Rip Van Winkle tells the story of a man who, on a trek into the Kaatskill mountains, mysteriously sleeps away twenty years of his life during the Revolutionary War. When he returns home, he finds that things have dramatically changed; King George no longer has control over the colonies, and many of his friends have either died or left town. At this point, the story reaches its climax, where Van Winkle realizes that his life may be forever changed.
To this point, Rip Van Winkle has had only to deal with the change in his surroundings. Having no doubts about his personal character, his fears remain singular only briefly, for when the crowd points to a man whom they call Rip Van Winkle, he begins to question his being as well. "I'm
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In the telling of Rip's previous life, Irving does not hide Rip's laziness and unproductive nature, but the reader is constantly reminded of Rip's kind and gentle qualities. Never do we view his actions negatively, for his poor work habits are overshadowed by his character strength and other amusing qualities.
In this selection, however, no effort is made to disguise these traits. The man is "...apparently as lazy, and certainly as ragged." No disclaimers. Rip Van Winkle notices these traits, and he is "...now completely confounded." His confusion has increased, but confounded also refers to shame-the shame he might feel about his past.
As the confusion increases, Rip begins to question his identity. When the man with the cocked hat asks who Rip was and what was his name, we are more concerned with Rip's identity as a human being than the answers to these simplistic questions, and so is Rip, for these questions become of greater importance when we consider how they concern Rip's inner self. He responds that "...I am not myself," and he enters a near panic as he describes his sad plight. His thoughts become shorter. The words used are shorter.
Rip Van Winkle is losing control of the situation. He desperately wants to believe that he is still himself, but he can find nothing to support his claims; When coupled with the self examination of his past life, we see that Rip Van Winkle is having trouble discerning the truth within himself.
In looking
In the story, Rip Van Winkle, Rip is seen by many of his peers as a person they can always go to for help, he is incredibly dependable. The story states, “the women of the village ,too used to employ him to run their errands, and to do such little odd jobs as their less obliging husbands would not do for them.”(10). Meaning Rip is always there to give a helping hand, even when others do not want to. Robin too is persistent, he spends hours upon hours looking for Major Molineux, until he is successful. In the story, Robin states, “I pray you tell me the whereabouts of is the dwelling of my kinsman, Major Molineux.”(2). Which shows that even from the beginning, Robin will do anything to find him. Another similaritiy the two share are the many setbacks they go through to acheive their goals. For example, Rips goal was to simply enjoy some time away from Dame Van Winkle, his horrendous wife, but falls asleep in the mountains, and wakes up in distress and shock due to his changed town. However Rip does gain a sense of peace by telling his story to whoever will listen, and the almost comforting death of Dame. Robin’s goal in My Kinsman, Major Molineux, is simply to find the location of his relative Major Molineux. Robin goes through a great deal of trouble, because he is seen as an outsider in this foreign town. Robin too reaches his goal, and finally finds Major Molineux, that is, after he is sleep
Rip Van Winkle desires to leave his nagging wife, driving him into the woods revealing a gorgeous, woodland landscape and a
Rip Van Winkle is described as a man who “was one of those happy mortals, of foolish, well-oiled dispositions, who take the world easy, eat white bread or brown, whichever can be got with least thought or trouble, and would rather starve on a penny than work for a pound” (46). He was a stubborn man
Thus he recapitulates the country’s heady release from British rule, and consequent complications” (218). Rip Van Winkle was faced with the same situation as America, he now had to find his place in this unfamiliar world. He saw the whole world past quickly past him and now he had to deal with the repercussions of the choice that he had made.
