to tradition and the past or practical, hardworking, forward-looking men?

Brom turns out to be the classic trickster figure, and his wits resolve the conflict over who will win Katrina. Brom uses Crane's own superstitions against him. He builds a fake "headless horseman" and with it terrifies Crane so that he flees the town. This win also resolves the symbolic conflict of whose hands the future of the young country lies in: it lies with the pragmatic, vigorous, and forward-looking.

Ironically, the resolution of the conflicts involves that which Ichabod initiates himself; namely, the interest in the supernatural.  And, it is with his character Ichabod Crane that Irving pokes fun of supernatural conventions and parodies the Romantic hero.

Although Ichabod, a native of Conneticut and the schoolmaster, becomes an authority of Cotton Mather's History of New England Witchcraft;  he utilizes this "appetite for the marvellous" as a means to appeasing his physical appetite by ingratiating himself with the old Dutch wives, listening to their tales of ghosts and goblins after they have fed him. But, on his walks home, Ichabod is fearful with the "terrors of the night, phantoms of the mind that walk in darkness."

His interest in Katrina Van Tassel, the only child of a wealthy Dutch farmer, leads Ichabod to the Van Tassel farm where his fancy with food and plenty is captured. Thus, he essays to gain the affections of Miss Van Tassel.  However, there is a rival for Katrina's love:  Brom van Brunt, "the hero of the county round."  So, Ichabod disguises his advances upon Katrina by making visits as the singing-master, and he is very wary of his adversary, Brom, not affording him opportunities for combat. Nevertheless, Brom is able to stop up the chimney in the schoolhouse, and he and his friends turn things topsy-turvy.

When Ichabod Crane is invited to a party at the Van Tassels' he arrives on a horse that is the antithesis of Brom Bones's steed Daredevil.  At the party, more ghost stories are recounted; Brom claims to have defeated the Hussian in a race. This story and all the others that Ichabod has heard resound in his memory as he sets out for home.  Suddenly, Ichabod perceives the shadowy form of a horseman in the middle of the road; so, he urges his horse to run, but the other stays in step with him.  When the rider passes before the moon, Ichabod sees that he is headless, and that he carries his head upon the pommel of his saddle. As he attempts to flee on the back of old Gunpowder, the horse manages to cross the bridge, so Ichabod looks back. It is then that Ichabod realizes that the pursuing headless horseman is about to hurl his carried head.  Ichabod hurries, but is tumbled headlong into the dust.

The next morning the schoolmaster does not appear, nor is he ever seen again. A search party is formed, but only a large pumpkin and small bundle of Crane's is found. Tales of Ichabod Crane burgeon, tales that the headless horseman carried off Crane and the schoolhouse

was reported to be haunted by the ghost of the unfortunate pedagogue.... 

While Brom Bones laughs and gives a "knowing look" whenever the old country wives  mention Ichabod Crane, they, nevertheless, insist that Ichabod has been "spirited away by spiritual means."

Thus, the conflict between Brom Bones and Ichabod Crane is resolved by this disappearance of Crane.  In an ironic twist of fate, Crane becomes the object of his own interests:  He himself becomes a part of supernatural tales.

The dominant tone in Washington Irving 's Sleepy Hollow story is humorous or amused. The narrator tells how the Headless Horseman story developed long ago in this "sleepy" little town where nothing ever happens.

The supposed protagonist is the conceited city-slicker, Ichabod Crane, whose attitude of superiority ultimately causes his downfall. Irving also pokes fun at the country people, such as Katrina's wealthy farmer father, Balthus Van Tassel, who is proud as well as contented.

The story's narrator creates the humor within his ostensible ghost story by building a foreboding ambiance, something that would have succeeded in making Ichabod believe the Headless Horseman story. The narrator only implies but never states that the clever Brom Van Brunt has outwitted the book-smart Ichabod by staging this elaborate practical joke.

The tone is serious and ominous.

Tone is the author’s attitude toward the subject.  In this case, the attitude toward the supernatural events of the story.

The dominant spirit, however, that haunts this enchanted region, and seems to be commander-in-chief of all the powers of the air, is the apparition of a figure on horseback, without a head.

Although there is certainly a gloomy and foreboding sense to these lines, there is also a serious note.  The narrator changes, but there is always a sense of gravity, rather than just humor, to the telling of the tale.  Since foreshadowing is used, as well as this "I am going to tell you a story" framing, we know that something bad will eventually happen.

"The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" is a trickster tale, and the mood is tongue-in-cheek and humorous as the story unfolds of the red-blooded, down-to-earth, practical Bram Bones besting the effete, European-style schoolmaster, Ichabod Crane.

Brom's description might well characterize the tone of the story, especially in terms of his "waggish good humor":

He was always ready for either a fight or a frolic; but had more mischief than ill-will in his composition; and, with all his overbearing roughness, there was a strong dash of waggish good humor at bottom.

The story rolls along to an ironic ending, in which the seemingly simple Bram tricks the better-educated but superstitious Ichabod into thinking the legendary headless horseman of the region does exist. When Crane sees what he thinks is the real headless horseman, he is so frightened that he runs away, never to be seen again.

Brom, who had Crane as a rival for Katrina's hand, is able to take her as his bride. While the narrator tells us, tongue-in-cheek, that all the old country wives insist on the truth of the supernatural story of Crane being spirited away by the headless horseman, Brom has a different take. He was

observed to look exceedingly knowing whenever the story of Ichabod was related, and always burst into a hearty laugh at the mention of the pumpkin; which led some to suspect that he knew more about the matter than he chose to tell.

The pervasive mood of the story if of laziness and lechery infused by superstition and terror. Note the name of the setting, "Tarry Town": if one tarries, it means that they are wasting time. A look about the town will prove that this is so. Men "linger about the village taverns on market days" and the town in general languishes from a lack of developed thinking.

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow concerns the mysterious "Headless Horseman." This shadowy apparition terrifies the town; many observe him riding around with his head resting on his saddle. The protagonist of the story, school teacher,, Ichabod Crane, encounters the horseman, who pursues him. The last thing Crane recalls is the menacing figure throwing his head. Crane never returns to his classroom. A search party finds only his rumpled clothing and a smashed pumpkin.

Scholars have argued that the Headless Horseman is really an extended metaphor for a lack of reason. Like nightmares themselves, nothing makes sense without the ability to utilize the power of reasoning.