Narrative Structure in Sleepy Hollow

768 Words2 Pages

The tale of Sleepy Hollow mostly comes from the perspective of the protagonist, Ichabod Crane. The viewer very easily becomes involved in the story seeing the plot unravel from the eyes of the “good guy”. We, as an audience, experience the mystery and horror Ichabod must endure in finding the person responsible for the recent murders in Sleepy Hollow. The story is only one-sided, which allows the viewer to further connect with the suspicious outsider eager, yet terrified, to learn the truth behind the ghost. As we dive deeper into the story, we begin to go through the same process as Ichabod of deciding whom the possible suspects are until we arrive at the same conclusion. Instead of simply retelling the urban-legend, Tim Burton lets the viewer become a part of the story by withholding crucial information until Ichabod can interpret certain events. We never have the opportunity to disagree with Ichabod’s thought process because we never know more than he does. Though we may actually see a decapitation instead of just a dead body as he does, there is no way to decipher exactly what happened until he later reveals everything.
Eye-line match reaction shots are very important in the development of Sleepy Hollow because the audience has a clearer viewpoint on the action occurring in front of the protagonist’s eyes. There are several instances in which the headless horseman makes an entrance out of the woods into the small town of Sleepy Hollow. Seeing this arrival followed by the terrified reaction from the nearby citizen is significant in developing the horseman’s character. Every reaction, no matter who the victim, is identical; this panic and horror forces the audience to connect the horseman with pure evil. Many of these incident...

... middle of paper ...

...h attention toward Mrs. Van Tassel either so the viewer does not develop any sympathy towards her character. Though she is a relatively likeable lady, we never feel a true connection towards her that could trick us into thinking she is innately good.
Overall, having one narrator is both good and bad. On one hand, we have a clearly defined protagonist that is easy to sympathize with and has a story that is rather simple to follow. On the other hand, we have only one side to every situation and are forced to agree with everything the protagonist does. Though Ichabod is a good man that will not steer us in the wrong direction, it might be nice to see differing opinions or ideas throughout all of the characters. Regardless, Burton tells a wonderful tale through the misadventures of Ichabod Crane as he investigates the horror behind the ghost of the Headless Horseman.

Show More
Related

  • How Does Washington Irving Use Direct Characterization Of The Legend Of Sleepy Hollow

    449 Words  | 1 Pages

    In the story, Irving used characterization to create the backstory, characters, and character’s personalities. Irving used direct characterization, so he could describe each character in the beginning of the story. The main character is Ichabod Crane was pictured as a school teacher, love interest of Katherina Van Tassel, and newcomer of Sleepy Hollow. Few people did not like the fact Crane wanted Van Tassel’s hand in marriage because of his position in society. In the story, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, Crane was described as a simple person with no beautiful features and not the type of man that a woman like Katherina

    Read More

  • An Analysis Of Stephen Crane's 'The Legend Of Sleepy Hollow'

    1078 Words  | 3 Pages

    The readings “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” by Washington Irving and The Monster by Stephen Crane are to amazing readings. However, these two texts represent violence and conflicts in different ways, which shows that although they have the same concept their tactic for this same concept is used in a different approach.

    Read More

  • Washington Irving’s The Legend of Sleepy Hollow vs. The 1980's Television Movie

    1734 Words  | 4 Pages

    There are many conclusions we can draw from the characters as well the storylines from the book and movie. It is up to each of us to decide what kind of characters we want to see; just as it is our own choice in deciding how the story ends. Katrina Van Tassel, Brom Bones, and Ichabod Crane will always be central to the story of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, just as they are important to the nuances of the story, but it is up to us, the readers and viewers, to draw our own conclusions about the headless horseman.

