Discussion Topic
Comparison of the narrators in "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" and "The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County."
Summary:
Both narrators in "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" and "The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County" serve to frame the main stories they tell. In "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow," the narrator is an unnamed, objective storyteller who recounts the tale with a hint of skepticism. In "The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County," the narrator is a participant, adding a layer of humor and irony to the story.
Compare the narrators of "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" and "The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County."
In "The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calavaras County" there is only one narrator whose story forms the frame of the story. This narrator, who tells his story in the first person, gives a first hand account of a story he was told by Simon Wheeler who is supposedly telling a story he witnessed. Although the frame narrator is not impressed with Wheeler or his story, we tend to think of Wheeler and, therefore the narrator, as mostly reliable. However, there are at least five levels of narration in "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow ". The title itself tips the reader off that the story is taken from a myth or legend and parts may or may not be true. After all, the story is being told by Washington Irving, but Geoffrey Crayon is the one who was supposedly responsible for collecting the story which was allegedly written by Diedrich...
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Knickerbocker who was told the story by some
''pleasant, shabby, gentlemanly old fellow’’.
In the story itself, the characters tell stories that they either heard or read, but did not experience themselves. The the narrators of "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" are very unreliable. In fact, by the end of the story. the vague, "gentlemanly old fellow" says,
''I don't believe one half of it myself.’’
Thus, it is ironic that the legend is given even half the credence it has garnered over the years because the narrators are so unreliable. In the "Jumping Frog" story, the narrator seems more reliable, but the irony comes from the story he is told and the story he expects to find about a Leonidas W. Smiley. Instead he is told about Jim Smiley and his jumping frog.
Interesting assignment!
Similarities: Both narrators possess a tongue-in-cheek tone and note the irony in their tales. In "Legend," the narrator uses extensive descriptions of Ichabod and the other major characters with side comments to demonstrate subtly his real attitude toward the characters and town. In "Frog," the narrator does not provide as much detail about the characters, but he does include dialect and the ironic twist at the story's end to show what he truly thinks of the Western town.
Differences: While "Legend's" narrator is one of Irving's recurring natives (someone who is familiar with the setting's culture and people), "Frog's" narrator is an outsider who provides and Eastern city slicker's perspective of the unruly West. In Irving's story, the native narrator allows the author to provide a more thorough satire of the people and region. Twain's "Frog" offers a brief glimpse into what must have seemed like a foreign world to Americans back East.
Compare the narrators of "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" and "The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County".
When it comes to point of view, "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" and "The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calveras County" are similar in that they are not told by one narrator alone. Both could be considered "frame" stories (that is, a story within a story). "Sleepy Hollow" in fact, could almost be considered a story within a story within a story...etc. To understand this more fully, let's look at the narrators in each story:
"Sleepy Hollow":
- Narrator 1: Washington Irving, the author of The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent.
- Narrator 2: Geoffrey Crayon, a fictional "author" established by Irving to give many of his stories a sense of folklore and credibility.
- Narrator 3: Diedrich Knickerbocker, the fictional character who first wrote these stories down (also given credit for Rip Van Winkle) before they were found by G. Crayon.
- Narrator 4: characters within the story who contribute to the "legend" by repeating "headless horseman" tales they've either heard or read.
"Jumping Frog"
- Narrator 1: Mark Twain, speaking (in 1st person) of the meeting between himself and Simon Wheeler.
- Narrator 2: Simon Wheeler, speaking (in 3rd person) about Jim Smiley.
As with many frame stories and almost all stories told in the first person point of view, there exists the question, "How reliable is the narrator?" Consider that frame stories are very similar to gossip. The more people a story gets passed through, the more embellished and less factual it often becomes. In both of these stories, this framing is completely intentional. The tone therefore, is in itself ironic. You, the reader, are not to trust that these stories are true, despite the ever present emphasis (by all story tellers involved) that they are. It is almost like saying, "If this many people know of and can tell this story, it must be true."
More than likely the main purpose of the original authors for doing this is for humor and entertainment. Also, much like satire today picks on current events and news stories, and the way in which these stories are often portrayed, both Irving and Twain are likely making a social commentary on the kind of story telling that was accepted as "truth" in their own generations.