THE LEGEND OF SLEEPY HOLLOW-WASHINGTON IRVING

‘The Legend of Sleepy Hollow’ opens with a note that it has been found among the papers of Diedrich
Knickerbocker. Irving uses this framing device, in which he is just presenting a narrative found within the papers of
someone else, to give his story a claim to legitimacy and historical value.
At the beginning of the story, we learn from Diedrich Knickerbocker that it took place ‘in a remote period of
American history, that is to say, some thirty years since’. A classic example of Irving’s irony and humor with its
description of 30 years ago as a ‘remote period’, this quotation nonetheless underlines a real problem for early
American storytellers, who lacked a long, distinguished American history.
A major theme present in the story is the presence of supernatural. The entire town of Sleepy Hollow is said to be
bewitched by various ghosts and spirits. The witching influence is portrayed as mysterious and even primordial,
contributing the setting a greater sense of natural history.
Another major theme of the story is greed. Ichabod, for example, is initially attracted to Katrina because of the
abundance of her father’s farm. His appetite goes beyond by extending to the realm of ghosts, which he ‘swallows’
eagerly, but then because he has consumed so much, he becomes terrified by them on the return home.
Ultimately, Irving’s description of Ichabod’s greed and appetite can be situated within a broader social
context. In the early post-revolutionary United States, much of the country still remained to be explored. The nation
still seemed to be a vast amount of treasure of natural resources and abundance only waiting to be consumed. Irving’s
depiction of Ichabod serves as an implied rebuke to this kind of thinking.

THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER-EDGAR ALLAN POE

‘The Fall of the House of Usher’ possesses the quintessential features of the Gothic tale: a haunted house,
dreary landscape, mysterious sickness and doubled personality.
Poe creates a sensation of claustrophobia in this story. The narrator is mysterious trapped by the lure of
Roderick’s attraction and he cannot escape until the house of Usher collapses completely. The characters cannot move
and act freely in the house because of its structure, so it assumes a monstrous character of its own.
The tale highlights the Gothic feature of the doppelgänger. For example, the narrator realizes late in the game that
Roderick and Madeline are twins and this realization occurs as the two men prepare to entomb Madeline. Because the
twins are so similar, they cannot develop as free individuals. Madeline also suffers from problem typical for women in
19th century literature. She invests all of her identity in her body, whereas Roderick possesses the powers of intellect.
The Oedipus Complex is important to understand the story regardless of there being no mother or father
figures. In this story, Roderick cannot live without his twin sister, Madeline. Once she falls physically ill, he starts
becoming more and more emotionally and mentally ill. Madeline is also the symbol of all the mother figures Poe lost
in his own life. Through Roderick, Poe tries to keep the terminally ill mother figure repressed in the deep vaults of his
unconscious.
BARTLEBY, THE SCRIVENER-HERMAN MELVILLE
‘Bartleby, the Scrivener’, subtitled ‘A Story of Wall Street’, focuses on the dehumanization of a copyist.
Suggesting the author’s own contrariness, the main character replies to all comers, ‘I would prefer not to,’, by saying
that, declaring his independence from outside interference.
The main point of the story is open to interpretation. One way to view the story is that there are people who
suffer in ways that others do not understand, and this suffering may lead them to behave in ways that other do not
accept.
The street, where Bartleby works at, is situated on Wall Street, which was the center of business and financial life of
New York, in which Melville appears to be suggesting the restriction of the individual and mechanization of everyone
in the industry. Even the job ‘scrivener’ involves not writing original content but copying existing documents.
Wall Street is also the symbol of the development of capitalism in that society. Capitalism and its effect on society are
shown through Wall Street and the citizens of this street. The symbol of walls in the story is that all Bartleby’s life
was concentrated inside that room and he also separated himself from people, that is to say, he was dehumanized.
In conclusion, the story is not just about a person who has imprisoned himself in the working office, but about
the whole society of the time, where people were isolated from others in their offices and were working. Just like Wall
Street is the symbol of capitalism, the walls in Bartleby’s cabinet are the symbol of his isolation and dehumanization.

