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Quenching an Insatiable Thirst:
“Analysis of Ichabod’s Gluttonous Greed in Washington Irving’s Legend of Sleepy Hollow”
From the dawn of American society to present-day, Americans have been characterized by their consumptive attitudes, mainly stemming from the constant, gluttonous drive to obtain more money and power. This gluttonous greed appears in countless literary works, especially in works such as Washington Irving’s “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.” Although “The Legend of
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Nay, his busy fancy already realized his hopes, and presented to him the blooming Katrina, with a whole family of children, mounted on the top of a waggon loaded with household trumpery, with pots and kettles dangling beneath; and he beheld himself bestriding a pacing mare, with a colt at her heels, setting out for Kentucky, Tennessee, or the Lord knows
Most affluent Americans love feeling philanthropic. Many of us privileged people enjoy the sensation because we feel we are genuinely improving the world by giving to the “less fortunate.” Yet, so many “successful” Americans secretly despise the people who are “less fortunate,” casting them off as “lazy” or “selfish.” After all, why should we share? We have worked hard for whatever status we have achieved. Why should we care about the children of other people? Or, why do we not care about these sad situations? From where do our notions of charity come? One source might be a mere board game—a board game employed interestingly by great novelist Ken Kesey in the hippy Bible he wrote in 1962 to teach readers about the ways he was perceiving American ways of life. Kesey inserts the game of Monopoly as the central symbol in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest because it signifies society and the corrupt desire for absolute power.
The almighty American dream, commonly misconceived as the property of those who reap great materialistic wealth, has been analyzed and sought after through generations. However, this dream, “could come from anywhere and be anything you want in this country” (Goldberg), and the numerous success stories of impoverished beings proves this. This subjectiveness stems from the great diversity within human nature and the variation of goals and pleasures. The characters in novels such as The Glass Castle, To Kill a Mockingbird and the play, The Crucible, act to portray several attempts towards achieving this dream. Ultimately, the almighty American Dream manifests itself through the novels as the desire to accomplish stability and content within one’s
“Earth provides enough to satisfy every man 's needs, but not every man 's greed.” As humans, we work countless hours in order to have a greater opportunity to succeed in life to fulfill our wants. F Scott Fitzgerald, author of The Great Gatsby, utilizes effective language and punctuation in the text in order to accomplish his purpose: Illustrate what material goods does to a society. From a rhetorical standpoint, examining logos, ethos, and pathos, this novel serves as a social commentary on how pursuing the “The American Dream” causes people in society to transform into greedy and heartless individuals.
... The greed portrayed by these characters has no explanation, at least that Fitzgerald offers, and thus should not exist; proving that these characters are simply greedy and deserve all that comes to them. And thus these two authors differ in the reasons why the greed occurs and, effectively, the difference in the short, 1-day gap from October 24 into October 25, 1929. And so greed exists in the modern period, saturating its two of its most famous novels and a theme of two of its most famous authors, portraying all evil as caused by greed, illustrating the true cynicism of the era. Works Cited Stenbeck, J. a.
Most Americans probably believe our times are different from Washington Irving’s era. After all, almost 200 years have passed, and the differences in technology and civil liberties alone are huge. However, these dissimilarities seem merely surface ones. When reading “Rip Van Winkle” and “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,” I find that the world Irving creates in each story is very familiar to the one in which I grew up. The players may have changed, and institutions have mostly replaced roles traditionally taken on by people, but the overall pieces still fit the rural lifestyle of contemporary America.
Rylee O’Brien Ms. Daniel Language Arts 5-6 10 December 2017 Recapturing The Past A woman named Lauren Oliver once said, “Take it from me: If you hear the past speaking to you, feel it tugging up your back and running its fingers up your spine, the best thing to do-the only thing-is run.” When reading the story, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, this quote is very relevant to the people of Sleepy Hollow. Ichabod Crane lives in a the small town of Sleepy Hollow, he falls in love with Katrina Van Tassel.
People from all around the world have dreamed of coming to America and building a successful life for themselves. The "American Dream" is the idea that, through hard work and perseverance, the sky is the limit in terms of financial success and a reliable future. While everyone has a different interpretation of the "American Dream," some people use it as an excuse to justify their own greed and selfish desires. Two respected works of modern American literature, The Great Gatsby and Death of a Salesman, give us insight into how the individual interpretation and pursuit of the "American Dream" can produce tragic results.
On a stormy night, Mr. Van Garrett is making his way through the fields in a horse drawn carriage, with a mysterious figure on horseback not far behind him. With the sound of a “swoosh” by a sword, his horseman’s head comes off, forcing Van Garrett to abandon the carriage. As he makes his way through the cornfields, he too meets his fate as the same figure slices his head clean off of his body.
Aldrich, Nelson W., Jr. Old Money: The Mythology of America’s Upper Class. New York: Vintage, 1989.
The poem “America” by Tony Hoagland reflects on how peoples’ minds are clouded by small-scale items, money, and the unimportance of those items. Metaphors and imagery are utilized to emphasize the unimportance of materialistic items in America. How America is being flooded with unnecessary goods. The poem uses examples of people to create an example and connection to the overall meaning.
The early 1800’s were an unusual time in the history of the United States. A country in its infancy, growing, turbulent, and filled with intrigue where political and economic fortunes were made and lost overnight. While the country was founded on noble ideas---and no doubt these powerful ideas were taken seriously---how such ideas were to be put into practice created fertile ground for personal ambition and interest to be a stronger motivator than the “common good”. In fact, at times it appears that the ideas were little more than vehicles for the personal ambitions---and in the case of this story---the personal vendettas of powerful personalities.
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.
Magill, Frank. Survey of American Literature. Vol. 6 Ste-Z 1885-2224. Marshall Cavendish Co. New York. Copyright 1991. Edited by Frank Magill.
Within the debate on who is to be crowned the “Great American Novel,” a valid factor that may be taken into consideration is how ideals in culture become altered with an evolving environment, and therefore, the argument can be made on the behalf of The Great Gatsby to be considered for the title. Due to its more recent ideological concepts, the novel addresses American ideals that are not fully developed or addressed at all within The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. These ideals can be boiled down to primarily two concepts: the fully-developed American dream of richness and upper-class goals, and consumerism in the industrialization of America. While Mark Twain’s piece touches on the “American dream” with Huck beginning the book off with $6,000
In Pablo Picasso’s quote “I’d like to live as a poor man with lots of money,” the difficult struggles in the classes of poor and the rich is seen with the rigors of survival in the growing economy of America. Although most upper and middle class Americans have a hard time in giving thanks to what the Earth provides for the society everyday, some have learned to contain “voluntary poverty” within themselves. Secondly, Thanksgiving frees Americans, at least temporarily, from their desires. Lastly, the influence from one or two people can lead to America’s movement into a person with a humble heart on the inside with enough money to survive in