Comparison and Contrast of the Characters Ichabod Crane and Brom Van Brunt - Essay Example

Comparison and Contrast of the Characters Ichabod Crane and Brom Van Brunt The characters of Ichabod Crane and Brom Van Brunt are created by an American author named Washington Irving in his short story known as “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” which was first published in Birmingham, England in 1820. Washington Irving was the first ever American author who became famous abroad in a short span of time. He is known for contribution to short story genre. In this story, the Dutch community of New York has been described, which is located in a rural valley near the Hudson River.

Ichabod Crane has been defined as a person, who was capable of making good decisions and was very willing to believe any statement as true but he was also clumsy. He was a school and a singing teacher who belonged to Connecticut. Crane grew up in a low-income family. He had to work hard so that he could fulfill his needs. Crane was quite a foody person. He loved to eat and was well fed by the housewives, who lived in his neighborhood. He develops feelings towards Katrina Van Tassel, a daughter of a well known Dutch farmer Baltus Van Tassel.

Katrina was the only daughter of her parents. Brom Van Brunt is described as a heavily built person, good looking and arrogant in a way but possessed a great sense of humor. Brom was well known for his massive knowledge and skilled horsemanship. He was always ready for the fight but had more mischief in his fights rather than harsh words. He is also known as Brom Bones. Broom always tried to make Crane scared about the Headless Horsemen with whom he had raced. So, every time he used to walk through the woods he used to sing songs so that he would not be scared.

Both Crane and Brom started developing feelings towards Katrina. As Crane knew that he was not as strongly built like Brom to impress Katrina, he decided to win her by frequently visiting her house as a singing master or teacher. The competition between Crane and Broom started getting more intense. They were at loggerheads as both of them to win over the same girl. Crane wanted to win Katrina because he was in love with her but, on the other hand, Brom just tried to get her to inherit her property, money, etc.

Both men were same in one way or the other but both had different attitudes. The behavior of both of them was remarkably different. Crane was a skinny guy with big feet but he was very helpful. He helped the farmers in their work in his neighborhood. Brom always behaved like a child while fighting for Katrina. He would buy gifts for her which Crane could not but Crane was not less in competing. He would compensate all the matter with a picnic or a nice gesture. The feelings of both of them for Katrina was different.

Crane’s feelings for her were genuine, but Brom was only concerned about money, wealth that he wanted to inherit, despite belonging to a wealthy family. Crane always tried to hide his feelings of being scared. At an autumn party Crane tries to impress Katrina by his singing and dancing. Then the conversation headed towards the ghostly tales, especially of the Headless Horseman a Hessian soldier, who haunts the area. Crane tries a lot to have a meaningful talk with Katrina but he could not, so disappointed Crane leaves the party and rode on his horse back home.

On the way back, he faced the Hessian soldier, and the next morning the horse was found without the horse rider and the saddle near the destroyed remains of a pumpkin. After that incidence Crane is not seen at all in the book Sleepy Hollow. A rumor is spread that Crane has become a lawyer and a judge in another town. Work Cited Verday, Jessica. "Reviews". Jessica Verday. Reviews, 2010. Web. 22 July 2011