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Rip Van Winkle: Emergence Of American Mythology

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Emergence of American Mythology – “Rip Van Winkle”
In his “Rip Van Winkle”, Washington Irving portrayed remote settings, exaggerated characters, magical events, and mysterious consequences. The impact of such characteristics led to the decisive fate of the main character, Rip Van Winkle, and the story’s astonishing conclusion. Additionally, these characteristics furthered the novel’s plot, allowing readers to comprehend specific components of the American tale. If it were rendered differently, the American narrative would have starkly contrasted from its primitive purpose and would have not been displayed as one of the first and paramount American myths. First of all, the depiction of the early American small-town folks is extremely exaggerated. One such character is undeniably the main character’s wife, Dame Van Winkle. In consequence of her “yelping precipitation” (Irving 65), Rip Van Winkle was forced to seek liberation from his flustered, boisterous spouse. In this sense, readers find Dame Van Winkle’s extensive elaboration to be tremendously amusing and humorous. In other words, it thoroughly allows readers to recognize the author’s ornamented humor through the story’s characterization. However, if the character …show more content…
For instance, if Rip Van Winkle were to come across a lively, animated village instead, he would not have encountered the strange mountain men, tasted the mountain men’s liquor, or fell into a bizarre stupor. Furthermore, without Rip Van Winkle’s “solitary flight” (Irving 68) to the mountains, readers would presumably clash with the strained transition of festive intensity to inscrutable mystery. Through the aloofness of the Kaatskill Mountains, readers are able to fathom the steady progression to the climax. Withal, the location’s solitude provides an exemplary, mythological

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