Rip Van Winkle and American Dream 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

Irving creates a mysterious setting in these three stories, which is representative of the mystery of the newly founded United States. In each of these three stories, Irving immerses the reader into the setting and creates a mysterious tone with this description. In the time period that Irving wrote these stories, much of what is the United States today was uncharted territory, and in these stories, Irving symbolizes the unknown landscape of America with mystifying settings.

I strongly agree the statement “Washington Irving found in legend and folklore a view of the natural world colored by emotion, by superstition, and by the ancient belief that supernatural beings inhabit the wild places of the earth. He wrote stories that illustrated old truths about human nature and the dramatic possibilities of the American landscape.” Although Irving wrote over twenty volumes, including essays, poems, histories, biographies, and more, in class, we have focused on his fiction. Irving dispersed many beliefs and legends of his time, and the past, into his stories. He also made great use of American themes in these literary pursuits. Such details along with existent people and events interlaced in his fanciful tales are some of the reasons I find his work so distinctive and enjoyable.

In Rip Van Winkle, Irving shows his doubts in the American Identity and the American dream. After the Revolutionary war, America was trying to develop its own course. They were free to govern their own course of development; however, some of them had an air of uncertainties on their own identity in this new country. Irving was born among this generation in the newly created United States of America, and also felt uncertainty about the American identity. Irving might be the writer that is the least positive about being an American. The main reason for this uncertainty is the new born American has no history and tradition while the Europe has a great one accumulated for thousands of years. Therefore, in order to solve this problem, Irving

Washington Irving was one of his country's first professional writers, and one of the first American writers to gain an international reputation. A major part of Washington Irving's legacy was his ability to draw on European folk tales he heard throughout his trips to Europe to create a fabricated history of his home state in some of his most famous literary pieces such as “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.” Author’s Background and Historical Context Washington Irving, named in honor of George Washington, was born on April 3, 1783 in Manhattan, New York. Irving grew up in a Scottish and English household next to a large Dutch population that had inhabited the area of New York City where he grew up. Young Irving would listen to the Dutch neighbors tell of their overseas adventures which

“Rip Van Winkle” was based right around the time of revolutionary America, one exciting place within the story was a quaint little village full of life, color, and culture. “…There were some of the houses of the original settlers standing within a few years, with lattice windows, gable fronts surmounted with weathercocks, and built of small yellow bricks brought from Holland” (Irving 62). When Irving described this village he was sure to include the heritage found within this small mountain town, the brightly colored yellow bricks from Holland and lattice windows, each detail shows just how important culture was in early American lives. Irving was not only able to show the importance of culture, he was also able to illustrate life in the village. When Irving said, “There were some of the houses of the original settlers” he showed the importance of past in this village and how an interesting land can also have an interesting history. Irving also showed histories yet to be discovered. When he said, “… Every hour of the day produces some change in the magical hues and shapes of these mountains…” (Irving 61). Another very exciting place in “Rip Van Winkle” is the Kaatskill Mountains Irving describes these mountains with such beauty. When Irving describes this mountain he shows them as changing, as if each time you looked at them there was a new

Rip Van Winkle, a story written by Washington Irving in the early 1800s, demonstrates the emergence and development of American Mythology. Packed full of mythological elements, Irving’s tale depicts a man who encounters mysterious and fantastical characters in equally intriguing settings. Rip Van Winkle displays three major factors that contribute to mythology: mysterious, historical setting, remarkable and strange characters, and heroic, magical events and their consequences.

Washington Irving had lived in England from 1819 to 1820 during which time he became obsessed with English culture. His experiences in England later became the source and inspiration of his works. Rip Van Winkle is one of the stories which are based on European folktales. From the story, we can see many things with characteristics of European ancient civilization, such as the beautiful scenery of the mountain, the wearing of the strangers and the game named “ninepins”. Through these descriptions, the author creates a mysterious world of the story and also expresses his affection for European culture. In the story, the reason why Rip fell asleep for 20 years is that he could not help drinking the wine of the stangers. And all the things happened in the 20 years was nothing but a long sweet sleep to Rip. I think this reflects that the author was drenched in European culture, just like Rip fell asleep because of the wine.

