Rip Van Winkle Essay

In the first few paragraphs of “Rip Van Winkle” Washington Irving introduces the mesmerizing setting of the story. Through this Irving sets the tone for the events of the plot that are to come. He creates this tone by using very colorful and descriptive words. For example, Irving describes the Kaatskills Mountains as “swelling up to a noble height, and lording it over the surrounding country” and in the evening, the mountains “gather a hood of gray vapors about their summits, which, in the last rays of the setting sun, will glow and light up like a crown of glory.” These colorful and descriptive words make the mountains appear as they are magical. This helps readers establish how they should feel about the setting and what they can expect from the story; which is magical and mysterious events with remarkable and strange characters.

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.

The American Revolution was a great time of change for America as a nation. With this change new heroes and ideals of life, liberty, and freedom were formed. Spearheading these new ideals was General George Washington and his continental army, but the road ahead of Washington and his men was not an unproblematic one. The winter at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania proved this to Washington and his men. Yet the true American ideal of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness were never forgotten in their battle.

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 short story, “Rip Van Winkle”, is a tale of a man who went up into the mountains and after a long string of odd events went to sleep. He woke up twenty years later. He went from being use to what the world was like before the Revolutionary War of the United States to how things changed after the war. When he came back from the mountain he found that his wife and friends were gone. His children were grown up and living in this new world that he had stumbled into. He found that changes had been made to clothing and how people acted; buildings that used to be in the town were now gone or changed, and a government that he had no idea about. In this short story the author used the differences between pre-Revolutionary War and

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

The American revolution was one of the many historical battles of all time. This war not only symbolizes what the United States is but what we still strive to become. This war included thousands if not millions of people, within them were simple folk who wanted change, generals all the way up to congressmen who only wanted the best for their people. Although this was a beautiful and rebellious dream, there were many sorrowful moments that somewhat tinted this dream.

In Washington Irving's "Rip Van Winkle," Rip's character is closely correlated with the theme of nature and its prominence over the ever-changing world. The story is set in the Kaatskill Mountains, an important setting with a luminance that does not falter throughout. Similarly, Rip is immediately described as a respectable and well liked man in his mountainous setting. Right off the bat, the two can be easily associated. The magical elements in the story cause Rip to fall asleep for twenty years, and upon waking, he is in a world completely changed by the progression of time. However, despite the extreme alterations, only Rip and the nature that he is so familiar with are able to prevail, remaining ultimately unaffected by the

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 Revolutionary War is one, if not the most memorable time of American history. It is what started the beginning of the land of the free. The colonization and tyranny of England was not just felt in the thirteen colonies that became America but also in places such as Ireland. Authors such as Jonathan Swift not only acted as literary geniuses but as a way for modern day historians to see the effects of colonization and the hardships of a country where the wealthy and politicians live almost in another world than most of the country that lives in poverty. The works of Jonathan Swift express his political views and social observations during the sixteen and seventeen hundreds at the height of conflict between England and Ireland.

When read at first glance, Washington Irving's "Rip Van Winkle" seems to be a tale of a lazy man who just wanted some peace and quiet, and ended up with almost too much of it. When analyzed at a deeper level however, "Rip Van Winkle" is more a symbolic story about the changes in the world going on at the time the story was written. Irving wrote "Rip Van Winkle" to show the world the struggle of the newly independent Americans trying to cope with life after English rule.

In the late 1700's and early 1800's, literature began to show it was changing thanks to the newly formed democracy in America. As is the case with any young government, many different interest groups arose to attempt to mold the government according to their vision of democracy. Washington Irving, a native New Yorker born in 1783, grew up in a world engulfed in these democratic ideals. He grew up to be, as many would grow up in this atmosphere, a political satirist. This satirical nature of Irving's shows up well in "Rip Van Winkle", as he uses historical allusions and symbolic characters to mockingly compare colonial life under British rule to the democracy of the young United States.

One thing we know about Rip Van Winkle is that this story is inspirited in a story belonging to a Dutch story, taking from the Dutch settlers of American colonies.

“Rip was ready to attend to anybody’s business but his own: but as to doing family duty, and keeping his farm in order, he found it impossible,” (Irving 10). Washington Irving is a romantic American writer in the 1800s with works including Rip Van Winkle as a part of the collection of essays and short stories called The Sketchbook. Rip Van Winkle is set in a village near the Kaatskill Mountains during the American Revolution and tells the story of a man who is loved by many in the town but spends his days in idleness. His wife often nags him because Van Winkle does not work for anything in his family. One day, to escape his wife’s nagging, Van Winkle walks off into the mountains with his dog, Wolfe. He stumbles upon a group of strange