    Read More

  • A Comparison Of Headless Horseman And The Legend Of Sleepy Hollow

    1158 Words  | 3 Pages

    Instead, he made Ichabod Crane a detective who had his own vision on how to solve crimes. In the movie Ichabod is sent to the small village of Sleepy Hollow where a murder of three town’s people has occurred and they want him to solve it. Soon enough, he meets Katrina, whom Ichabod falls in love with, similar to Irving’s original story. Brom once again becomes jealous of this situation. The beginning of the story is very much similar to Washington Irving’s original. However, the main difference is that Ichabod is a detective; he is attempting to resolve a murder mystery. The murder consists of three people who had their heads cut off yet the heads are not being found anywhere. Even though Tim Burton did incorporate Washington Irving’s original story, he chose to include his own version of what happened. Only in the beginning does he chose to show Brom pretending to the cloaked horseman. Burton does include a sudden alteration; he decided to introduce magic and witchcraft. A witch controls an actual demon who was behind the killing who is the horseman. Katrina’s stepmother, who is the true witch, now possesses greed and

    Read More

  • Comparing Washington Irving's Sleepy Hollow the Movie to the Book

    1408 Words  | 3 Pages

    ?The Legend of Sleepy Hollow? is a short story by Washington Irving. Based on a well-known legend, this story tells the tale of the disappearance of the main character, Ichabod Crane. An effective ghost story, Irving leaves you guessing what the truth is behind the ending. The movie Sleepy Hollow is Hollywood?s portrayal of Irving?s original story. Although the movie is similar to the story in the beginning, the movie takes a twist that leads in another direction that strays far from the original plot.

    Read More

  • The Changing of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow

    2577 Words  | 6 Pages

    Over time the language of the original text of "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" by Irving has been reworked to accommodate the change in audience. The Heath Anthology of American Literature has an unabridged version of the original wording (1354-1373). A complete copy of the original text of "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" can be found in the young adolescent classic section of a bookstore or the juvenile section in the library. A juvenile edition of the text adapted by Arthur Rackham from 1928 was a replicate of the original it is filled with seven colored illustrations and numerous sketching. A young adolescent version adapted by Bryan Brown from 2001 has been abridged to accommodate the current young reader. The format is changed in Brownâs edition. The yo...

    Read More

  • Comparison on the Movie and the Book To Kill a Mockingbird

    843 Words  | 2 Pages

    Another very crucial point to the overall story is the mutual fascination between the children and Boo Radley (Arthur Radley). Boo constantly leaves objects (a watch, two soap dolls, a knife…etc) in the hollow of a tree on his property. Just as Boo does this, the children are constantly devising plans to look in the windows of the Radley house, to sneak into the back yard…etc. This was largely important to the story because it built upon the viewer’s opinion of the children, leading us to believe them having large capacity for imagination from their stories on Boo eating only squirrels and any cats he can get his hands on, and having them believe the stories as well! And all of these instances, the children’s stories, the fact that Boo never comes out of his house in sight of others, the stories of others concerning the Radley’s, the gifts in the tree hollow, lead us to believe Boo to be some sort of...

    Read More

  • “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow”: Washington Irving's Story vs. Tim Burton's Movie

    862 Words  | 2 Pages

    in creating his vision of the town of Sleepy Hollow and the headless horseman, Katrina,

    Read More

  • Allusion In The Legend Of Sleepy Hollow

    1002 Words  | 3 Pages

    Irving does this to help readers realize how caught up the society of Sleepy Hollow is with their past. Irving frequently brings up the Revolutionary war and how the headless horseman was a Hessian soldier from the war. When he writes, “The dominant spirit that haunts this enchanted region is the apparition of a figure on horseback without a head. It is said to be the ghost of a Hessian trooper, whose head had been carried away by a cannonball in some nameless battle during the Revolutionary War… The specter is known, at all the country firesides, by the name of the Headless Horseman of Sleepy Hollow” (Irving 2). This is an allusion to the Revolutionary war because the headless horseman was a hessian soldier. This explains the theme of supernatural because the Headless Horseman haunts their town and the main character, Ichabod Crane, comes across the ghost of him. Another major allusion in “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” is Ichabod's belief in witches. The author supports this when saying, “He was, moreover, esteemed by the women as a man of great erudition, for he had read several books quite through, and was a perfect master of Cotton Mather's 'History of New England Witchcraft” (Irving 4). Ichabod also believes in the supernatural past. His belief in witches supports the theme of supernatural within the book. Referring to the past using allusion develops different themes within the

    Read More

  • Gender Issues in Washington Irving's The Legend of Sleepy Hollow

    2339 Words  | 5 Pages

    Irving's main character, Icabod Crane, causes a stir and disrupts the female order in the Hollow when he arrives from Connecticut. Crane is not only a representative of bustling, practical New England who threatens rural America with his many talents and fortune of knowledge; he is also an intrusive male who threatens the stability of a decidedly female place. By taking a closer look at the stories that circulate though Sleepy Hollow, one can see that Crane's expulsion follows directly from women's cultivation of local folklore. Female-centered Sleepy Hollow, by means of tales revolving around the emasculated, headless "dominant spirit" of region, figuratively neuters threatening masculine invaders like Crane to restore order and ensure the continuance of the old Dutch domesticity and their old wives' tales.

