Rip Van Winkle Essay

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.

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’s wife was always yelling at him no matter what he did, he could not make her happy. Eventually, he got so tired of hearing it he started shrugging his shoulders as if he wasn’t listening. This shoulder shrugging became a bad habit of Rip’s which on made his wife angrier. She was mostly upset that he wouldn’t do anything. He wouldn’t work on their farm or make sure things were in order, but he would

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

“Go! Run! Run faster!” yelled Rip Van Winkle as he jumped around his living room cheering on Reggie White and the Green Bay Packers as they faced off with the New England Patriots in Superbowl XXI. “How many times do I have to tell you to be quiet?” exclaimed Dame Van Winkle, Rip’s unadoring and nagging wife. “Fine,” snapped Rip as turned off the TV and marched towards the door, almost tripping over his daughter’s Rapunzel Barbie, “I will just go to David’s house and watch the game.”

Rip Van Winkle was a man of good nature. He often would help the neighborhood women fix things around their homes. He took the world easy and laid back without thinking of consequences. But he also had a short temper especially when it came to his wife. His wife didn’t like how he would help the neighborhood women instead of working of his family farm. He would often lose his temper and become so upset with his wife and go on walks with his dog to cool off. One day on his walk into the woods Rip Van Winkle took a sip of a drink and slept for twenty years. Within those years, things changed around him. He changed physically, politically and psychologically along with the town, the towns people and his family. Through the changes of his albescence

His life is that of working others farms and lending a hand where needed, but neglecting his chores at home. This again represents England and America, America was more concerned with growing their country and their independence than that of properly following the crown. After Rip Van Winkle arises from his slumber, he is introduced to a new town with unfamiliar townsfolk. This portion of the story represents America after the revolution. As he ventured into the familiar village inn it was evident that things had changed the picture of King George was replaced by that of George Washington (639).

First I would like to discuss about the exaggerated characters and a little about them. Rip Van Winkle was a good hearted man, who lived at the foot of the Kaatskill. Even though Rip Van Winkle descended from soldiers he was amicable, very attentive, and had a wife that was always arrogant towards him. Damn Van Winkle which is also his wife was a rotten, very easy tempered women who was always chiding Rip for not properly caring for the farm and being worthless. His daughter Judith Gardenier that he leafed behind when

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

In the beginning of Rip Van Winkle, Rip is portrayed as lazy husband who would do anything for others except his own husbandly duties. Rip Van Winkle’s wife, Dame Winkle, who is nothing like her husband goes around doing her wifely duties, as a wife and mother, regardless whether her husband Rip meets her needs. Despite been such a likeable person to his friends and neighbors, Winkle makes his wife’s life complicated. Dame Van Winkle is the typical wife that takes care of the obligations she has at home while Rip refuses to be productive around the house. The story emphasis’s how relentlessly Dame nags Rip. However if Rip had assumed his share of household responsibilities perhaps Rip might not have felt an impact. Dame’s life is further complicated by the absence of 20 years of her husband. When Rip returns Dame is dead and he is taken in by his daughter who replaces the maternal role that his wife (dame) had