Rip Van Winkle

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

Through the course of “Rip Van Winkle” you stumble upon many remarkable and strange characters. Washington Irving reveals these complex characters through humor and exaggeration. Irving not only gives readers the characters

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 Washington Irving’s “Rip Van Winkle,” an allegorical reading can be seen. The genius of Irving shines through, in not only his representation in the story, but also in his ability to represent both sides of the hot political issues of the day. Because it was written during the revolutionary times, Irving had to cater to a mixed audience of Colonists and Tories. The reader’s political interest, whether British or Colonial, is mutually represented allegorically in “Rip Van Winkle,” depending on who is reading it. Irving uses Rip, Dame, and his setting to relate these allegorical images on both sides. Irving would achieve success in both England and America, in large part because his political satires had individual allegorical meanings.

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

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.

Before the American Revolution, people used to have determined beliefs, traditions and government, but after the war, society was confused. For example, the website saylor.org stated, “Politically, the American Revolution carried significant and historic consequences … established a republican form of government out of what had been a monarchical and colonial political system. It altered the position of American people from being subjects of the British crown to citizens and political participants of a republic” (How Revolutionary Was The American Revolution?). Now, people had more freedom and the ability to express their thoughts on what they wanted for their country. As a result, people was struggling to leave old habits. The symbolism in this quote emphasizes how America had to adapt: “Rip now resumed his old walks and habits; he soon found many of his former cronies, though all rather the worse for the wear and tear of time; and preferred making friends among the rising generation, with whom he soon grew into great favor” (Irving, 1014). This quote is of great importance because it shows the reader that Rip Van Winkle himself represents the old country. Since all the news about the revolution and his family happened so fast to him, he does not know how to deal with them. For this reason, he kept his “old habits”, while at the same time, he adapted to his environment. Given these points, “Rip Van Winkle” can be analyzed as a story about the struggle for identity because of the

Furthermore, Rip Van Winkle’s identity itself represents America’s journey before and after the American Revolution and the difficulties that were faced. When the reader is first introduced to Rip Van Winkle, he is a well-known man. The community loves him and he has made a name for himself based off the needs of others. He is very dependent on the community and the community is dependent on him. The following citation how well-liked Rip Van Winkle is before he takes his trip to Kaatskill mountains. “Certain it is, that he was a great favorite among all the good wives of the village […] The children of the village, too, would shout with joy whenever he approached.”(https://www.ibiblio.org/ebooks/Irving/Winkle/Irving_Winkle.pdf, Page 8) When Rip returns, he is faced with the reality that he has lost any form of identity he once had. Nobody recognized him, the children laughed at him, and even the dogs barked after him, none of these were the case before his trip. Irving used Rip Van Winkle to represent America

Rip Van Winkle knew how to make the most out of his freedom and this aura about him led other people to follow

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

Winkle's wife, Dame, represents in a lot of ways the controlling ways of England over America. Dame constantly nagged at Winkle, always complaining that he was never good enough. She never let him just be happy. This was how England was towards America. Even though the Colonists would do what was asked of them, they were still berated and treated as lower class citizens. England, just like Dame with Winkle, wouldn't allow America to have any freedom to run itself. It constantly had to rule over every action and decision made. When Rip decides to just go off into the Mountains for some peace and quiet, it is similar to how many Colonists began to back away from England.

The turning point of the story occurs when Rip walks deep into the woods and encounters a mysterious band of oddly dressed strangers with foreign customs. These strangers represent the tribes of Indians who dwelled in villages outside the colonial settlements. In the short conscious time Rip spends with them, he takes the time to notice a great deal about how their small town works. Throughout their entire party, the group remained completely silent, although they were definitely happy. This portrays the Indians apprehension to interact with the settlers. Rip also takes note of a leader of the group. This leader wears a large, outlandish headpiece, and is shown to be a respected elder of the group. The entire scene where Rip waits on them out of fear, parodies the capturing and enslavement of the settlers by the Indians. This part of the story is a bit vague to the reader. The little men