    Read More

  • Compare And Contrast Young Goodman Brown And The Legend Of Sleepy Hollow

    1171 Words  | 3 Pages

    Although at times it is easy to get carried away with the adventure of a story, noticing the elements a writer has put into his work is very important. In reading “Young Goodman Brown” and “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” you can see both similarities as well as differences of how both Nathaniel Hawthorne and Washington Irving chose to illuminate their romantic writing styles. The writers both use a mystical woodsy setting with supernatural twists to draw in readers. Underlying you will find the differing romantic themes each writer used, as well as how each writer chose to end their work.

    Read More

  • Ichabod Crane: The Man and the Movie

    1183 Words  | 3 Pages

    Washington Irving’s “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” is a magnificent short story, with action, superstition, and a little humor all rolled into one. The story of the headless horseman has scared little children of Sleepy Hollow for many years. Then along came Hollywood and decided that Washington Irving’s “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” needed something more. Hollywood needed a more exciting main character in Ichabod Crane and story line to appeal to the twentieth century. Washington Irving had to write in a way that the reader could visualize Ichabod Crane and how utterly terrified he was of everything, whereas, Hollywood could use its own Jonny Depp to deliver a wonderful performance. Hollywood’s image for Sleepy Hollow needed more action, blood, more superstition, and better looking characters. Washington Irving’s “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” and the movie “Sleepy Hollow” differ on three main points: 1) the story line, 2) the appearance of Ichabod Crane, and 3) the occupation of Ichabod Crane.

    Read More

  • Sleepy Hollow: The Film and The Story

    1469 Words  | 3 Pages

    Washington Irving’s short story, “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,” was adapted into a movie titled “Sleepy Hollow” directed by Tim Burton nearly two centuries after the original publication. When the story was adapted as a film, several extensive changes were made. A short story easily read in one sitting was turned into a nearly two-hour thriller, mystery, and horror movie by incorporating new details and modifying the original version of the story. The short story relates the failed courtship of Katrina Van Tassel by Ichabod Crane. His courtship is cut short by the classic romance antagonist-the bigger, stronger, and better looking Broom Bones. Ichabod wishes to marry Katrina because of her beauty but also because of the wealthy inheritance she will receive when her father, Baltus Van Tassel and stepmother, Lady Van Tassel die. However, the film tells the story of Ichabod Crane as an investigator who is sent to Sleepy Hollow to investigate the recent decapitations that are occurring. These modifications alter the original story entirely, thus failing to capture the Irving’s true interpretation of “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.” The film and the original story have similarities and differences in the plot, characters, and setting.

    Read More

  • Scream Film Analysis

    690 Words  | 2 Pages

    People flock to horror movies each year. Usually to be scared. Another is to solve the question of Who done it? Unfortunately, a lot of these horror movies fail to scare people or make the killer so obvious the audience gets bored. Occasionally, there are a few horror movies that stick out. Scream, directed by Wes Craven, is one of them. Wes Craven is always toying with the viewer's fears. Always finding ways to scare the audience at every turn. He also plays with the viewer's head, and has them second guessing themselves. How does he do it? Well, as one of the characters in the movie exclaims, "There's a formula to it. A very simple formula. Everybody's a suspect!" This paper will discuss how Craven uses sound, camera shots, and mise en scene

    Read More

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

    1856 Words  | 4 Pages

    In “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,” Irving uses all of the tools at his disposal as a storyteller to illustrate his criticism of Enlightenment ideals. First of all, he creates an atmosphere and a setting where reason is at a loss. Also, he uses the character of Ichabod Crane to embody Enlightenment principles, and then has this character become a figure of ridicule. Additionally, Irving uses his conclusion to poke fun at the Enlightenment idea of literature as being necessarily didactic. All of these elements come together to provide a thorough indictment of the Enlightenment.

    Read More

More about Narrative Structure in Sleepy Hollow

Open Document