Comparison and Contrast of Washington Irving’s “The Legend Of Sleepy Hollow” and “The Devil and Tom Walker” . On character. scene. and struggles. comparison immoralities of two narratives through the actions of the Devil and Horseman.

Washington Irving’s intent for composing The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and The Devil and Tom Walker was non simply tell narratives of communities and their jobs with foreigners or the uncommon. but to edify his readers of a different type of character that becomes more relevant as clip easy Marches on. Washington Irving’s similarities in these two stories’ scenes. characters. and struggles tend to suggest upon the immorality that begins to take over the universe and American Literature. He uses this evil to qualify his topics. milieus. and slanders.

Historical and unchanged by clip. the scenes and communities of these narratives. and both have a commanding nucleus of and apparent immorality. The opening events of The Devil and Tom Walker take topographic point in a “treacherous forest” where “anyone but he ( Tom ) would hold felt unwilling to linger in this alone. melancholic place” . and as he sat down. “he raked it out of the vegetable cast. and saw a bisulcate skull. with an Indian hatchet buried deep in it. lay before him… It was a drab souvenir of the ferocious battle that had taken topographic point in the last bridgeheads of the Indian wars” . and the mentioning of ceremonials and slayings hint to non- Christian worshipping ( Irving. Devil. 352 ) . Tom. cognizing the narratives of the “old Indian wars. when it was asserted that the barbarians held conjurations here and made forfeits to the evil spirit” . surprisingly does non acquire frightened. but able to rest himself from his long walk ( Irving. Devil. 352 ) . The “evil spirit” mentioned. evidently means Satan. and symbolizes the signifier of malignity that Irving utilizations to state of the town’s corruptness.

The “sequestered glen that has long been known by the name Sleepy Hollow” is the location for Irving’s “Legend” . and is a “place [ that ] still continues under the sway of some hexing power. that holds a enchantment over the heads of good people” . and this glen’s “dominant spirit. nevertheless. that haunts this enchanted part. and seems to be commander in head of all the powers of the air. is the phantom of a figure on horseback without a head” ( Irving. Legend. 1059 ) . Sleepy Hollow. described here as guided by enchantments and enchantments. is “inviting. seductive. and every bit unsafe to gypsies as the islands of the Sirens or the land of the Lotus- eaters” . and evidently is controlled by some signifier of immorality that is evident merely to foreigners ( von Frank. 157 ) . Irving first gives the image of a little settled town. but so shatters this vision with the idea of corrupt patterns and now gives the reader a debauched sentiment of Sleepy Hollow. As Tom walks once more through the forest looking for his losing married woman “just in the brown hr of dusk. when the bird of Minerva began to hoot. and the chiropterans began to flutter approximately. his attending was attracted by a blare of carrion crows vibrating about a cypress tree” and as he looks closer he spots his wife’s apron under the claws of one of the crows ( Irving. Devil. 355 ) .

Tom. back in the old Indian garrison. the topographic point of the conjurations and murders. and now sees carrion crows who feed on fresh or late disintegrating flesh. intending person or thing has merely died. And something has. his married woman has. in this awful wood and has added to the dead count of the town. As “the dark grew darker and darker” . Ichabod “had ne’er felt so lonely and dismal” . he rides entirely on an baleful route toward his place. “in the Centre of the route stood and tremendous tulip tree… it’s limbs gnarled. and antic. big plenty to organize short pantss for ordinary trees… he heard a moan — his dentition chattered. and his articulatio genuss smote against the saddle ; it was but the friction of one immense bough upon another. as they swayed about by the breeze” . as he kept siting he approached a span. the really span of one of the town’s narratives where Andre was captured ( Irving. Legend. 1081-2 ) .

Irving’s description of a dark in Sleepy Hollow co-insides with his general description of the town as fearful and haunted. Irving implies that it is fearful to be at that place at this tome of dark. As Ichabod travels on the abandoned route. he fears the dark. he thinks he hears a moan on the air current. and this statement validates Irving’s statement at the beginning. “and [ they ] hear music and voices in the air” ( Irving. Legend. 1059 ) . Irving’s scenes invariably portray evil patterns and ambiances. whether the whole town or merely one bantam piece of land depict this.

Irving’s characters. more frequently than non. either represent immorality or represent “old Scratch” himself ( Irving. Devil. 354 ) . Ichabod Crane survives as “tall. but extremely lank. with narrow shoulders. long weaponries and legs. custodies that dangles a stat mi out of his arms. pess that might hold served for shovels.
and his whole frame most slackly hung together. His caput was little. and level on top. with immense ears. big green glassy eyes. and a long snipe nose… one might hold mistaken him for a the mastermind of dearth falling upon Earth. or some straw man eloped from a cornfield” . Irving pays near attending to his bonyness and his green eyes ( Irving. Legend. 1061 ) . Later in the narrative Irving remarks on Ichabod’s frightening birds off as he rides. ” the terrorization of the birds recalls the debut of Ichabod as in visual aspect like a ‘scarecrow eloped from a cornfield’ in a manner that resolutely alters its original amusing application. merely as the imagined desolation of the farm’s pullulating life recalled and deepened the earlier mention to Ichabod as the ‘genius of famine’” . Irving now portrays Ichabod as a representation of immorality. dearth. and a threaten to civilisation ( von Frank. 158 ) .