THE OUTCASTS OF POKER FLAT-BRET HARTE

The setting of ‘The Outcasts of Poker Flat’ is an important piece of American literature and one of the best
tales of the rough days of the California Gold Rush. At that time, law and order on the mining frontier was often
synonymous with vigilante justice, in which townspeople took matters into their own hands.
At the beginning of the story, the four outcasts, professional gambler John Oakhurst; a prostitute woman
known as Duchess; her madam Mother Shipton; and Uncle Billy, the town drunkard and a suspected thief, are
described as ‘improper persons’. The foursome is escorted to the edge of Poker Flat and forbidden to return. The
journey requires passage over a difficult mountain trail. Less than midway to their destination, the group becomes
exhausted and decides to camp for the night.
Later, a horseman and his fiancé, Tom Simson and Piney Woods, arrive at the camp. Simson is an acquaintance of
Oakhurst, therefore he offers to share his provisions with the foursome. Simson directs the group to an abandoned
cabin nearby and they take shelter there for the night.
The next morning, the winter snows have begun and during the next week, the group remains trapped in the valley.
After ten days in the cabin, Mother Shipton dies of starvation, saving her share to Piney. Realizing they are probably
doomed, Oakhurst instructs Simson to attempt a hike to Poker Flat to get help. The gambler then gathers a supply of
firewood for Duchess and Piney and disappears. Several days later a rescue group arrives, only to discover the frozen
bodies of the women. Oakhurst is found nearby with a pistol by his side and a bullet through his heart, and with a
suicide note written on a playing card pinned to a tree above his body.
The discrepancy between appearance and reality becomes most apparent when the group is trapped in the
snowstorm. Mother Shipton shows herself to be heroic when she sacrifices her life in an effort to save Piney.
Likewise, Duchess evolves into a protector for Piney. Oakhurst, on the other hand, who appeared the most calm,
eventually cannot play against unfavorable odds any longer and commits suicide. Throughout the story, Harte
demonstrates that where human nature is concerned, reality is often more complex than appearances indicate.
TO BUILD A FIRE-JACK LONDON
Jack London’s short story, ‘To Build a Fire’, is the tragic tale of a man who decides to travel alone through the
hostile environment of the Yukon in cold and falls victim to the unforgiving power of nature. The story is also an
example of Naturalism, a literary movement that focuses on the realism of human experiences, and often engages with
the broad theme of ‘man versus nature’.
London emphasizes the existential theme in the story in several ways, the most important of which is his
selection of the setting in which the story takes place. The desolation of Yukon wilderness, as well as the absence of a
human travel companion for the man, serve to illustrate the existentialist idea that man is alone in the universe. To
further emphasize this idea, London has not given his character a name, but simply refers to him as ‘the man’. By not
naming the character, London has placed him at an even greater distance from the reader within his deadly setting.
Another theme of this story is about persistence. The man is surely persistent to go to the mining camp, but him being
unaware of his surroundings puts him in danger. No matter how hard one tries to get something, if the target does not
make sense and is not realistic, he will fail one way or another.
London discusses two types of knowledge throughout the story: instinctual knowledge and scientific knowledge. The
first is associated with the dog, and the second with the man. These two figures represent a larger distinction between
nature and humans. The dog cannot understand or reason, but his instincts direct his survival. The man, on the other
hand, relies on information gained from others, on logic and on tools. Because of this knowledge, he ignores the dog’s
instinctual knowledge that the weather is too cold to travel.
In conclusion, the story shows a triumph of instinctual knowledge and trust in one’s nature over confidence in
logic and reason, as do other Naturalist texts. It is also the man’s pride that allows him to begin his dangerous journey,
prevents him from turning back when he realizes how cold it is, and ultimately leads to his death.