Spotlight - Washington Irving

              by Artur Wielgus

Washington Irving (1783-1859)

The Biography of George Washington and other Stories

   Washington Irving was the first great American literary artist. He was using the following pennames: Geoffrey Crayon, Dietrich Knickerbocker, Jonathan Oldstyle. As a boy he was introduced to George Washington in New York city where Irving was born and later wrote The History of New York. George Washington touched his head and blessed him. In his mature years, Washington Irving was so devoted to writing that he declined other positions offered to him. He was about to write the History of America but postponed it and later instead of it wrote other stories, The Life and Voyages of Christopher Columbus, the Conquest of Granada, the Voyages of the Companions of Columbus, Life of Mohammed and more.

   The biography of his namesake, George Washington was his great and crowning labor.It contains parts of American History. Young Gorge Washington takes part in French – Englishwarfare and is a witness to the cruelties of war, where Native Americans play important parts on both sides. George discovers the importance of ambush and gorilla warfare used especially by Native Americans. The insubordinate behavior of soldiers, lack of discipline and low morale are oftena source of panic and defeat.  Irving imparts a panoramic view of the scenes of the battles in historicalperspective. He describes political situations of the country, its inhabitants and the way of living.Washington Irving immortalizes the man who has put service to the country over his own life.

   In his boyish ramblings, Washington Irving was exploring Sleepy Hollow Village and other parts of Hudson Valley in a Dutch colony which he described in The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, where a spirit of a soldier was sometimes riding through that haunted village with its headless body. From the moment Ichabod Crane, the schoolmaster made his advances toward Katrina Van Tassel, a deadlyfeud arose between Brom Bones and the preceptor of Sleepy Hollow. Brom Bones disguised himselfas a spirit of a headless soldier and, under cover of night, got rid of the superstitious Ichabod.

   Rip Van Winkle is another vivid legendary story with an action described in an enchanted primeval forest. The lush scenery and walls of forest greenness located on elevated grounds with the rushing streams, abundance of foliage, animals and birds among scattered sunshine and shades add to the spell, which fell on Rip Van Winkle. Rip fell into a deep sleep after he had a few too many drinks of a mysterious little man’s liquor. When he wakes up after 20 years of sleep and wanders to his native village, which had become a town, he can hardly recognize it. After learning the news from his daughter, he is most happy that his wife is no longer alive and he is free to do as he wants. He had slept trough the entire American Revolutionary War.

I   n the story, The Art of Book Making, Washington Irving gets very imaginary, to the point that he animates authors of books in the library from the pictures and those authors complain that new authors are copying their books. New authors, however, regard old authors as friends from whom they just borrow old ideas for the benefit of the public.

    Washington Irving represents in literature an American Enlightenment. In his older years  W. Irving got very reminiscent, reflecting on the past, which changes beyond recognition.Even Sleepy Hollow could not escape the spirit of change and modernization.The village of his boyhood years, was quickly becoming a town. History was erasing its past,which was very visible at the church cemetery were old tombstones  were replacedwith new ones and also the language of tombstones’ inscriptions changed to English.

   Some of Irving’s friends, who in youth were jumping over the graves with him, were already molding under the soil, and other tombstones disappeared as if their occupants never existed, which could create another legend of Sleepy Hollow.

© Artur Wielgus 2007

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