by Ichabod’s views on witchcraft, in which he “most firmly and potently believed,” just as Irving was eager to adopt and adapt the traditional folktales he learned in Europe (“Legend of Sleepy Hollow”). Irving characterizes Crane as superstitious primarily to develop him as an intelligent and harsh schoolmaster and as a foil to the simpler countryfolk natives while also displaying his own love for exploring literature. Washington Irving’s development of Ichabod Crane as a superstitious outsider reflects his early experiences as a stranger and his embrace of foreign
With all these traits, his works became a representative of Romanticism as a whole. His well known short story “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” is a classic American Dark Romantic tale. The main character, Ichabod Crane, moves to a small town called Sleepy Hollow, to be a school teacher. There he tries to win the heart of Katrina Van Tassel, one of his students. The town Sleepy Hollow has an old folk tale of a headless horseman. Irving portrays a lot of the dark romantic style of writing while setting the scenes of this short story. An example of this is when he says “... it was dearly purchased by the terrors of his subsequent walk homeward. How often did he shrink with curdling awe at some rushing blast, howling among the trees of a snowy night, in the idea that it was the Galloping Hessian of the
Irving Washington. "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow." The Norton Anthology of American Literature. Ed. Nina Baym. 5th ed. Vol. 1. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1998.
Irving, Washington. "Washington Irving, "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow."" The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. Ed. Paul Lauter. Sixth. Vol. B. Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2009. 2321-40. Print. 2 vols. The Heath Anthology of American Literature.
“The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” is a festive short story by Washington Irving circa 1820. The story takes place in a quaint town named “Tarry Town,” which has the eerie valley of Sleepy Hollow nearby. Moreover, among the townspeople, Sleepy Hollow is renowned for its superstitious and speculative happenings since the town’s creation. Most importantly, the legend of the Headless Horseman is the most prominently spoken of. The story follows a single man, Ichabod, and the conflicts he experiences externally leading to his assumed death. In “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,” Ichabod’s characteristics of overconfidence, false expectations, and naïveté are the reasons for his demise at the end of the
2 Para. 4). The region is not only enchanted, but there is a headless horse man that haunts Sleepy Hollow. This demonstrates that there is more than one spooky thing going on in Sleepy Hollow. Many people are terrified of being outside at night because of the headless horseman. Ichabod liked to spread the word of the headless horseman and other tales: “He would delight them equally by his anecdotes of witchcraft, and the direful omens and portentous sights and sound in the air” (pg.6). Washington Irving introduces Ichabod spreading other scary accounts. This proves that people liked to listen to tales in Sleepy Hollow and that they do believe in the supernatural. They passed down the anecdote to each
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow was put into The Sketchbook of Geoffrey Crayon which was written by Washington Irving, this was published in 1820 (Cullina, Alice). The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by, Washington Irving takes place in a small town this small town has some type of enchantment put on it. The people who live in this town tend to have night terrors and daydream a lot(The Legend). The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by, Washington Irving is a short story that has a lot of symbolism in it. During the story Washington Irving uses the characters in the story to help enlist a lot of symbolize. A couple of these symbols that are visible in the short story are color, greed, envy, darkness, and the characters.
The most famous Scottish tale of the headless horseman was when a soldier named Ewen was decapitated in a clan battle at Glen Cainnir on the Isle of Mull. The battle denied him any chance to be a chief of the clan, and even his horse is headless and there are accounts of him haunting the area. The Dullahan could have transferred to American folklore. The Headless Horseman is a fictional character from the short story “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” by Washington Irving. In this story a soldier in the American Revolution gets decapitated by a cannonball and his comrades bury him close to the battlefield. Every halloween night his ghost furiously looks for his head. In Indian Folklore it is called the jhinjhār and is actually viewed as a heroic figure. They are viewed to be warriors whose wrath and passion to protect the innocent motivate them to fight even after beheaded.
The short story, “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” by Washington Irving had good devloping of the characters but the story did not revolve around Sleepy Hollow itself and the Horseman could have more background. The author develops characters greatly through intense vocabulary. Along with long descriptions of the characters, the author uses words such as “lank”, “waywardness”, and “repose”. The author accurately shows the feelings of othe characters thoughout the story as they are interacting with each other though dialogue and actions, such as Brom pranking Ichabod because he didn’t like that Katrina was getting closer to Ichabod. Though the characters were developed well, all of the background was focused on them and not Sleepy Hollow itself.
Simultaneous reviews exhibit the degree of support Irving gained in the nineteenth century. Although numerous reviewers were aware of inadequacy in Irving's work, their recognition is mainly overwhelming. Not all critics have been thrilled; critical response of the author's work has been diverse over the past two centuries. Nevertheless, most modern critics label Irving as one of America’s greatest writers, accountable for implementing an American style of writing, particularly in short stories. His short stories “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” and “Rip Van Winkle” are treated as American masterpieces, their legacy so great that they have been introduced to popular culture.