1. Theme Analysis project
Kyle. M. D. Cooke

2. The devil
And
Tom Walker
Washington Irying

3. Author bio
Washington Irving was an American author who composed a collection of stories that became The Sketch Book (1819),
which included "Rip Van Winkle" and "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow." After serving as a US ambassador, he turned out
a succession of historical and biographical works. Irving advocated for writing as a legitimate career, and argued for
laws to protect writers from copyright infringement
Writer. Perhaps best known for his short stories "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" and "Rip Van Winkle," Washington Irving
was born on April 3, 1783 in New York City, New York, USA. He was one of eleven children born to Scottish-English
immigrant parents, William Irving, Sr. and Sarah. He was named Washington after the hero of the American revolution
(which had just ended), George Washington, and attended the first presidential inauguration of his namesake in 1789.
Washington Irving was educated privately, studied law, and began to write essays for periodicals. He travelled in
France and Italy (1804–6), wrote whimsical journals and letters, then returned to New York City to practice law --
though by his own admission, he was not a good student, and in 1806, he barely passed the bar. He and his brother
William Irving and James Kirke Paulding wrote the Salamagundi papers (1807–8), a collection of humorous essays. He
first became more widely known for his comic work, A History of New York (1809), written under the name of "Diedrich
Knickerbocker."

4. Author bio 2
In 1815 Irving went to England to work for his brothers' business, and when that failed he composed a collection of
stories and essays that became The Sketch Book, published under the name "Geoffrey Crayon" (1819–20), which
included ‘Rip Van Winkle’ and ‘The Legend of Sleepy Hollow’. In 1822 he went to the Continent, living in Germany
and France for several years, and was then in Spain (1826) and became attache at the US embassy in Madrid. While in
Spain he researched for his biography of Christopher Columbus (1828) and his works on Granada (1829) and the
Alhambra (1832).
He was secretary of the US legation in London (1829–32), and later returned to Spain as the US ambassador (1842–
6), but he spent most of the rest of his life at his estate, ‘Sunnyside’, near Tarrytown, NY, turning out a succession of
mainly historical and biographical works, including a five-volume life of George Washington. Although he became a
best-selling author, he never really fully developed as a literary talent, he has retained his reputation as the first
American man of letters. Irving also advocated for writing as a legitimate career, and argued for stronger laws to
protect writers from copyright infringement.
In 1999, director Tim Burton released his film Sleepy Hollow based on Washington Irving's story "The Legend of Sleepy
Hollow." The film starred Johnny Depp as police constable Ichabod Crane, who is sent from New York City to
investigate a series of murders by a mysterious Headless Horseman.

5. Authors inspiration 1part1
The section admired by Newton includes “The Devil and Tom Walker,”
which remains the most well known piece in the book. Based on the story of
Faust, Irving’s darkly comic tale inspired a number of works, including
Stephen Vincent Benét’s The Devil and Daniel Webster and, most recently, a
2008 musical that debuted at New York’s Metropolitan Playhouse. In both
Irving’s and Benét’s stories, the devil goes by the name of “Old Scratch”
(probably from the Old Norse scrat, or goblin), an epithet also used in works
by writers such as Dickens, Trollope, and Kipling and transformed into
Scratchy Wilson, the outlaw drunkard in Stephen Crane’s “The Bride Comes
to Yellow Sky.”
Although the story is set “about the year 1727,” the historical details
describing the financial collapse actually refer to the circumstances of the
Land Bank scheme of 1739–40, which occurred toward the end of the
administration of colonial governor Jonathan Belcher. Given Irving’s painful,
personal bankruptcy after the War of 1812, it’s surely not a coincidence that
Tom Walker’s chosen profession in evildoing is financial wizardry,
accumulating bonds and mortgages and forcing foreclosures and
bankruptcies during the “hard times” following a speculative real estate
bubble gone bust:

6. Authors insperation 1part2
lying nobody knew where, but which every body was willing to purchase. In a
word the great speculating fever which breaks out every now and then in the
country, had raged to an alarming degree, and every body was dreaming of
making sudden fortunes from nothing.
In spite of its many comic and satiric elements, the bleak background and
moralizing tone (“Let all griping money brokers lay this story to heart”) make
for what biographer Andrew Burstein (The Original Knickerbocker, 2007) calls
“perhaps Irving’s most pessimistic tale.”

