What are some symbols in "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow"?

The community of Sleepy Hollow, as portrayed in “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,” is mired in superstition. Despite virtually everyone in this neck of the woods being a God-fearing Christian, some remnants of old pagan beliefs still float around, manifesting themselves in countless myths and ghost stories. Irving incorporates several symbols that illustrate superstition, including Ichabod Crane's copy of Cotton Mather's History of New England Witchcraft, the Headless Horseman, and the pumpkin.

Ichabod Crane, despite his education, is deeply superstitious. Crane's favorite book is Cotton Mather's History of New England Witchcraft. The book thus symbolizes Crane's gullibility, convinced as he is of the existence of dark, demonic forces lurking around every corner.

This makes him the perfect target for Brom Bones's wicked prank. Brom knows just how superstitious Ichabod really is, and so he figures that if he can convince his rival that he really is being chased by the legendary Headless Horseman, then he stands a good chance of driving him out of town.

The Headless Horseman, then, can be seen as a symbol of the tension between reality and fantasy, between the natural and the supernatural. As Ichabod Crane, due to his being mired in superstition, cannot resolve this tension, Brom is able to exploit it fully and scare Ichabod so much that he leaves town.

Finally, the pumpkin that Brom Bones carries as a facsimile of the horseman's head represents the hollowness of superstition. The pumpkin is sufficiently convincing to scare Crane, but the resulting image of the pumpkin smashed on the ground represents the fragility and absurdity of superstitious beliefs.

What are the significant symbols in "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" and their impact on characters?

The clothing that Katrina Van Tassel wears is meant to be symbolic. She catches the eye of both Brom Bones and Ichabod Crane. Katrina becomes an object of desire for both men, not only for her obvious charm and beauty but also for the wealth that she will one day inherit from her father's prosperous farm.

She wore the ornaments of pure yellow gold, which her great-great grandmother had brought over from Saardam; the tempting stomacher of the olden time; and withal a provokingly short petticoat, to display the prettiest foot and ankle in the country round.

Ichabod Crane is a greedy man who is looking to rise in society, and his interest in Katrina is more than romantic. It is mercenary. Her "ornaments of pure yellow gold" are symbolic of how much he will gain if he is able to successfully court her.

The barn of Baltus Van Tassel is another symbol. It is described as follows:

Hard by the farm-house was a vast barn, that might have served for a church; every window and crevice of which seemed
bursting forth with the treasures of the farm; the flail was busily resounding within it from morning to night . . .

The barn is the repository of Van Tassel's bounty. It is emblematic of his success and the legacy that will one day pass to Katrina and her husband. Baltus Van Tassel's wealth contributes to the objectification of Katrina as Brom Bones and Ichabod Crane vie for her hand.

What are the significant symbols in "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" and their impact on characters?

Sleepy Hollow itself symbolizes a kind of dreamlike world. Irving (Knickerbocker) notes that towns such as these remain unchanged even though the country is vastly changing and moving into the future. "Sleepy" Hollow invokes notions of sleep and dreams. Irving uses the word "drowsy" repeatedly and this stresses the sleepy, dreamlike quality of the culture of the town. The people of this area are connected but away from the world. They are isolated enough that their interests in supernatural ideas and mythical figures still holds sway over their conscious lives. The characters, including Crane, fall under its (Sleepy Hollow's) spell. Crane is as gullible as anyone. He eats up the legends as quickly as he devours food. "His appetite for the marvelous, and his powers of digesting it, were equally extraordinary; and both had been increased by his residence in this spellbound region." 

Ichabod Crane views Katrina as a dream bride to be won. Her father's estate is like a castle to him. He dreams of marrying her, having children, and living off of that inheritance. It is partly a materialistic and objectifying (of Katrina) dream, but it symbolizes an American dream of having the money to support a family and live comfortably. With Katrina symbolizing a type of princess in this way, Ichabod is a knight. But clearly, he is the awkward, bookish knight whereas Brom is the traditional knight of action and physical strength. Brom's horse is called Daredevil; this symbolizes Brom's bravery. Ichabod is taken with Katrina's beauty and the promise of a great inheritance. But he is also under the cultural spell of Sleepy Hollow, complete with nightmarish dreams as well as beautiful ones. Dreams are rampant in this story. Characters like Ichabod, who have great imaginations, conceive of the greatest and worst scenarios. 

