We know from
the text that Ichabod Crane was superstitious: not only do ghost stories frighten him, but after
his disappearance, the local residents find in his home a "History of Witchcraft, and a
"book of dreams and fortune-telling." Anyone who knew him could easily have played on
his fears and superstitions to drive him away. We know too that a "shattered pumpkin"
was found near Crane's hat on the road to the church after he vanished.
Crane, a school teacher and outsider in the established community, had entered into a
rivalry with Brom Bones to marry the wealthy Katrina Van Tassel. Brom wedded Katrina after Crane
left, would smile knowingly when people told Ichabod's story, and would "laugh" at the
part about the pumpkin. All of these clues suggests that Brom played the role of trickster,
using a ruse to convince the susceptible Crane that he was the headless horseman. Crane would
have taken the pumpkin in Brom's lap for his head. Clearly, the ruse workedunless you believe
the folktales that said there was a headless horseman.
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