Good And Evil In Tim Burton's Sleepy Hollow

In “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow”, Washington Irving prominently illustrates the power of imagination. Ichabod being rather foolish and comedic protagonist explains the strength of his thoughts, despite that this leads him to his downfall. In spite of the fact that Ichabod’s main pleasure is to either hear or read stories about demons, ghosts, and witches; however, since he has powerful imagination making him believe that almost everything is supernatural. His creative ability in its fantasizing capacity does, in any case, truly influence his life in that it fortifies his barrenness. ‘Ichabod 's creative ability is powerful to the point that he trusts himself basically as of now the proprietor of the Van Tassel cultivate ‘(Hoffman, 426). Since he gets such a

(Page 1) “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” has different tones throughout the story. At the beginning the tone is somnolent yet peaceful, then the tone gets spooky slightly sarcastic, humorous, mocking and surreal.

Washington Irving’s, the author of the story “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow”, uses imagery throughout the story to interpret the setting and mood of the story. At the beginning of the story, Erving uses suspenseful imagery to describe the location of the valley that he lives in as one of the quietest places on earth . He ackno in the story “Not far from this village, perhaps about two miles down the road, there is a little valley or lap of land among the hills, which is one of the quietest places in the world.” The main character Ichabod Crane is a school teacher, Erving the author uses imagery in such a way to give the readers the full effect of what his classroom looks like. “His schoolhouse was a low building of one large room, rudely constructed of logs; the windows partly glazed, and partly patched with leaves of old copybooks,” he says this in such a way that the reader can imagine the school room as if they were there and it adds suspense to the rest of the story. Washington Irving set the mood of thrilling suspense and the spooky setting of a quiet town by using imagery throughout his story of “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow”.

“The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” is short story of speculative fiction written by Washington Irving, published in 1820. It follows the journey of Ichabod Crane and Brom Bones in their attempt to win over Katrina Van Tassel. Many adaptions have been made of Irving’s original story with one of the most known being “Sleepy Hollow” a 1999 American horror film directed by Tim Burton. The movie follows a different but similar plot to the original story with the murders of the headless horseman being the main focus of the movie. In both versions it can be clearly seen how the setting has a huge impact on all aspects of the book and film particularly the themes, values and characterisation.

In the story, Brom Bones, although he is not the main character of the story, represents more of the American Romantic hero than Ichabod Crane. Brom Bones demonstrates this role as a hero since he is physically fit and innocent in mind since he is not formally educated. The American Romantics valued people that did not have a formal education and were pure in mind. Conversely, Ichabod Crane demonstrates many values that were not cherished by the American Romantics. Ichabod Crane was a teacher and had a higher education that the American Romantics appreciated. He also did not have a higher purpose that he believed in, and was not innocent. This lack of innocence can be seen with the maxim Ichabod believed in, “spare the rod and spoil the child” (Irving, “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow”). This quote focuses on his teaching style, where he was not a gentle person to children, but rather a harsh teacher. Moreover, he would go to live in the homes of the students “who happened to have pretty sisters, or good housewives for mothers” (Irving, “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow”). Ichabod does not have the innocence or mentality that help to define an American Romantic hero, which is especially seen in how he does not appreciate nature as much as the American Romantics would. Rather than turning away from civilization and moving towards a deep inspiration and appreciation of nature, Ichabod embraces society. In this story, Ichabod appreciates Sleepy Hollow and wishes to stay there, thinking positively of the houses and luxuries that some of the people have. This is best demonstrated when Irving states, “When he entered the house, the conquest of his heart was complete” (Irving, “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow”). The quote explains how Ichabod appreciates the house that he is in and does not want to leave such a place. Nature,

The townspeople looked upon Ichabod as a foreigner and responded with opposition to his notions. For example, almost immediately upon his arrival, he took a dead corpse and performed an autopsy, something that was unheard of during this time period. He remained dedicated to his work, but had a hostile, almost mysterious way about him.

Unfortunately, standing in Ichabod?s way was the handsome Brom Van Brunt, otherwise known as Brom Bones. Brom was a troublesome young man who was known for his pranks and troublemaking while riding his horse DareDevil. Brom was in love with Katrina as well and was severely jealous of Ichabod?s attempts to marry her.

