Throughout the year, many gruesome horror films have premiered to frighten even the bravest of soldiers. Movies such as A Nightmare on Elm Street, The Exorcist, and The Texas Chain Saw Massacre show many torturous and agonizing scenes to excite the audience. However, many of these films lack connotation; its sole purpose is to instill fear into the audience. In 1999, the film Sleepy Hollow gave intelligible significance as well as a terrifying scare with the help of the headless horseman. The film illustrates three essential early American philosophical perceptions. Sleepy Hollow shows Puritanism, Rationalism, and Romanticism through the use of tools, clothing, language, and architecture. Puritan ideals are expressed in Sleepy Hollow through …show more content…
Ichabod invented many strange gadgets that were unfamiliar to the people of Sleepy Hollow. When he was investigating the first death from the headless horseman, he pulled out what appeared to be a set of magnifying glasses and some “special powder” to try and solve the murder case. Ichabod is using rational thinking instead of religious thinking to support his rational principles. Ichabod uses the phrase, “We must use logic, reason, and pathology to solve this mystery” to solve one of the mysterious beheadings of the headless horseman. Ichabod uses rational and logical thinking instead of using the bible to solve the mystery. This idea of Ichabod rejecting the Bible for his own rational way of thinking is seen again when Ichabod is in the room with Mr. Van Tassel and his associates, and they toss the Bible on the table telling Ichabod that it will be the only tool he will need to solve the case of the headless horseman. Ichabod retaliates by tossing his journal over the Bible. He is expressing that his rational way of thinking is superior to the Bible in trying to solve the situation with the headless