Examples Of Allegory In The Legend Of Sleepy Hollow

The Other Meaning How does one come out with another meaning to a story than the one intended, when reading a story? The answer to this question is that some writers use allegories in their stories. An allegory can be defined as a story, poem, or picture that can be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning, typically a moral or political one. One example is Washington Irving’s, “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow”. This story tells of a man by the name of Ichabod Crane, who moves to a town which is haunted by a headless horseman. In the tale, Ichabod and his opponent, Brom contends for Katrina Van Tassel and her future wealth. “A New Introduction to American Studies” tells of how it “focuses on the old Dutch communities of New York state, revising

Ichabod Crane himself. Crane is a new resident to Sleepy Hollow and has taken up a job as a local teacher. In Irving’s “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow”, Ichabod is described as “ tall, but exceedingly lank, with narrow shoulders, long arms and leg, hands that dangled a mile out of his sleeves, feet that might have served for shovels, and his whole fame most loosely hung together” (9). This description can be one that points to Ichabod being an outsider to the new town he is to reside in, and relating to the immigration that was happening in the country at the time. Another representation for Ichabod was his personality, which reflected the status of the American nation in its want for maturity and wealth. Ichabod can be compared to the immigrants that came to America and Brom Bones to the American people who are suspicious of the new people who are coming to their land to take the wealth they have to make it their own. At this time, America was expanding and the people of America may not have been ready for the changes that were coming, due to people migrating from other

According to “Head of the Headless Horseman Symbol Analysis”, “The Horseman is fixed in historical fact: there were, indeed, many Germans or “Hessians” hired by the British to fight against the American army during the Revolutionary War”. The horseman symbolized the suppressed fear the Americans had toward the Germans. Hessians being similar to mercenaries, who were thought to be very greedy people, gave even more meaning to Ichabod being killed off by his own greed. It makes the tale, one that can be relatable at this time to many