7. Summary
In "The Devil and Tom Walker," set in New England in the early 1700s, a narrator relates a story he has heard about a local man's
dealings with the devil. The narrator never claims that the stories are true, only that they are widely believed.
According to local legend, a treasure is buried in a dark grove on an inlet outside of Boston. It is said that Kidd the Pirate left it there
under a gigantic tree and that the devil himself "presided at the hiding of the money, and took it under his guardianship." Since the
pirate Kidd was hanged, no one has disturbed the treasure or challenged the devil's right to it.
In the year 1727 a local man, the notorious miser Tom Walker, finds himself in the dark grove alone at dusk while taking a short cut
back to his house. Tom is well known among the townspeople for his pitiful horse, his loud wife, and the couple's miserly habits in
which they "conspired to cheat each other." Unaware that treasure lay nearby, Tom stops to rest against a tree outside the remains of
an Indian fort. Despite local legends of the evil goingson at the site, Tom "was not a man to be troubled with any fears of the kind."
After absentmindedly digging up an old skull, Tom is suddenly reprimanded by a gruff voice. The voice belongs to a man who is
blackened by soot and grime and who introduces himself as the black woodman. Soon enough, Tom realizes that he is in the
company of the devil himself. After a brief conversation, "Old Scratch," as Tom calls him, offers Tom the treasure in exchange for a few
conditions. He declines. Back home, he tells his wife what transpired in the woods, and she is outraged that he passed up the
opportunity for them to gain great wealth in exchange for his soul. She takes it upon herself to seek out the devil and strike a bargain
on her own. After several trips to the fort in the woods, she becomes frustrated by the devil's unwillingness to appear to her. One day,
she gathers the couple's few possessions of value in her apron and heads off for the woods. She never returns. Eventually, Tom
wanders to the woods to find out what happened to her and discovers her apron hanging from a tree. It contains her heart and liver.
Hoof-prints and clumps of hair at the base of the tree hint at a fierce struggle. "Old Scratch must have had a tough time of it!" he
remarks. Nevertheless less, the next time the devil appears to Tom, he is eager to strike a deal now that he will not have to share
anything with his wife.
Balking at the devil's suggestion of becoming a slave-trader, Tom decides that he will become a usurer, or a moneylender, since
gaining the treasure is contingent upon being employed in the devil's service. Tom immediately sets up shop in a "counting house" in
Boston and attains great wealth by cheating people out of their money and charging them outrageous interest. He builds a luxurious
house but refuses to spend money to furnish it properly. He buys an expensive carriage but fails to maintain it, and his horses he only
begrudgingly feeds.
When Tom grows old, he begins to worry about the terms of his deal with the devil and suddenly becomes a "violent church-goer" in
an effort to cheat the devil out of receiving his soul. He reads the bible obsessively and prays loudly and long in church each week.
Among the townspeople, "Tom's zeal became as notorious as his riches." Nevertheless, one morning the devil conies calling and
instantly whisks Tom away on a black horse in the midst of a thunderstorm to the Indian fort in the woods, never to be seen again.
Town officials charged with settling Tom's estate discover his bonds and money reduced to cinders, and soon enough his house
burns to the ground as well.

8. The Legond of Sleepy Hollow
Washington Irying

9. Author inspiration 2part1
Sleepy Hollow was a real place close to Tarrytown in New York. Irving even used the
geographical reality of the town in his vivid descriptions. Indeed, Sleepy Hollow was a snug
rural valley in the Catskill Mountains. There existed an Old Dutch Church in Sleepy Hollow
as well. This church had a burial ground which was featured prominently in the description
and stories surrounding the galloping Hessian. The practice of relating exaggerated stories
by veterans of the American Revolution may have been the basis of the emphasis on story
telling in Sleepy Hollow and of Brom Bones' ridiculous account of his encounter with the
Horseman.
Irving also drew on existing literature, particularly German legends, to create his story.
Robert Burn's "Tam O' Shanter" and Brger's "Der wilde Jger" were tales of encounters with
the supernatural that were written about a couple decades before. Tam O' Shanter was a
poem that detailed the adventures of a drunk. On his way home, Tam hallucinates and sees
creatures of the night, even Satan himself. Tam's ride home was a lonely one, in the
forbidding Ayshire countryside, on his mare. The poem even involves a chase in which Tam
barely escapes from a legion of pursuing witches. Seems familiar doesn't it?
Possibly the ultimate inspiration for "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow", was the fact that there
was a need for American Literature to be developed. Irving's tale was unique in that it was
set in America and contained references and symbols singular to America and New York in
particular. Washington Irving's myriad sources of inspiration helped him produce a tale that
precipitated recognition for American literature and inspired subsequent writers.

10. Author inspiration 2part2
Writers typically draw on a combination of knowledge, experience or context to weave a
story. Washington Irving's story, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, is a tale rich in historical
context. So meticulous is the description and sketching of the characters in the story
that the characters seem very realistic; even two centuries later. That is unsurprising
because Irving drew inspiration for the tale from real places and people. He was also
inspired by existing literature that explored themes of the supernatural.
The characters for the story were the direct results of the context and communities
which Irving experienced before the time of writing. He employed the use of Dutch-
named characters in the Sleepy Hollow tale but also in some of his other works. Circa
1810, the presence and influence of the Dutch in New York was very pronounced.
Some have speculated that Irving was inspired by his neighbours in the construction of
specific characters. A woman by the name of Eleanor Van tassel Brush and her aunt
Catriena are thought to be the basis for the naming and character of Katrina Van Tassel.
A man who taught in a schoolhouse where Irving spent some time in 1809 is rumoured
to be the inspiration for Ichabod Crane. Also, the character of Ichabod was based on
the stereotypes associated with the Yankee (Americans of Anglo-Saxon origin).