As Irving concentrates on Ichabod’s green eyes. he tells of Ichabod’s attitude as he looks at he Van Tassel abode. “as the ecstatic Ichabod fancied all this. and as he rolled his great green eyes over the fat hayfield lands. the rich Fieldss of wheat and rye… bosom yearned after the demoiselle who was to inherit these spheres. and his imaginativeness expanded with the idea… when he entered the house. the conquering of his bosom was complete” ( Irving. Legend. 1067 ) . his green eyes are envy and greed. “this is non envy in the simple sense of desiring what others own but accords instead with the authoritative construct of the wickedness of enviousness in which. perversely. one seeks the obliteration of the object” . Ichabod Crane has the same hatred and enviousness as Satan. he wants to destruct the Van Tassel farm cause he can non hold it. Lucifer wants to over throw heaven and kill God Almighty ( von Frank. 159 ) . Irving. in his narrative The Devil and Tom Walker. uses the Devil himself as a character ; here Lucifer says “I travel by assorted names. I am the wild hunter in some states ; the black mineworker in others.

In this vicinity I am he to whom the ruddy work forces consecrated this topographic point. and in award of whom the now and so roasted a white adult male. by manner of sweet- smelling sacrifice… I am the great frequenter and prompter of slave traders. and the expansive maestro of the Salem witches… he normally called Old Scratch” ( Irving. Devil. 354 ) . He ne’er says “Satan” or “the Devil” ; he ne’er uses the names used for him in Bible. or by the Trinity. Satan. if he. does non desire to advert the names that which the sanctum gave him because of his drastic abhorrence and bitterness of Him. The moral or ethical description of Ichabod Crane farther honkytonks into his being malevolent. “he administered justness with favoritism instead than badness ; taking the burthen off the dorsums of the weak. and puting it on those of the strong… but the claims of justness were satisfied. by bring downing a dual part on some small. tough. incorrect headed. wide skirted Dutch urchin…all this he called ‘doing his responsibility by their parents’ and he ne’er inflicted a castigation without following it by the confidence. so comforting to the aching urchin” . he beats those who are tough and differentiators. demoing that he has a job with torment but non whipping ( Irving. Legend. 1061-2 ) .

Crane. a adult male funny about the abnormal. “was. moreover. esteemed by the adult females as a adult male of great eruditeness. for he had read several books quit through. and was a perfect maestro of Cotton Mather’s History of New England Witchcraft. in which. by the manner. he most steadfastly and powerfully believed… his appetency for the fantastic. and his powers of digesting it. were every bit extraordinary ; and both had been increased by his abode in this enchantment bound part. No narrative was excessively gross or monstrous for his capacious swallow” . fascinated by immorality and ever willing to devour a narrative or two during his chitchat session ( Irving. Legend. 1063- 4 ) . Ichabod’s “willingness to welt his pupils. and peculiarly the stronger. more baleful kids. is consistent with his personal insecurity and restlessness with ‘inferiors’” . and this shows that because of his intervention. likely because his dorky visual aspect. he wants to penalize those that abuse childs like him. and his “appetite that prompts him is the baleful amplification of the early. amusing observation that he is a heavy feeder though he is really lank. while the passage from the physical fact to its religious implication…use of the imagination of gluttony to depict Ichabod’s mental process” . this shows that he can. despite his size. can incorporate a batch of nutrient every bit good as luxuriant narratives ( von Frank. 160-1 ) .

Another usage of Satan in The Devil and Tom Walker happens when “a black adult male was keeping a black Equus caballus which neighed and stamped with impatience… on a Equus caballus that galloped like huffy across the Fieldss. over the hills. and down in to the black hemlock swamp toward the old Indian garrison ; and that shortly after a bolt of lightning falling in that way seemed to see the whole wood in a blaze” . and this adult male carries tom off into the topographic point where Tom had first met the Satan on his rendezvous through the wood ( Irving. Devil. 359 ) . The Satan here. shown as in Revelation ; a stealer in the dark that steals the baby and carries it into the cavities of Hell. the Satan is a stealer. a stealer of the psyches non adhering to the message of the Bible. The “black man” here is the common idea of the Satan. even though he is said to be beautiful and graceful. Irving’s characters are evil. they represent the immorality that is in the universe or in control of it ; they are fallacious and menacing.