The first qulity Irving associated with a Romantic hero was being an individual. Rip clearly did not follow the social norm of men in the village. While all other men went to work, Rip, “would sit on a wet rock( Irving” or “assist a neighbor”. He was willing to help anyone but his family. If Rip had followed the crowd, he would not have had the the calling and would never have been able to go into the

Washington Irving’s short story “Rip Van Winkle” is a way to understand how society had evolved at the time of the American Revolution. At this time the American people, were struggling with finding their own identity. Irving uses his main character, Rip Van Winkle, to symbolize the struggle of early America. Irving uses many symbols in the story “Rip Van Winkle” to display the changes the society in America went through before and after, Rip fell asleep.

After Rip returns to town from his 20-year nap, the full effects of the American Revolution can be seen. When Rip says, “I am a poor quiet man, a native of the place, and a loyal subject of the king, God bless him!” the townspeople roared with rage at the sight of what they thought to be an act of treason by an English loyalist (Irving). This emotion of fury at the sight of treason against America came with the newfound American identity that could be observed after the Revolution that brought the people their freedom. This was the American identity that Irving was trying to bestow upon his readers. And what came with this identity was a strong unifying sense of patriotism and nationalism that could not be found in the old colonial America that existed before the war. It was only after Rip found out that Dame was gone from his life however, that he was able to live out the remainder of his time happy. Irving put this detail in his story because believed that American identity could have only come after their freedom from

“Rip Van Winkle” tells the story of a man who was “observed that he was a simple good natured man” (Rip Van Winkle 30), who spent most of his time helping others and very little time helping himself. The story took place in the late 1700’s in a small village near the Hudson River around the Kaatskill Mountains where it began around a time where Great Britain still had control of the colonies and it lasted until after the eventual American Revolution. Irving wrote the story in a way that it could be narrated by a fictional character Diedrich Knickerbocker that he created, who also acted as the narrator for

I strongly agree with the statement “Washington Irving found in legend and folklore a view of the natural world colored by emotion, by superstition, and by the ancient belief that supernatural beings inhabit the wild places of the earth. He wrote stories that illustrated old truths about human nature and the dramatic possibilities of the American landscape.” Although Irving wrote over twenty volumes, including essays, poems, histories, biographies, and more, in class, we have focused on his fiction. Irving dispersed many beliefs and legends of his time, and the past, into his stories. He also made great use of American themes in these literary pursuits. Such details along with existent people and events interlaced in his imaginary tales are some of the reasons I find his work so distinctive and enjoyable.

National mythology can give people illusions that they are greater than what could have been and often cause conflicts between nations, so why are they pushed so much into society? Americans often believe they live in the greatest country in the world, because of our history, our wars. In paintings from hundreds of years ago you’ll see a white man heroically allying himself with a group of “savages” that he somehow befriended, or a white man perched on his white stallion riding off to save the world. National mythologies were important during this era, because they represented what your nation was and how it was viewed. How people should or shouldn’t live. In Rip Van Winkle some of the national myths were freedom, progress/change as a country. In the American Revolution we fought for freedom in the same way Rip fought for freedom from his wife. After the American Revolution we progressed by trying to make the states work together by creating a new government just like the change Rip had to go through after he woke up from his 20 year slumber. Irving needs readers to understand the importance of the setting, the characters and events because they are what brings national mythology to life.

Rip Van Winkle is a confusing national identity story written in the 1819(IRVING 467). It’s a time in history when America was developing and changing as a nation. The twist of the story makes the dialogue kind of confusing but it all makes sense at the end. It’s very interesting how the story takes place. In the beginning of the story Washington Irving describes the nature in a quote by stating,