The Anguish of Chaos on Reasonable Men

The Anguish of Chaos on Reasonable Men
Love creates a null inside mans head that defies all logic and grants what may be considered insanity. As conflicting love in its own nature can be, this conflict escalades when aroused by competition. The competition of love in its own natural state is the same as throwing lava into a tornado, its effects is worse and causes more devastation. To begin to understand the beast like qualities of love, the underlying factors of what causes love, what forces love into action, what happens when love is conflicting with another person or inside a singular person? What effects does love have on the individual? Is love an essence of chaos that controls a person to the very boundaries of sanity and pushes them off the cliff? These questions drive into the very heart of the matter of love. However, what is love? Love is defined as an attraction based on sexual desire, kinship, or personal ties (Merriam Webster). Following the definition of love we must explore why it defies logic and reason. That love itself is a chaotic force was earlier said but what makes it such a force, and why does it defy logic? We will say for arguments sake that man is a creature of companionship, love is the ultimate expression of companionship, and therefore man must seek out love in its ultimate form to no end. Therefore, man has to seek out love and cannot stop himself from this, hence man will stop at nothing to find love and this includes betrayal, deception, and death!
Love is the chaos that tumults the men in “Sleepy Hallow”, and death resumes order to that chaos, particularly to that of Ichabod Crane. This strict adherence to the cycle of chaos and order becomes the most important process in the story. This eternal conflict is constant in the dealings of Crane, Brom Bones, Katrina Van Tassel, and the Headless Horseman. The shifting tides of love represents chaos and death represents order and so shall be interchangeable thorough the argument. Instead of focusing on death as superstition and murder, it shall be viewed as a catalyst to what is right, for love in “Sleepy Hallow” follows too many definitions, whether it be Cranes idea of beauty and money or Bones idea of a fairy tale story, or even Katrina’s fleeting idea of a game. Death is not as diverse in “Sleepy Hallow” because it has one definition, killing a man, as seen when the Headless Horseman slays Crane and restores order to the village. To know the chaos of the story, the story itself must be portrayed as chaos and order completely, to see the change of order and chaos, to see the actions of Crane, Brom, and Katrina, and lastly to see what love does to these people.
Cranes path of chaos and order is a morbid one, but provides the largest picture of what chaos will do to man’s life. Crane traversed to Sleepy Hallow and became the local schoolteacher as well as a choral instructor, and in that role love, chaos, smites him at the site of Katrina Van Tassel.
“As the enraptured Ichabod fancied all this, and as he rolled his great green eyes over the fat meadow land, the rich fields of wheat, of rye, of buckwheat, and Indian corn, and orchards burthened with ruddy fruit, which surrounded the warm tenement of Van Tassel, his heart yearned after the damsel who was to inherit these domains, and his imagination expanded with the idea, how they might readily turned into cash, and the money invested in the immense tracks of wild land (999). “

Once in love Crane became obsessive and continuously thinks of his possible future with Katrina, creating a new chaos in his own mentality, creating a loss of thoughts on work, rationale, logic, and what his future really is.
“Nay, his busy fancy already realized his hopes, and presented to him the blooming Katrina, with a whole family of children, mounted on the top of a wagon loaded with household trumpery, with pots and kettles dangling beneath; and he beheld himself bestriding a pacing mare, with a colt at her heels, setting out for Kentucky, Tennessee, -- or the Lord knows where! (999).”
This chaos in Cranes life creates a heated rivalry with another man by the name of Brom Bones. The rivalry of Crane and Brom escalades to great acts of childish behavior, a sure sign that one is losing their sanity and becoming dull by chaos.
“Ichabod became the object of whimsical persecution to Bones, and his gang of rough riders…. They harried his hitherto peaceful domains; smoked out his singing school, by stopping up the chimney; broke into the school-house at night, in spite of its formidable fastenings of withe and window stakes, and turned every thing topsy-turvy: so that the poor schoolmaster began to think all the witches in the country held their meetings there”
Love is in fact causing harm to the schoolmaster indirectly by taking up his time to clean. Time that could be spent sleeping for better health, or even bettering his career. However, Crane is blinded by love and continues on his futile pursuit to win the love of Katrina. That is until Katrina strikes him down during one of their engagements, sundering his heart into pieces and sending him even further into chaos and despair.
“Ichabod only lingered behind, according to the custom of country lovers, to have a tête-à-tête with the heiress; fully convinced that he was now on the high road to success… Something, however, I fear me, must have gone wrong, for he certainly sallied forth, after no very great interval, with an air quite desolate and chapfallen. Oh, these women! These women! Could that girl have been playing off any of her coquettish tricks? Was her encouragement of the poor pedagogue all a mere sham to secure her conquest of his rival? (1007-08).”
As in predictable manner of all men who have fallen into chaos, Crane tries to escape it by fleeing what causes him this pain. He no longer tries to rationalize what his actions were or have done, nor does he take into consideration what actions he will take. No, Crane is only lost in the world that is his mind, and how warped it has become since love has entered. Thus, order must take place for this man and ease him of the suffering of chaos and thus the forces of order carry in death in the form of the Headless Horseman, and this incarnation of death kills Crane, as legend goes.
” Just then he saw the goblin rising in his stirrups, and in the very act of hurling his head at him. Ichabod endeavored to dodge the horrible missile, but too late. It encountered his cranium with a tremendous crash—he was tumbled headlong into the dust, and Gunpowder, the black steed, and the goblin rider, passed by like a whirlwind”
Order saves this man from the turmoil that is chaos, the turmoil that his mind has become because of love.
