Picayune In The Legend Of Sleepy Hollow

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Recommended: Supernatural elements in novels

Supernatural is defined as attributed to some force beyond scientific understand of the laws of nature. Many people are afraid of these supposed “higher beings”. Gothic stories were created to appeal to human senses and wanting the reader to know the mysterious and unpleasant event that will happen next. Washington Irving, in his stories created characters that battle with nature or the supernatural. He leaves the reader creating their own story because hardly ever does Irving tell the reader what actually happened to the character after encountering these creatures. Washington Irving’s use of picayune character creates man vs. nature stories to show the triumph between man and supernatural figures. In The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, Washington Irving created two characters that are complete opposites of …show more content…

No one knows if the legend is real, but towards the end of the story, the reader can debate whether it is a myth or it is in fact real life. Ichabod Crane is well educated, so the reader can assume he reads many types of literature. Therefore, Ichabod has a highly imaginative brain. “Then, as he wended his way, by swamp and stream and awful woodland, to the farmhouse where he happened to be quartered, every sound of nature, at that witching hour, fluttered his excited imagination.” Although it seems like he enjoys these situations, he’s actually terrified of them. Hearing about these supernatural phenomenas lets him decide what the creature will look like, actually experiencing it on the other hand is a whole different story. Brom saw that Ichabod was very superstitious so he decided to make his move. When started to tell the legend of Sleepy Hollow, Ichabod couldn’t help but to worry about how he was going to get home and pass the headless horseman. “The old country wives, however, who are the best judges of these matters,

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