"The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" and Ichabod Crane

The town of Sleepy Hollow is described as having a dreamy quality to it. The narrator states it has a "listless repose" (993) and the townspeople are described as being of a "peculiar character" (993). Irving has created the perfect setting for a supernatural experience. The town seems to be "under the sway of some witching power, that holds a spell over the minds of the good people, causing them to walk in a continual reverie. They are given to all kinds of marvelous beliefs; have trances and visions, and see strange sights, and hear music and voices in the air" (993).
Ichabod Crane is the schoolmaster of the town. He is described as tall and lanky with "narrow shoulders, long arms and legs, hands that dangled a mile out of his sleeves, feet that might have served for shovels, and his whole frame most loosely hung together" (994). …