The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Other Tales

Truly an American classic, Washington Irving writes "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" for easy reading and entertainment. The misadventure of Ichabod is intentionally set for ambiguity and different interpretations to appeal to audiences, limited to neither space nor time. Unlike the popular form of ghost story written in gothic and darkly morbid fashion, Irving's ends his ghost story of the headless Hessian without a definite identity, creating interest from the debates of his true identity. In the above passage is one of the biggest plot points in the short story; it implies a connection between Brom and the disappearance of Ichabod. Irving does not try to exploit the plot twist with elongated descriptions and unnecessarily overt insinuations of Brom's involvement. He goes over it relatively quickly and lightly. He does not aim to register shock values with his words, terrifying and horrifying the reader. In no way does he put to ink repetitive suggestion of Broms Bones being the Headless Hessian, but instead allows the reader to mentally repeat the sentence and his implication in their minds. By allowing the reader's imagination to work for itself, the imagination quietly disturbs the reader with his own thoughts though seeded by Irving are developed by the reader himself. Irving employs ambiguity not only in the ending of his short story but litters ambiguity throughout his work to increase the potential range for his audience and readers. From the young to the old, readers of "The Legend of the Sleepy Hollow" are able to enjoy it for entertainment. However more seasoned readers may be able to see Irving's purpose in writing his short ghost story greater than that of entertainment. Subtlety, so not to distract from the development of the plot and its scare value, Irving creates an onion-layered story with different interpretations at every level. His writing alludes to a greater meaning, but it cannot be verified concretely in his work. Some think the legend is strictly for entertainment, some interpret it as a criticism of the published American writings during his time and others see it as a warning to Americans to not become like England. The uncertainty surrounding "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" becomes a major factor of its continuing success in the 21st century.

At first glance, "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" appears to be a simple ghost story - granted, with above-average writing - but nevertheless a story with a rather straightforward intent to entertain. But don't let this façade fool you! Author Washington Irving himself has stated that "I have often hid my moral from sight, and disguised it as much as possible by sweets and spices, so that while the simple reader is listening with open mouth to a ghost or a love story, he may have a bolus of sound morality popped down his throat, and be never the wiser for the fraud..." "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" is no exception. What seems to be a classical myth meant solely to entertain, defies convention with a subtle criticism of tradition and superstition. The reason for this criticism can be found in Irving's life story. The birth of Irving, April 3, 1783, incidentally coincided with the birth of a new nation - the United States of America. He was born five short days before the formal proclamation ending the American Revolution, declaring America a free nation. In fact, Washington Irving was named by his mother after the hero of the new nation, George Washington, whose biography (Life of George Washington) he would ultimately come to write. He was literally a contemporary of the country, and essentially invented American literature. Irving avoided purely patriotic writing, choosing instead to assert patriotic messages in a characteristically circuitous manner. "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" reflects a critique of Britain's snobbish pride regarding its tradition as opposed to the young America's lack thereof, something Irving dismisses in his story as foolish. "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" is a short story following the local schoolmaster, Ichabod Crane, in his quest to win the hand of the widely courted local beauty (and local heiress), Katrina Van Tassel, and his eventual downfall. Irving writes the tale from a 3rd person limited point of view, like an observer watching the story unfold, with a few insertions of first person commentary in between. This style not only reflects the entertainment qualities of "Sleepy Hollow," but also allows the reader to follow along with Ichabod's actions in an unbiased observation of his character and emotions. This story is based predominantly on myth and legend, so Irving's style of writing in a detached observational manner heightens the mystery in the story. The outcome of Ichabod's encounter with the Headless Hessian remains unbeknownst to the reader, allowing the readers to attempt to uncover the truth for themselves, and enhancing the ambiguity of Ichabod's fate, as well as the mystery of Sleepy Hollow. This short story is an amazing aesthetic experience as well. Irving provides a satirically humorous depiction of two contrasting characters, Ichabod Crane, and his rival Brom Bones, whose rivalry over Katrina provide for several memorable encounters. In addition, in accordance with the Romantic Irvin