Irving’s wicked persona frequently creates struggle in his fables and frequently leads in character ruin. The first struggle in The Devil and Tom Walker happens after Tom tells his married woman of the offer that he has heard. she approaches Satan to strike a trade of her ain and “probably attempted to cover with the black adult male as she had been accustomed to cover with her hubby ; but though a female nag is by and large considered a lucifer for the Satan. yet in this case she appears to hold had the worst of it. She must hold died game. nevertheless ; for it is said Tom noticed many prints of bisulcate pess stamped upon the tree. and found smatterings of hair that looked as if they had been plucked from the class black daze of the woodman” ( Irving. Devil. 356 ) . This small hassle between the Satan and Tom’s married woman is the ultimate abuse to the attitude and malice of adult females. stating that adult females are worse to populate with than the Satan. The Satan. even he has every bit great an opposition as a adult female. still has his manner. and victory like he ever does over adult male. Ichabod’s struggle in the Legend of Sleepy Hollow was a great one. “such was the formidable challenger with whom Ichabod Crane had to postulate ( Brom Bones ) . and. sing all things. a stouter adult male than he would hold shrunk from the competition. and a wiser adult male would hold despaired.

He had. nevertheless. a happy mixture of bendability and doggedness in his nature ; he was in signifier and spirit like a lissome jack— giving up. but tough ; though he set. he ne’er broke ; and though he bowed beneath the slightest force per unit area. yet. the minute it was away— dork! — he was as erect. and carried his caput every bit high as ever” . he wouldn’t back down from the struggle. no affair how great the odds ( Irving. Legend. 1070 ) . It is said that this narrative is one “of ancient myths and rites of Grecian birthrate cults. a amusing narrative of decease and metempsychosis. birthrate and immorality. In this reading Brom Bones is a countrified Hercules ; Katrina is the maize goddess Demeter ; and Ichabod is a lampoon of the river- God Acheloss- with the creek by the God’s acre being the river Styx” . therefore stating that because the Gods ever fight over the goddesses. that Ichabod and Brom represent these Gods ( Rust ) .

But the struggle between Ichabod and Brom is easier to understand than that. it is one of the puny versus the large. weak versus strong ; Brom. the bully. and Ichabod. the frank. The following struggle in The Devil and Tom Walker involves both Tom and the Devil. “having secured the good things of this universe. he began to experience dying about those of the following. He thought with sorrow on the deal he had made with his black friend. and set his marbless to work to rip off him out of the conditions. He began. therefore. all of a sudden. a violent churchgoer…the rather Christians who had been modestly and firm going Zionward were struck with self- reproach at seeing themselves so all of a sudden outstripped in their calling by this new- made convert” ( Irving. Devil. 358 ) . Even after Tom had “saved his soul” he still had the idea of his traveling to Hell. so “he ever carried a little Bible in his coat pocket” . but when the clip came he was forsaken. “he had left his small Bible at the underside of his coat pocket. and his large Book on the desk buried under the mortgages he was approximately to prevent ; ne’er was a evildoer so unawares” when the Satan came to “have his due” ( Irving. Devil. 358-9 ) .

This struggle is the typical one of good. Tom the Christian. versus the immorality. the Satan ; therefore giving the narrative its name. The concluding struggle in the Legend of Sleepy Hollow is the 1 that leads to the decease of Ichabod. who is siting place on his baronial steed and “beheld something immense. misshapen. black. and looming. It stirred non. but seemed gathered up in the somberness. like some mammoth monster ready to jump upon the traveler” . this rider chased Ichabod down to the span of the narrative of Andre . merely as Ichabod crossed the span and turned around ” so he saw the hob lifting in his stirrups. and in the really act of hurtling his caput at him” . the caput hit Ichabod and he fell to the ground… after persevering probe they came upon his traces” Ichabod was losing without a hint ( Irving. Legend. 1082-5 ) . This rider is the same one of the headless Hessian that entraps the town. it is the immorality of the town. and Ichabod’s inquisitiveness of immorality and his cognition of this narrative. finally leads to his decease. The wrangle between Ichabod and the object of his curiousness represents the wickedness of adult male ; adult male wants it. but it will destruct adult male.

The scenes of Washington Irving’s portray immorality in a sense of a controlling head ; it gnarls the whole scenery to suit its intent. Irving’s characters embody and manifest wickedness so much that they frequently are Lucifer themselves in a sense. Conflicts in Washington’s narratives. frequently brought about by corruptness of the scenes and characters. enslave his characters to the point of their death. In the narratives The Devil and Tom Walker and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. immorality is the chief focal point. and Irving’s usage of the immorality in every facet of the narrative farther AIDSs in the account of how evil the universe is.