The Legend of Sleepy Hollow - Summary and Analysis
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow Summary and Analysis
Major Themes
Veracity in Storytelling
Veracity in storytelling is a defining theme of “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.” The story is distantly removed from the reader—Crayon has found the story in Diedrich Knickerbocker’s papers, who is dead, and who at the end of the story writes that he heard it from an old gentleman, who claimed to not have even believed half of it himself, ultimately getting much of the story from primary or even other secondary sources. Thus, even where the story is told with confidence, the narrator has given us reasons to doubt evrything. We become critical readers, unlike Crane, who believes the ghost stories he reads.
The narrator also admits to complete ignorance of one of the defining moments of the story—Katrina’s imagined rejection of Ichabod—as well as to its ending. He does, however, relay a scene which he can only have knowledge of if Crane (or the horseman) has told his story. There were no other witnesses. Given the narrative frame of the tale, we know that the narrator is not omniscient but has had to rely on others' tales.
Yet, the narrator has not demonstrated that factuality is the point. It is likely that the point of telling the story, just as it has been passed along from one person to another, is in the telling, the enjoyment of the tale. On the one hand, we are critical readers, because otherwise we would not figure out who is playing the role of the horseman. On the other hand, we shouldn't act like a boring schoolmaster but like a true listener, enjoying the tale.
Crayon almost seems to be challenging the reader to enjoy the story even though he doubts most of it, for in the postscript to the story, in which we find out that the previous narrator does not even believe it, the one man who does not enjoy hearing the story says that the reason he cannot enjoy it is that he does not believe it. This man is presented negatively as some kind of dour doubter, however, thus
Major Themes
Veracity in Storytelling
Veracity in storytelling is a defining theme of “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.” The story is distantly removed from the reader—Crayon has found the story in Diedrich Knickerbocker’s papers, who is dead, and who at the end of the story writes that he heard it from an old gentleman, who claimed to not have even believed half of it himself, ultimately getting much of the story from primary or even other secondary sources. Thus, even where the story is told with confidence, the narrator has given us reasons to doubt evrything. We become critical readers, unlike Crane, who believes the ghost stories he reads.
The narrator also admits to complete ignorance of one of the defining moments of the story—Katrina’s imagined rejection of Ichabod—as well as to its ending. He does, however, relay a scene which he can only have knowledge of if Crane (or the horseman) has told his story. There were no other witnesses. Given the narrative frame of the tale, we know that the narrator is not omniscient but has had to rely on others' tales.
Yet, the narrator has not demonstrated that factuality is the point. It is likely that the point of telling the story, just as it has been passed along from one person to another, is in the telling, the enjoyment of the tale. On the one hand, we are critical readers, because otherwise we would not figure out who is playing the role of the horseman. On the other hand, we shouldn't act like a boring schoolmaster but like a true listener, enjoying the tale.
Crayon almost seems to be challenging the reader to enjoy the story even though he doubts most of it, for in the postscript to the story, in which we find out that the previous narrator does not even believe it, the one man who does not enjoy hearing the story says that the reason he cannot enjoy it is that he does not believe it. This man is presented negatively as some kind of dour doubter, however, thus