The Remains of the Day 601references the Revolution and the Puritans and uses
these allusions to create a sense of place and history.
We learn that villagers think the headless horse-
man “to be the ghost of a Hessian trooper whose
head had been carried away by a cannon ball, in
some nameless battle during the revolutionary war.”
Haunted by the specter of history, the villagers and
visitors see the ghost no matter their state of con-
sciousness. It is a constant reminder of the nation’s
fight for independence, and it helps Irving establish
some of the first truly American literature dealing
with American settings, history, and issues.
Another constant reminder of the nation’s his-
tory is the collection of books and stories with
which Ichabod Crane regales his community. One
of Crane’s favorite texts, and one in which he fer-
vently believes, is Cotton Mather’s History of New
England Witchcraft, a clear allusion to the witch
trials in New England’s past. Crane also enjoys
entertaining the “old Dutch wives” with tales from
Mather’s text and other “anecdotes of witchcraft,
and of the direful omens and portentous sights
and sounds in the air, which prevailed in the earlier
times of Connecticut.” Though Knickerbocker’s
description of the scene works to set the tone for
the later mysterious events surrounding Crane’s
disappearance, it also works to establish the text as
firmly American. American literature must wrangle
with not only the geographic peculiarities of a
region, but also the contradictions and blemishes
within the history of the nation. By alluding to the
problematic history of America, Irving situates his
text as one of the first to promote and embody the
sort of national literature called for by the editors
and writers of his day.
Another of Irving’s stories supposedly found
among Knickerbocker’s papers is “Rip Van Winkle.”
In this tale, the reader encounters a myth or folktale
of the Hudson River Valley, a folktale that the nar-
rator urges the reader to take as “true history” over
the “scanty” research found in books on the region.
Again, Irving works the Revolutionary War into
the fabric of the tale. Having slept through the
revolution, Van Winkle encounters a world vastly
different from the one he left. Seeing a portrait of
General George Washington where a portrait of
King George once hung startles Van Winkle, while
flyers about rights, elections, congress, and “heroes
of seventy-six” simply “bewilder” him.
Most frightening and shocking to Van Win-
kle are people’s inquiries about his voting record,
“whether he was a Federal or Democrat?” When he
responds that he is a “loyal subject of the King,” Van
Winkle is unprepared for the violent reactions of
the tavern politicians and customers. That a region,
much less an entire country, could change so dra-
matically in 20 years not only shocks Van Winkle,
for whom it’s been only a day, but also shocks the
reader, who may not have fully understood the
extraordinary transformation that occurred during
and immediately following the Revolution. Through
Van Winkle’s nap and jarred awakening, Irving’s
story symbolizes the awakening of America into
its freedom, as well as American authors’ reliance
upon folklore in conjunction with historical fact to
develop an “American” literature.
The nationalism promoted in Irving’s Sketchbook
is not a nationalism that declares America the best
country, but a nationalism that begs for and works
to develop a mythos, literature, and attitude all
its own. Other stories work to juxtapose America
with England or to disparage English criticisms of
America. “English Writers on America” questions
the English propensity to condemn Americans for
what the English view as lowliness. Instead, Irving
praises the American spirit and hospitality toward
the English who “under rate a society, where there
are no artificial distinctions, and where, by any
chance, such individuals as themselves can rise to
consequence.” Praising America as the proverbial
land of opportunity, Irving seizes the opportunity
to himself “rise to consequence” as the father of the
American short story.
Robin Gray NicksiSHiguro, kazuo The Remains of
the Day (1989)
The Remains of the Day tells of Mr. Stevens, head
butler of Darlington Hall, who takes a six-day motor
trip to the West Country (Devon and Cornwall) of