Sleepy Hollow is a gothic horror film directed by Tim Burton in 1999. It tells the story of when Ichabod Crane is sent to the isolated town of Sleepy Hollow to solve the mystery of the Headless Horseman. The isolated gloomy setting for example, when Ichabod Crane enters the town, the film techniques such as music and lighting such as when the Headless Horseman appears combined with characters that have supernatural powers including Catrina and Lady Van Tassel reinforces the idea that Sleepy Hollow is a gothic horror film.

Good versus Evil is an important concept. Evil sometimes overcomes our good but never exceeds good. The difference between evil and good is that good is an ability to have empathy and compassion towards other people. Evil is people who are selfish, self-absorbed and don’t have empathy towards others. Literature plays a vital role in developing concepts of good and evil and effectively portrays the morals of its time period. In the novels Dracula and The Strange Case of Dr.Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, the authors explore the human nature of good and evil in men from different perspectives of Dracula, Mr. Hyde and Dr. Jekyll.

Many connections to famous books or movies can be made to the Headless Horseman or the "Heissan" as he is referred to many times in the original "Sleepy Hollow". The Headless Horseman has a few key traits: engimatic, supernatural, and terror raising/feared. Only a few have ever come face to face with the Horseman, the nemesis of Ichabod Crane (main character) Brom Van Brunt has a supposed run in with the horseman and lives to tell the tale, while the village elders go off of stories. When his name is spoken townsfolk quiver at the stories and terror brought about by the mistery of the supernatural. This horseman is no ordinary horseman, he frightens the whole town, patrolling the church grounds where he is supposedly buried, he makes quick work of anyone who dares go near.

As the whimsical tune of Halloweentown begins to play, your childhood memories seem to come to life before your eyes. Before the movie even really begins, the feeling of nostalgia washes over you as you anticipate what next on the Cromwell witches will have to face now. First, it was Kalabar and his scheme to take over the mortal word. Now, it’s Kal and his desire to avenge his father that Marnie and the Cromwell witches have to take on. No matter what they face, we know that good will always triumph evil.

The battle between good and evil is presented in Sleepy Hollow by showing the characters and how they are presented. Ichabod Crane and Katrina Van Tassel are considered the film’s protagonists and the Hessian Horseman and Lady Van Tassel are considered the antagonists, this clearly displays the battle between good and evil. Burton clearly shows the battle between good and evil in several key scenes. The scene The Church, along with clever cinematic techniques show the battle between good and evil. During the church scene there is a close up of Katrina’s face which conveys her concern for the safety of the townspeople, but her misinterpreted attempt to help shows she is thought to evil but in the end of the film, it shows that she is still a

To begin with, Washington Irving uses imagery to clearly illustrate the story’s development, immersing the reader into what is happening and causing them to feel suspense as they walk through various events together with Ichabod. For example, as Ichabod returns home from the party, Irving portrays his horrifying surroundings, describing Ichabod as a solitary figure in the “dead hush of

In preparation for the party at the Van Tassel mansion, Ichabod takes extra time to get ready, wears his best clothes, and even borrows a horse in order to attempt a noble and valiant façade. But, Ichabod’s foolish and strange appearance can never be disguised. Not only was the broken-down horse a pathetic sight to be seen, but Ichabod’s clumsily large stature overtook it in the most ridiculous of ways. “He rode with short stirrups, which brought his knees nearly up to the pommel of the saddle; his sharp elbows stuck out like grasshoppers’…and, as his horse jogged on, the motion of his arms was not unlike the flapping of a pair of wings” (Irving 5). There is nothing glorious or particularly attractive about Ichabod’s physical presence, which is the initial indication of his incompetence to fulfill the role of hero. His physical appearance exudes weakness and vulnerability, and it should not come as a surprise that his personality matches his anti-heroic appearance.

Katrina initiates to uphold her agency by gaining Ichabod’s affections through her flirtatious conduct which parallels with the women of town who are looked upon by Ichabod due to their storytelling skills. The narrator uses diction to initially elicit Katrina as a modern independent lady who