Themes in The Legend of Sleepy Hollow

Notice how Crane cares very little for Katrina—he is instead most interested in her money and what he can do with it. Crane’s attraction to Katrina is selfish rather than born of actual affection, which Irving will contrast with Brom Bone’s genuine care for her well-being.

In the intriguing final paragraph, Diedrich Knickerbocker offers a final analysis of the story that favors superstition and legend over rationality. Knickerbocker concedes to the interpretation of the “old country wives,” according to whom Ichabod Crane fled due to supernatural forces. Most fascinating of all is that Crane himself comes populate the other spirits and ghosts of the hollow. His story turns into a supernatural tale of its own, which tells us something about how fact turns into fiction and, in turn, into legend.

The “old farmers” at the Van Tassel dance represent the old guard, the Dutch farmers who have settled and farmed the lands of the Hudson River Valley for several generations. They are in many ways the opposite of Ichabod Crane: steeped in proud traditions, grounded in the land, and sturdy in their physical presence.

In this passage, readers get a sense of the views Knickerbocker and Crane hold of their position in society. Appropriately, the scholarly Knickerbocker believes that Crane and other men of intellect are revered in rural areas for their education and active minds. They view themselves as superior to the working men of the area, making them better matches for local women—at least in their minds.

Because most of Crane’s work is mental rather than physical, the hard-working Dutch farmers don’t quite comprehend the full extent of his effort. This conflict between intellectual pursuits and physical labor will continue to be complicated throughout the story.

Irving’s “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” is set some number of years following the American Revolutionary War. Immigrants from Europe continued to settle across the US, though the New York area was primarily dominated by the Dutch. Some “Yankee” settlers—those from areas south of New York—began to venture toward Dutch territory at this time, leading to tension between the rustic farmers and the change represented by Yankee immigrants. Like a calm eddy along the bank of a rapid stream, Sleepy Hollow is fairly undisturbed by these developments.