Summary Of The Supernatural In The Legend Of Sleepy Hollow

Unlike “The Tell-Tale Heart”, ‘The Legend of Sleepy Hollow’ plot is built around the main theme of superstition. Ichabod tends to be horrified and terrified with the Headless horseman stories. ‘Irving depicts a strong, controversial understanding between the supernatural superstitions the townspeople believed and the natural Sleepy Hollow setting ‘(Hoffman, 425). Despite the story describing in details the natural setting such as trees and birds of the area, there is also a vibrant understanding of privileging supernatural ideas. For instance, Irving believes that it is simply Brom Bones in disguise when finally, the headless horseman appeared.

Capitalism can be defined as “when monetary wealth was enabled to buy labor power” (Wolf et al. 77). By the time that “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” was written, Capitalism was the dominant mode of production, and capitalist markets were spreading rapidly. This became especially true in the United States of America, which was heavily influenced by the British in matters of economy. Since capitalism was born in England, the influence of capitalism bled over into America while they were still under British rule (Wolf et al. 2670). However, by 1820, the year that “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” was published, the United States fully adopted the capitalist mode of production, along with the technological advances of the Industrial Revolution. This embrace of the new economic system changed the ways of life for people in both New England and New York, along with the entirety of the country.

(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.

At first glance, "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" by Washington Irving seems to be an innocent tale about a superstitious New England town threatened by a strange new comer, Icabod Crane. However, this descriptive narrative is more than just a simple tale because it addresses several gender issues that deserve attention. The pervasiveness of female influence in Sleepy Hollow and the conflict between male and female storytelling in this Dutch community are two pertinent gender issues that complicate Irving's work and ultimately enable the women of Sleepy Hollow to control the men and maintain order.

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.

Over time, a change has occurred from the typical horror story to a violent and bloody legend. The original short story " The Legend of the Sleepy Hollow" is an example of a simple, yet mysterious fable in which Ichabod Crane acts as the protagonist. Ichabod becomes the victim of the feared headless horseman after believing the superstitious tales of this spirit preying in the night. The film that is supposedly based upon the tale provides a deceiving, yet compelling title of Sleepy Hollow, as one might assume that the film is a reenactment of the short story. The film and original tale differ in that the film has blood, gore and controversy while the story depicts a

?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.

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.

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.

“In the dark shadow of the grove… [Ichabod] beheld something huge, misshapen, black and towering...up in the gloom...some gigantic monster” and “summoning up, [from his trembling body] a show of courage...he demanded in stammering accents- ‘Who are you?’”. In the short story, the “Legend of Sleepy Hollow”, Washington Irving, tells the adventures of a schoolteacher, Ichabod Crane, in the haunted town of Sleepy Hollow. There, he pursues the local beauty, Katrina van Tassel, competing with the town’s rowdy prankster, Brom Bones. As the plot intensifies, Ichabod’s superstition eventually leads to his downfall when he is chased by the legendary ghost of the Headless Horseman in a terrifying and vivid scene after a party at Katrina’s house. The next day, Ichabod has disappeared, his fate unknown. Throughout the story, Irving creates suspense with the use of imagery to build up a frightening scene in the reader’s mind and ambiguity to make them anxious as they feel a sense of mysteriousness as to what really happened.

The film Sleepy Hollow directed by Tim Burton, centres around a detective who is sent from the city to a small country town to investigate a series of bizarre murders. While he is in town he has to deal with love, past issues and also discover why the horseman has returned from the dead to kill townspeople. The story is based around the battle of good and evil with Ichabod Crane being good as he believes in finding the truth in everything and the Horseman being evil personified as he will not stop killing. Burton displays the constant battle between good and evil throughout the film through the characterization of Ichabod Crane and the Hessian. Burton also uses settings to show what each thing represents like the forest is the gateway to hell

There are many facets that can either make or break someone as a “hero”. In literature, a hero does not necessarily have to be a knight in shining armor, a caped crusader, or an exact replica of the archetype but, there are certain qualities and expectations that determine what makes a hero. A typical hero has strength, appeal, courage, righteousness, and success, meaning that they have the physical and mental capabilities that can lead them to eventually achieve their goals. In most cases, the protagonist of a story is the hero, but this is not true in “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” by Washington Irving. Set in Sleepy Hollow, the story chronicles schoolmaster, Ichabod Crane’s, time and sudden disappearance from the “haunted” town.

The narration in The Legend of Sleepy Hollow functions as a way to give authority to the women of Tarry Town. This power of feminine is elicit by Washington Irving who gives respect and superiority to women indirectly, but yet evidently through third person narration. Furthermore through Katrina he parallels the power of Tarry Town’s women by illustrating their agency to beget the downfall of Ichabod.

Washington Irving helped shape the way for American Literature, even earning the title, “Father of American Literature”. Irving’s many works focused on challenging what was thought to be the normal writing style. He dared to step outside of the box that others were simply satisfied in staying inside of. Irving used supernatural occurrences, idealization, imagination, and rationalization to advert from reality and write his own unique spin on romance. Two of his works that display these diversions are “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,” and “Rip Van Winkle”. Irving used these diversions to shape a darker, but yet still entertaining path into dark romanticism.