The church near the grave yard symbolizes a connection between the earthly and the spiritual world. The church is a conduit to spiritual matters and the grave yard symbolizes the dead. The Headless Horseman haunts this area more than most because of its other worldly significance. 

What are the significant symbols in "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" and their impact on characters?

Katrina van Tassel is a symbol of wealth and material prosperity in the story. Her father is well-to-do, and she is associated with an abundance of food. For example, Crane thinks of

slapjacks, well buttered, and garnished with honey or treacle, [served] by the delicate little dimpled hand of Katrina Van Tassel.

At the van Tassel home, Crane is feted with

the crisp and crumbling kruller; sweet-cakes and short-cakes, ginger-cakes and honey-cakes, and the whole family of cakes. And then there were apple-pies, and peach-pies, and pumpkin-pies; besides slices of ham and smoked beef; and moreover delectable dishes of preserved plums, and peaches, and pears, and quinces; not to mention broiled shad and roasted chickens; together with bowls of milk and cream . . .

It's no wonder Crane wants to marry Katrina, whom he so strongly associates with material bounty and unearned wealth.

Crane himself is a symbol of the European-style, superstitious world of book learning. He symbolizes the effeminate, weak world that a bold new country has left behind. He is thin and weak, and he attracts women to him. He flatters them and puts on a false front before them. (The deceptive bluejay—"nodding and bobbing and bowing, and pretending to be on good terms with every songster of the grove"—symbolizes Crane in the story.)

Brom, in contrast, symbolizes the young, vigorous, and virile United States. He is ox-like, tall, broad, ruddy, and very strong. He is the leader of a mischief-making and high-energy group of young men. He is straightforward and forthright, and he has a great deal of common sense. His virtues—the virtues of a vigorous new nation—defeat the deceptions and effete erudition of the Old World traditions represented by Crane.

What are the significant symbols in "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" and their impact on characters?

I would say that one key symbol within the story is the Headless Horseman himself.  He's going to exist as a character and a symbol at the same time.  I think he is symbolic of Ichabod Crane's greed.  Crane is a greedy character.  He wants to be rich and powerful, so that he can be secure in life, and so he can stick it to the people that have been mean to him.  Irving wrote that the Headless Horseman was a former Hessian mercenary.  Mercenaries usually are symbolic of greed and obtaining wealth at any cost.  The Horseman symbolizes that Crane's greed is what is going to kill him in the end.  

Crane's greed is symbolized in another item from the story.  Food.  Crane is always eating.  He's always gorging himself.  

" . . .for he was a huge feeder, and, though lank, had the dilating powers of an anaconda;"

He eats as much as he can, but he's never satisfied.  That's essentially what greed is.  Wanting and wanting more and more, but never being satisfied with what you have.  

In "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow," how does the author use symbolism to reveal character and plot?

With his great brawn and "rough chivalry" that could carry matters to open warfare, Brom Bones represents the country man, the rough new American.  His foil, Ichabod Crane, with his "spindle neck" and long narrow head, Ichabod much resembles the bird of his surname,

tall and lanky, with narrow shoulders, long arms and legs, and a long snipe nose.... 

He is a native of Connecticut, "a state which supplies the Union with pioneers for the mind as well as for the forest."  Crane is the intellectual who teaches and who reads Coton Mather's History of New England Witchcraft.  He is symbolic of the colonial Americans who were more cultured and educated, albeit not as physical.  Not so far removed from the English, Crane harbors much of their supersititous nature. 

As a guest of Katrina Van Tassel, Ichabod is too far removed from his native land. His struggles to control his appetite and to use his imagination properly represents and reflects the struggles of the new society to behave maturely. When the head of the horseman is hurled at Ichabod by Brom playing the Hessian Horseman, the gesture is symbolic of the contention that brawn is more important than brains.  But, the high spirited Crane has a "happy mixture of pliability and perseverance in his nature."  But, finally, he is terrified on his return home.