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How Does Irving Use Satire In The Legend Of Sleepy Hollow

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Irving uses satire in The Legend of Sleepy Hollow to blur the line of fantasy and story. Many stories during the time focused on the idolized hero. A hero that the everyday man could not measure up to. Irving decided to take the normal hero story and turn it on his head. He introduced a hero that didn’t get the girl, didn’t fight for love, and didn’t defeat the monster. Throughout The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, Irving satirizes the the refined American and thus helps define the “new” American nation.

The many cases of satire in The Legend of Sleepy Hollow come through the character is Ichabod Crane. Crane is a refined and intelligent man who comes to Sleepy Hollow for a teaching job. Even though, he is intelligent and outwardly respectable, he still believes in the unknown or supernatural and this where Irving begins to define the new nation. Crane’s interest or belief in the supernatural is creating a flaw that having too much knowledge can lead to a sense of false logic. Irving imagines a nation where Americans have the perfect balance of common sense and book sense. By creating a hero with such a flaw he shows what being to intelligent can do to …show more content…
Irving describes the scenery in detail and the feeling of Crane. In a sense, it begins to feel like Irving is preparing for Crane’s demise. This ride should feel grand. Crane is going to vye for the love of his dream girl, but instead it is described as a last hoorah. Irving says things like “ The small birds were taking their farewell banquets” and “his eye, ever open to every symptom of culinary abundance, ranged with delight over the treasures of jolly autumn” (24). The whole scene feels like a goodbye. Irving is using this goodbye as a symbol. A symbol of his goodbye to the old American. The American who believes in nothing, but intelligence. Irving draws on Crane uncanny “innocence” to satire how Americans

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