11. Summary
Tarry Town, also known as Greensburgh, lies between the Hudson and Tappan Zee rivers, and it is a small
market town. Near this town is a very quiet glen named Sleepy Hollow. In this glen, the land and its people all
seem to exhibit a quality of dreamy drowsiness. Diedrich Knickerbocker, whose story this is, is convinced that
this quality has been caused by some kind of spell or curse. Because of its relative isolation for a fair amount of
time longer, Sleepy Hollow has more than its share of legends, superstitions, and strange occurrences.
The town’s most dominant spirit is that of a headless man riding on horseback, believed by many to be the
ghost of a Hessian soldier from the Revolutionary War, who is frequently seen rushing quickly through the village,
often near the church. It is thought that he is rushing in search of his head, and he is known throughout the
region as The Headless Horseman of Sleepy Hollow.
Ichabod Crane, originally from Connecticut, is the schoolmaster of Sleepy Hollow. His school house is designed
so that any thief could break in easily but would find it difficult to get back out. He believes in disciplining his
students with the rod, although he is careful to use it only against those who can bear it, and he treats the
weaker students much more gently.
The students do not hate him, and this benefits Ichabod, for by custom he relies on the hospitality of his
students’ families to give him room and board, each for a week at a time, since his pay is very low. He has few
possessions. To alleviate his burden on the families, Ichabod does his best to make himself useful around the
farm and to be on good behavior. He is also the singing master of Sleepy Hollow, for which he makes some extra
money, and the local women like his skills, so he gets by quite well.
Ichabod’s status as the schoolmaster, being second in learning only to the parson, gives him much of his
importance in the female circles of Sleepy Hollow. His traveling lifestyle gives him greater access to gossip than
most have, which adds to the welcome that he receives in most of the farmhouses. Ichabod is fascinated by
Cotton Mather’s History of New England Witchcraft, and he is a firm believer in it and in the supernatural
generally. Indeed, he often spends all afternoon reading this history before heading home for the week, and he
scares himself so badly that he must sing psalms while walking to maintain his composure. He also enjoys
listening to the housewives tell their ghost stories, especially those involving the Headless Horseman, and he
scares the women with his stories of witchcraft in return.

12. Work 1
the Adventures Of Captain Bonneville [And] Bracebridge Hall GF
The Alahambra GF Jan-2007
The Alhambra GF Dec-1986
Astoria H Dec-2008
Astoria, Or Anecdotes of an Enterprise Beyond the Rocky Mountains GF Jul-2007
Beauties of Washington Irving GF
Bracebridge Hall HORR
Bracebridge Hall, Or The Humorists GF
A Chronicle of the Conquest of Granada GF Feb-2007
The Collected Supernatural And Weird Fiction Of Washington Irving F Oct-2010
The Complete Tales of Washington Irving GF Apr-1975
The Crayon Papers GF Jun-2007
The Crayon Reading Book GF
A History of New York GF Jan-2009
The Keeping of Christmas at Bracebridge Hall GF May-2003
A Knickerbocker's History of New York GF Dec-2001
The Land Of Footprints GF
Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Other Stories GF Oct-1999
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow GF Sep-1987
The Life And Voyages Of Christopher Columbus GF 1849

13. Work 2
The Life And Voyages Of Christopher Columbus, By W. Irving, Abridged By The Same GF
Mohammed GF Sep-1997
Old Christmas GF Dec-2008
Old Christmas from the Sketch Book of Washington Irving GF Jul-2007
Rip van Winkle F Apr-1987
Rip Van Winkle & Other Stories GF Mar-2011
Rip Van Winkle and Other Stories GF Dec-1996
Rip Van Winkle and The Devil and Tom Walker GF Jan-2009
Rip van Winkle and The Legend of Sleepy hollow GF Sep-1995
Selections From The Sketch Book GF
Six Selections From Irving's Sketch-Book GF
Six Selections from Irving's Sketchbook GF
The Sketch Book GF Aug-1961
The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent. GF Dec-1988
The Sketch-Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent GF Sep-2009
Stories Of The Hudson L
Tales of a Traveler R Dec-2006
Tales of Alhambra GF Nov-2010
Tales Of The Alhambra GF Oct-2010
Ten Selections From The Sketch-Book GF Mar-2010
A Tour on the Prairies L Nov-1985
Two Tales GF Oct-1986
Washington Irving: Bracebridge Hall, Tales of a Traveler, The Alhambra L Apr-1991
Washington Irving's Rip Van Winkle F Apr-2005
Washington Irving's the Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Other St... GF Aug-1999
Wolfert Webber, or, Golden Dreams GF
Wolfert's Roost, And Miscellanies GF Feb-2007
The Works of Washington Irving ...

14. Themes
Sleepy Hollow The Devil andTom Walker
Spiritual rejection Spiritual awareness
• Icabaud clams • Tom made a pact with
everything he is seeing /tried to turn to the bible
can be explained by but was now strong in his
science and logic / faith.
pushing away the fact
that the situation which
he finds himyself he can
not explain

16. Universal theme
Spiritual rejection

17. QUESTIONS