Katrina Van Tassel follows a different path of chaos to order and back again. Her path is not strewn with rivalry with another woman, nor is it as chaotic as Cranes’ or Broms’. Katrina’s path is straightforward because she has the option of choice. Her chaos is in deciding between A or B and thus order comes easy to her. Katrina started out to chaos fairly simply; she was the object of affection for Brom Bones. This affection was well known thorough the town and most possibly lead to the greater chaos her life would become, because Brom scared off all other competitors for love she most likely desired someone else to compete against him for her sake. This is such a notion that any rationale person would not have. The rationale person would take the love that is given to them and thus be happy with the life that has been given instead of pursuing a new possibility for the sake of it.
“This rantipole hero had for some time singled out the blooming Katrina for the object of his uncouth gallantries, and though his amorous toyings were something like the gentle caresses and endearments of a bear, yet it was whispered that she did not altogether discourage his hopes. Certain it is, his advances were signals for rival candidates to retire, who felt no inclination to cross a lion in his amours; insomuch, that when his horse was seen tied to Van Tassel’s paling, on a Sunday night, a sure sign that his master was courting, or, as it is termed “sparking,” within, all other suitors passed by in despair, and carried the war into other quarters.”
Thus, Crane ventured into town, unknowingly falling into the trap Katrina laid for him to be her choral teacher, to be her only lover’s prime rival, and to be her strongest pull for chaos. Crane is smitten by Katrina and begins to profess love to her and thus Brom had a rival and Katrina is swept into her own chaos. She now is in turmoil between two lovers in an escapade she has begun and thus has a choice to make, Brom or Crane. However, predestination picked for her because she was only using Crane to prove that Brom loved her, and thus knew from the onset that she will pick Brom as her lover and restore Order, but as previously stated Crane was still in love with her and so she was the precipitating force that called out to the incarnation of death to rid of Crane so that the chaos in Sleepy hollow will be neutralized and life will begin to go back to its previous order. This order becomes much known at the marriage of Katrina and Brom, “Brom Bones, too, who, shortly after his rival's disappearance conducted the blooming Katrina in triumph to the altar…” ( ), as the marriage would likely not have been able to happen if Crane still existed in the town of Sleepy Hollow.
Brom’s tale of chaos is one that takes the longest amount of time because he was first to love Katrina and was last to know her choice in the manner of order. Brom started off with courting Katrina and letting it be known that he was the best man for her, by feats of strength and purpose. He was in essence her fairy tale prince and thus is the prime figure for the beginnings of chaos in Sleep Hollow.
“ He was foremost at all races and cock-fights; and, with the ascendancy which bodily strength acquires in rustic life, was the umpire in all disputes, setting his hat on one side, and giving his decisions with an air and tone admitting of no gainsay or appeal. 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.”
This perfect fairy tale match up is even punctuated by the fact the Brom has faced the dangers of the headless horseman once before, and that since he has already defeated great evil the idea of him being the fairy tale prince for chaos is even greater.
“Brom Bones, who made light of the galloping Hessian as an arrant jockey. He affirmed that, on returning one night from the neighboring village of Sing Sing, he had been overtaken by this midnight trooper; that he had offered to race with him for a bowl of punch, and should have won it too, for Dare-devil beat the goblin horse all hollow, but, just as they came to the church bridge, the Hessian bolted, and vanished in a flash of fire”
Brom, being the most prominent figure in the waves of chaos, is trapped by his adoring nature for Katrina, and thus begins to fall into the same web the whole town falls. However, Brom gets the heated chaos of rivalry with Crane. His rivalry with Crane is mostly because of his own mind believing Crane as a threat to his man hood and pride.
“from the moment Ichabod Crane made his advances, the interests of the former evidently declined; his horse was no longer seen tied at the palings on Sunday nights, and a deadly feud gradually arose between him and the preceptor of Sleepy Hollow”
Broms pride is insulted only in his own mind because of the fact chaos is spreading these thoughts of insecurity and eventually insanity. Love drives Brom into performing acts of jealousy, believing to disrupt the growing love between Crane and Katrina. “Brom took all opportunities of turning him into ridicule in presence of his mistress, and had a scoundrel dog whom he taught to whine in the most ludicrous manner, and introduced as a rival of Ichabod’s to instruct her in psalmody” (). These acts of jealousy were not made from a reasonable person but from a man driven to insanity, his insanity coming from the desire or love he holds for Katrina. However, order is brought back into Broms world at the death of Crane, preserving his and Katrina’s love together in this story. Katrina marries Brom as earlier stated and thus order is restored to sleepy hollow through death. Broms order is not complete though for he still shows signs of insanity at the mention of his dead rival. “Brom Bones… 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.” (). Broms laughter at such absurdity remains as telltale evidence that he himself still carries insanity in his own mind set. This insanity was carried over by the length of time Brom Bones was in contact to chaos and thus order could not be permanently restored to him.
The continual conflict of chaos and order is one that fights until the very end of “Sleepy Hollow”. The human mind is a battleground for war between chaos and order; it is the war between the abstract and the concrete concepts that turn us into the sane and the insane. To study the abstract is to study insanity and thus order will take you, such as the case of Socrates. The biggest example of the conflict between order and chaos is the Iraqi war, the idea of chaos being the abstract thoughts of terror and righteousness, while order embodies death, decay, starvation, disease, rulers, and rules.