Please discuss the conflict between Ichabod Crane and Brom Bonesin the story by Washington Irving.

Sleepy Hollow’s most famous supernatural phenomenon is the ghostof the Headless Horseman, said to be a Hessian soldier who lost hishead to a cannon ball during the Revolutionary War. The Horseman isseen most often riding by the church, where local historians say hewas buried. He is believed to be always in search of his head.Ichabod is fascinated by this story, being especially interested(and prone to believe) in tales of the supernatural.
Ichabod is a strict teacher but not a cruel one, doling out hispunishment of the rod only to those who can handle it. Ichabodmakes almost no money, and it is customary in the village for thefarmers whose sons he teaches to feed and board him in rotation.Along with this, Ichabod makes some extra money teaching singinglessons—he prides himself greatly on his magnificent voice. Thisarrangement keeps him employed and gives him many opportunities tohear ghost stories from the farmers’ wives and eat meals with thefarmers’ daughters. He also has an insatiable hunger and a tastefor the finer things.
Katrina Van Tassel, a beautiful young woman of eighteen, is one ofIchabod’s students. She is also the only child of Baltus VanTassel, one of the more successful farmers in the area. Ichabod isquickly taken in by her flirtatious charms, but it is when he firstvisits her father’s abundant farm that he considers himself trulyin love with her, or at least her likely inheritance.
He quickly sets out to win her hand in marriage, coming by the VanTassel farm frequently to woo her. Ichabod is not alone in hisattentions to Katrina, however. Her beauty, charm, and wealth haveentranced many other men in the village, especially the formidableBrom Van Brunt, also known as Brom Bones. Brom is notorious for hisboisterous personality, love of pranks, and great skill athorseback riding—all of which make him something of a villagehero.
Brom has already scared off many of Katrina’s other suitors, butIchabod is harder to shake, avoiding physical confrontation withBrom, which is Brom’s main method of intimidation. Without thatoption, Brom turns to his next best skill—pranks. He fills theschool house with smoke, trains a dog to follow Ichabod aroundhowling, and sets many other pranks to frustrate and humiliateIchabod.
One day, a messenger comes to the schoolhouse to invite Ichabod toa party at the Van Tassels’. At this party, he apparently findshimself the best man in the house, and when the party is over hestays behind. For some reason, however, Katrina disappoints him.Ichabod leaves crestfallen.
He finds the path home dark and eerily quiet. He tries to keephimself from getting too scared, but soon after he has passed thepossibly haunted Major Andre’s tree, he sees a large, dark figurelooming nearby. It does not respond to his call, but as he passesby, it starts to move and joins him on the path riding a large,dark horse. Ichabod is greatly disturbed and tries to shake off hispursuer, but he fails. Finally, he notices that the rider has nohead on his shoulders; the head seems to be sitting on the saddlein front of the man. Ichabod tries to get his decrepit horse to runhome as fast as it can, but he is not a skilled rider and the horseresists.
They end up by the church, the scene of most of the stories of theHeadless Horseman, and Ichabod races to the bridge where the ghostis said to disappear and not follow. Ichabod crosses the bridge andlooks back, but he sees the Horseman, instead of disappearing, hurlhis detached head at him. It knocks Ichabod off of his horse.
The next day, Ichabod’s horse returns to its owner’s farm, butthere is no sign of Ichabod. A search party finds hoof prints andIchabod’s hat, with a smashed pumpkin left next to it. Ichabod isnever heard from again in Sleepy Hollow, although later on it seemsthat he is alive elsewhere and has told his story. Some of thetownspeople believe that Brom Bones pulled off a great prank—whichput Brom in the final position to marry Katrina—but the old womenand local folklore maintain that he was taken by the HeadlessHorseman.

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Ichabod and Brom are both suitors for Katrina While ... View the full answer