Imagery in The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (Essay Sample)

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Imagery in The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
Washington Erving’s The Legend of Sleeping Hollow is a compelling story that contains many interesting instances of imagery. Right from the beginning, Irving uses imagery to introduce us to the valley that the storyteller calls home. He writes that the place is so silent that he the storyteller startles himself when he fires his gun during one of his squirrel hunts. Shortly after that, we encounter the Headless Horseman, and the description alone is enough to paint a clear picture of his supposedly violent demise in the Revolutionary war. The author also uses imagery perfectly to portray the ghost’s nightly journey by describing how the ghost floats on the night wind’s wings in search of his head. The writer further directs the mind’s eye to the ghost’s hastiness by describing his need to find his long lost head and return to his grave before daybreak.
When we meet Ichabod Crane, we can truly begin to appreciate the author’s use of imagery. Irving’s comical description of Ichabod makes it impossible to imagine him as an ordinary man, especially when Irving calls upon us to imagine a scarecrow that escaped the cornfields. However, the author also describes Ichabod’s personality in the next chapters and from these descriptions, we can visualize his social life, popularity with the ladies and storytelling skills. Through the author’s use of imagery we also get to see Ichabod’s weaknesses, such as his irrational fears of beings in the dark that causes him a lot of distress. Such contrasts are very enlightening, considering that Ichabod has studied many books and should not be as rattled by supernatural beliefs as he is.
The author’s use of imagery to provide detailed character descriptions provides us with a clear picture of Katrina’s beauty and personality, as well as a vivid description of her wealthy father. Irving clearly details Ichabod’s reactions to this wealth, such as when he sees cooked turkeys in the place of Old Baltus’ live, and we can see what motivates him to court Katrina. His main competitor is Brom Van Brunt, an active, famous, local youth who often rides past farmhouses at night with “whoop and halloo”, alongside his crew. Irving also uses imagery to compare Brom and Ichabod, such as the indirect comparison of his broken-down horse, old Gunpowder and Brom’s steed, Daredevil. The skills of these two individuals also differ, since...