Differences Between Sleepy Hollow Book And Movie

Have you ever compared a movie to a story and found that there are many similarities and differences? Short story writers such as Washington Irving, Katherine Anne Potter, and Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote modern and contemporary pieces of literature that have many examples of literary components that are similar and different. When analyzing the literary components of the short stories, you are able to compare and contrast the setting, plot, and characters from the movie and the story.

The setting of a story portrays the place where events in a story occur. In movies, the setting is portrayed through the screen in the picture, that the audience can see. While, in stories, the author has to use mood, tone, and description to help the reader

imagine the place where the characters are. First I found similarities between the movie settings to the setting in the story. The Jilting of Granny Weatherall most the events happen in Granny’s house or in her bedroom. Since Granny becomes ill in the movie and was already ill in the story, most of the events occur in her bedroom because Granny was too ill to walk and move around, I think the producer kept this setting the same because the majority of the written story happens with Granny in bed. Eliminating this detail would have changed the entire story because without Granny in bed, where would she rest? Another comparison I found was in Rappaccini’s Daughter. In Rappaccini’s Daughter, the stories took place in Italy, by a university because, Giovanni was looking for a university education. The university is where Giovanni planned on staying. Also in both the story and movie there was a window where Giovanni would peer into Rappaccini’s garden. In the garden, there was a bush with purple pedals on it that Rappaccini won’t touch, but Beatrice would. This is how Giovanni notices Beatrice, this also leads to their friendship/ romance. I think the producer had the settings similar to the settings of the story because the window and the garden are to two focal points of the story. I think that the entire story would have been changed if the producer changed the setting of the story. If the producer had left out the garden and the place where Giovanni was staying, it would have changed the outcome. Then I found differences in the movie settings and the story settings. In Sleepy Hollow, the producer had Ichabod Crane in a different setting than the setting he was in for the story.

In the movie starts with Ichabod Crane seen in New York City, as a police inspector, who has been assigned to go to the town of Sleepy Hollow to investigate the recent murders. While in the story, Ichabod Crane was a schoolmaster in Tarrytown. I think the producer had the name of the town be Sleepy Hollow because it is a commonly known name that his audience would know. I also think he changed the name to show that the movie is scary and spooky. Another difference between the movie and the story of Sleepy Hollow was, in the movie, the town where the events occurred was known as Sleepy Hollow; however in the story, the town was known as Tarrytown. Sleepy Hollow was the name of the valley in the story. I think the producer had Ichabod Crane in New York City as the police, instead of being the schoolmaster in Tarrytown, so that the producer would be able to elaborate and expand the original story. By having Ichabod Crane as a police officer, the producer was able to create other characters that were killed by the horseman. This made the movie more interesting. Another story and movie that had a difference in setting was The Jilting of Granny Weatherall. In the movie, Granny went to a chicken hen to

collect fresh eggs for her white cake. She was making the white cake because it reminds her of her wedding day, and Granny insisted that everything was fresh. However, the story does not mention Granny gathering eggs from chickens. I think the producer added this detail to expand on how granny was feeling before the heart attack. It shows that she was healthy and active in the house before becoming ill. Overall producers can alter or keep the settings of stories to fit into their movies.
The plot of a story or movie is as important as the setting. The plot is made up of important events that build the story. The plot includes rising action, a climax and falling action. Both movie and story have a plot, however, some of the events may be different. When comparing the plots of the movies and stories I was able to find similarities. One similarity I found was in the Jilting of Granny Weatherall. In both the movie and story granny was dying but didn’t want to blow out a candle. By blowing out the candle, it symbolizes that she was ready to die. Finally at the end Granny blows out a candle and she dies peacefully. I don’t think the producer changed this event because it was the conclusion of the story. The movie would have had to continue if Granny didn’t die. Another similarity I found was in Rappaccini's Daughter. In Rappaccini’s Daughter, Giovanni got handprints from when Beatrice tries to stop him from touching the flower. Beatrice tried to stop him from touching the flower because she knew it was poisonous and it would kill him. I think the producer decided to keep this detail in the movie because it gives a reason to why Beatrice is so protective of Giovanni in the Garden. If Beatrice didn’t grab his hand, Giovanni would have died. This also shows that Beatrice cares for Giovanni’s well-being. After finding similarities in the movies and stories, I was then able to find differences in the plots used in the movies and stories. The movie and story have two different ways the Headless Horseman lost his head. The story suggests that a cannon ball took the horseman's head off during a battle in the Revolutionary war; While, in the movie, the horseman was decapitated by a sword and was buried in the woods of sleepy hollow. I think the producer changed this detail in the stories plot to support the other events in the movie. The entire movie is based on the horseman not having his head in his grave and the head controlled his actions. Also in the story of Sleepy Hollow, Crane was the only victim of the horseman. But in the movie, there were multiple victims before Crane even went to sleepy hollow and when Crane went to sleepy hollow, he was not killed by the horseman. I think the producer changed this plot detail in the movie so it would support his decision of making Crane a police officer sent to sleepy hollow to investigate murders. By changing the detail, the producer was able to support his previous change to the setting. Then in the Jilting of Granny Weatherall, the movie starts off with Granny being well. The movie shows the events that lead up to Granny’s heart attack. While, in the story, has Granny already very ill, and she is being examined by a doctor. I think the producer did this because he wanted to show the audience the health of Granny before the heart attack. Also, I think he changed it because it allowed him to elaborate and expand on the original story. Finally in Rappaccini's Daughter, the last event in the plot was different in the story and movie. In the movie, Giovanni and Beatrice are in the garden when Rappaccini walked in and told them that they would be together in the garden for eternity, but in the story Giovanni gives Beatrice an anecdote that would “save” her. The anecdote killed Beatrice because nothing could save her. I think the producer changed the ending to give the story a more fairy tale ending. I think the producer did that because he wanted to have the audience think about the future of Giovanni and Beatrice. Just like how setting can determine the plot of the story, the plot and setting both determine the characters.