This shows how women were often depicted as the antagonist in literature. It shows she was controlling and intolerable. Rip loves to sit around with his friends and talk about newspaper stories which is his way of avoiding work of any kind. The nagging insults Rip and causes him to declare women as troublesome. Eventually he can’t take any more and leaves. “Poor Rip was at last reduced almost to despair; and his only alternative to escape from the labour of the farm the clamour of his wife, was to take gun in hand, and stroll away into the woods” (459). It represents women in a negative light, because Dame Van Winkle drove her husband to leave. Women are expected to be respectful to their husbands. When they don’t do as they are told, they are seen as stubborn and arrogant like Dame Van
In an English interpretation, one could see Rip Van Winkle as the mother country or England. Rip is “a kind neighbor, and an obedient hen-pecked husband .” (430) To an English citizen reading this story, it could easily represent the English monarchy. For years before the
The next and main thing that he noticed was the town and country government changed during the time period that he was asleep. Nicholas Vedder’s inn was now gone since there was no one to take care of since Vedder had died. When Rip Van Winkle came into town for the first time, he saw that his old favorite place to gossip with friends was now gone and had been replaced with a modern inn. He was simply confused when he originally saw this change; not realizing yet those twenty years had gone by. The primary difference that he observed was that King George’s picture was not located on a sign that used to represent the country of England. But now the sign has a picture of someone that Rip Van Winkle did not recognize named George Washington. Rip Van Winkle did not know about the Revolutionary War or about the new government of the brand new country who won its freedom from England. His world that he thought he
Exaggerated characters are a very important aspect of a mythological tale, and there are many characters in “Rip Van Winkle” that are exaggerated and strange. One of the first strange characters is Wolf, but Wolf is a dog, despite his name. Wolf is described as a courageous and loyal companion to Rip, but Wolf’s courage does not stand up to Rip’s wife, Dame Van Winkle. She hates Wolf, but this hatred is ultimately exaggerated. “True it is, in all points of spirit befitting an honorable dog, he was as courageous an animal as ever scoured the woods- but what courage can withstand the ever-during and all-besetting terrors of a woman’s tongue?” (pg. 11) He is described as letting his tail hang between his legs when he is in Dame’s presence.
He ‘s a lazy and obedient hen-pecked husband. “In a word, Rip was ready to attend to anybody’s business but his own; but as to doing family duty, keeping his farm in order, he found it impossible.” His idleness to his responsibility can be seen as American’s unwillingness to be a servant of England. “There is phlegm and drowsy tranquility” around the town before the revolution war. However, after Rip awakes from his sleep for twenty years, everything in the town has changed. “There was a busy, bustling, disputatious tone about it, instead of the accustomed phlegm and drowsy tranquility.” Also, the sign outside the tavern where he spent much of his time has changed from King George to General Washington. After seeing all of these changes, at first Rip doubts his own identity, especially when he sees his son who is” a precise counterpart of himself.” However, before long, “he resumes his old walks and habits,” because he doesn’t compelled to change himself into a post Revolutionary American. Since it never happens as an event in his life, it makes no drastic change in Rip’s life. Because he has no indent to fit in the new society to be who he has to be at the new age, he tries to retreat or stay in the past which is what the Americans need to lead their cultural life.
The first reason about why “Rip Van Winkle” is about the struggle finding an identity is because of the characters that appear. Rip Van Winkle, the protagonist in the short story, is
Washington Irving’s Rip Van Winkle, at first glance, seems rather straightforward. A young man, in a rather small village, trying to get away from his duties of being a husband and his wife in general. However, while analyzing it further, it appears Irving is trying to give insight into his thoughts and feelings surrounding the American Revolution. As many thoughts and feelings are hidden in the writing of this text, the search for an identity during this time is the one that sticks out the most while reading Rip Van Winkle. There are many aspects of the short story that put emphasis on identity during this time in American history. There are many metaphors, comparisons and situations that point to identity being an important aspect of
"Rip Van Winkle" has been a well-known story told throughout time. There is not a doubt that as a child, many of you heard the words of Washington Irving's famous tale of the man who slept for twenty years. Nor can one forget the "elves" that Rip Van Winkle spent the night with in the amphitheater. Like many stories, Irving's "Rip Van Winkle" has been told so many times throughout American history that it has lost its original purpose. The story is now remembered for its fairy tale like quality and its appeal to the children and the young at heart. However, when given the chance to delve into the depths of what Irving was trying to portray, one may see the
The story “Rip Van Winkle” is set in the back of beyond during the old day. It shall be immobile in a small town latent the Kaatskill. At the bottom of the mountains, there was smolder coming up from the village, and reflecting roofs along with the tall trees. The lustrous smoke stays sited by some of the Dutch migrants. They established during the time of George the Third. It was during the yoke of old England, where some legends invented. The background characteristics primarily collided with the story. The story put's readers mind into a concealed place and time.
Next, the characters enter the scene of mythology. In order for mythology to come across as supernatural, the characters must lend themselves to mystery. In Rip Van Winkle, not only do other intriguing characters appear, but Rip himself tends towards strange behaviors. After all, Rip did sleep for twenty years without waking. That in its self begins to reveal the underlying interest of the story. Perhaps the most strange and exaggerated characters would prove to be the bowler in the forest. In the text it says, “He was still more surprised at the singularity of the stranger’s appearance.” It goes on to
The character of Rip Van Winkle was one who was considered lazy and unproductive. He was "one of the happy mortals...who take the world easy, eat white bread or brown, which ever he can be got with least thought or trouble..." (Irving 983). Winkle was the kind of