The original 1928 Arthur Rackham edition of Washington Irving's The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (first published in 1819) was one of the most beautifully illustrated versions of the tale ever produced. This Books Of Wonder facsimile of that edition is certainly the finest available today, though folk artist Will Moses' bright retelling runs a close second. Rackham's watercolors for this American classic are very much in keeping with his earlier work, which had established him as the greatest British illustrator of his era. Where much of Irving's tale is painted in the warm autumn hues, Rackham choose to portray Sleep Hollow as not only a place of overwhelming haunts and visions, but as a region existing in a state of permanent, moody twilight. His Sleep Hollow seems perpetually in crepuscular shadow: the last pure rays of the sun have just vanished from the earth, and darkness, though it has not fallen yet, is falling quickly. In the artist's eye, Irving's fireside tale appears to take place not in glorious mid-October, but in storm-swept late November. The illustrator's anthropomorphic and archetypal Sleepy Hollow also magnifies elements of Irving's romantic landscape over and above the necessities of the text. While witches, ghosts, and visions are discussed in the story, Rackham depicts the trees, houses, and countryside of the region as teeming with every kind of fairy, goblin, dryad, and witch, as if calmly revealing to the eyes of man the always coexistent if invisible supernatural life of the Hudson River Valley. His painting of Major Andre's Tree, for example, depicts a traditional European fairytale witch and her black cat familiar walking along the road beneath Andre's tree as if they had every right to be there. It is mankind that is the anxious, insecure, and mortally temporary interloper into this vaster mystical world. Rackham's trees are trees but also fairies, his fairies are fairies but also witches, his witches are human in form but also trees, and the birds resting in the trees, while birds, are sometimes partially fairies. All of these creatures confidently, humorously, and mischievously observe mankind, which, when not perpetually scurrying home to safety, gathers together in nervous groups to share tidings, portents, and spook tales. Irving's remarkably poetic and nuanced prose is in every way worthy of the man who bears the honor of being America's first great writer. Interestingly, the tale is partially a study in contrasts: schoolteacher Ichabod Crane and his rival, the rabble - rousing Brom Bones, though obvious opposites, each also contain elements of the other. Ichabod, though he lives largely in his thoughts and dreams, has a very definite physical side: he plays boisterously outdoors with the town children, and, at the fatal party at the story's end, commands the dance floor in a way that delights and astonishes the other guests. And Brom, who is a great horseman and a fearless fighter, is also known throughout the regio

Will Moses' illustrated retelling of Washington Irving's The Legend of Sleepy Hollow rivals Arthur Rackham's near century-old version as the best edition of the book ever published. The Rackham version, with its moody, archetypal illustrations, has the slight edge, as it contains Irving's full original text in addition to Rackham's spectacular artwork. However, Moses's simplification of the narrative is masterfully executed, and the colorful, playful, and numerous paintings which adorn the book have a warm period charm of genuine Americana. Moses portrays the Hudson River Valley as a lush expansive valley not unlike the Garden of Eden on the first day of creation. Happy farmers, their wives and children, cows, geese, ducks and pigs frolic together amid fields of wheat and corn; galleons approach dramatically from the river; and the Catskill Mountains, sun, and sky suggested an infinite panorama and endless horizon full of promise. The story tells us that the Dutch colonists were a superstitious lot, and that the Sleepy Hollow region itself was or seemed to be under a spell of some kind. The farmers and their wives suspected witchcraft; strange music was heard in the air; visions were seen; and the inhabitants themselves lived their lives in a kind of continuous dreamy revery. These tales and superstitions give rise to the legend of the headless horseman, said to be the ghost of a Hessian soldier who lost his head to a canon ball in the war, and now nightly prowling the region in search of it. Moses' nocturnal landscapes of the swamps, hills and the Old Dutch Cemetery under a bright harvest moon are particularly effective. Significantly, these stark, haunted landscapes do not violate the spirit of the book, but enrich its sense of wonder. Moses' Ichabod is a cheerful but somewhat hapless fellow, confident and foolish in equal parts. His Katrina is a strong but innocent blond beauty, and a friend to children. Brom Bones is an appropriately square-shouldered, square-jawed hooligan, rowdy and full of mischief, if not absolute spite. Anyone familiar with the tale knows that it is not a horror story but a folktale, a fireside spook story, and a `legend' as Irving, writing here as Diedrich Knickerbocker, himself called it. This edition of the book is appropriate for children but is equally suitable for adults. Highly recommended.

Have you ever heard of the Headless Horseman? Have you ever heard the stories about him and how he attacks people in the woods? Have you ever wondered whether or not the story is real? Find out for yourself by reading Washington Irving's The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. I enjoyed reading this book and i think anyone who has a liking for mysterious legends and superstitions should read this book beacause of the interesting legend the town believes in. There are few characters to keep track of and the story is not hard to follow. The book is long but the reading goes quickly. The story is set in the late 18th century in a town in New York called Sleepy Hollow. The town believes in a legend of a headless horseman who rides through the woods at night anf attacks people. The main character is a man named Ichabod Crane who is a schoolteacher from Connecticut. He moves to Sleepy Hollow in search of work and ends up going from home to home working as a tutor. One of his students is 18 year old Katrina Van Tassel who comes from a wealthy family. Ichabod gets the idea that he will try to marry Katrina in order to obtain the family's wealth. However, Katrina's boyrfriend Abraham "Brom Bones" Brut has other plans for Ichabod. As the tension rises, Ichabod continues trying to win Katrina until a breathtaking surprise appearance by the town's legend creates as mysterious an ending as they come. The book has many strengths and few weaknesses. The author manages to create a mood in the book that keeps you always on th edge of your seat waiting for the legend of the Headless Horseman to come into play. The story is simple and easy to follow but is still very interesting. The characters are developed well and have personalities that you can understand and relate to. One such character is Brom Bones who is easily seen as an arrogant egotist. The only weakness of the book was one based on my personal opinion. The end of the story leaves too much to be concluded for my liking. All in all, this book was a great story. The author wrote the characters in such a way that you had definite feelings towards each one of them. Also, the story line was definitely not without surprise. But if you want to discover what surprises I am talking about then I suggest you read The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.