...Declaration of Independence was signed, George Washington was made President, and instead of being 13 British colonies, America was now 13 states. So much change had happened in such a short time. America signed the declaration, elected a president, and became 13 states with the benefit of freedom. What more could a country want? Well I am here to prove that at this time, change didn’t happen for the colonists like it is portrayed. “Rip Van Winkle” suggests that the people of this time didn’t appreciate the Revolutionary War. Their adaptation to new features for living life may have changed, but the Revolutionary War had little impact on how the people thought about government and the idea of freedom. Using the story of “Rip Van Winkle”, I will compare characters and ideas in the book to broader ideas of the American nature at this time. The war may have changed the general guidelines for living, but did it really have a big impact on the people? Let me start with explaining the characters and how they were essentially ideas of Britain and America. Rip Van Winkle is the definition of early America. He was slow, sluggish, and content. We can see by the text that the colonists didn’t take life all that serious and...
Words: 1769 - Pages: 8
...Headless Rip Van Winkle There comes a time when we all know we do something we will regret. You make a decision, and then later on it ends up coming back to haunt you. In the short stories by Washington Irving, both characters Tom and Rip make a decision they regret. The short stories The Devil and Tom Walker (1824) and Rip Van Winkle (1819) are written by Washington Irving. In The Devil and Tom Walker, Tom takes a different route home through a swamp and encounters the devil and later on makes a deal with the devil. In Rip Van Winkle, Rip decides to go into the woods with his dog and meets a group of people who he drinks with; then falls asleep and wakes up 18 years later. What Tom and Rip both failed to realize is that their decisions came with grave consequences in the end. They both ended up in terrible situations that they thought would not happen. Tom Walker’s outcome was far worse than Rip Van Winkle’s. Tom made a deal with the devil shortly after his wife had died. The devil ended up coming for him years later. The devil put him on a horse and took him back to the swamp to finally kill him (Irving 10-15). Tom failed to realize that his decisions would come with grave consequences in the end. Rip Van winkle set out for the woods with his rifle and dog because he wanted to get away from his home life. When he was out, he encountered a group of inhumane beings and drank liquor with them. When Rip woke up, he then found out that 18 years had passed and most of his family...
Words: 487 - Pages: 2
...Rip Van Winkle summary: Rip Van Winkle is a story about Rip falling asleep for 20 years in the Catskill Mountains and wakes up to discover the world around him has changed. He finds that the American Revolutionary war has taken place and instead of being a subject of His Majesty George the Third, he is now a free citizen of the United States. Characters Rip Van Winkle Rip Van Winkle is a “simple good-natured fellow” living in a small village in upper New York during the time that New York is a colony of Great Britain. To the neighbors he is known as a kind and helpful man, always eager to play with children or help with a chore. To his wife, however, he is known as a lazy and useless man, who neglects his own children and leaves his own fields untended and his fences broken. Dame Van Winkle Dame Van Winkle is Rip’s wife. “Dame” is not her first name, but her title, the word used by the Dutch inhabitants in place of “Mrs.” In the eyes of Rip and his sympathetic neighbors; Dame Van Winkle is stern and unreasonable. The narrator calls Rip “an obedient hen-pecked husband,” and places his wife in the category of “shrews,” (a woman of violent temper and speech) calling her a “termagant,” or overbearing, wife. Apparently, she finds fault with Rip because he does no profitable work, does not help around the house, and shows no interest in the well being of his children or his wife. How readers are to see Dame Van Winkle’s character is a central question in the story: Is she a...
Words: 841 - Pages: 4
...author Washington Irving wrote Rip Van Winkle in order to inspire Americans to form an identity. This identity was to set them free from the English ruled cultures. The character Rip Van Winkle symbolizes the struggles of the early America. The struggles Rip goes through can be compared to the same struggles that America was going through at this time before and after the Revolution. Rip had a wife that got on his nerves Dame Van Winkle. At times he needed to escape from her and his surroundings. Rip would sometimes head into the woods with his dog Wolf and his gun. One day he did just that. He got his cut and Wolf and they headed into the Catskill Mountains, he hunted squirrels, firing off his gun round after round. Several hours had passed Rip was getting tired so he lied down for a rest looking at the Hudson River. Night fall was fast approaching so he got up to go home, he was not looking forward to seeing his wife for fear of her mouth. While he was walking a short man with a beard wearing Dutch clothing called his name. The man was needing some help so Rip agreed to help him. Rip followed the man to an area where several people were playing a game called ninepins. As the people were playing ninepins the man asked Rip to help him pass out what appeared to be beer of some kind. After everyone received the beverage Rip decided to drink some. The next morning Rip woke up in the same location looking at the Hudson River. Rip starting thinking about what happened...
Words: 823 - Pages: 4
...The True Meaning of Rip Van Winkle In order for a prosperous future to occur, the present must be secure and the past must not be forgotten. Much can be said though, about the advance of mankind throughout the ages, with complete disregard to the woes and struggles of the past. Furthermore, while it would appear that the brawls of the present are almost always shaped to lend perception of a greater future, history dictates that this is not always true. In this vein, the story of America is not that much different than other epics from our past. From great reason, our ancestors sought significant change. Change brought about revolution both in the literal and intrinsic sense, and soon broader horizons quickly unfolded into an unprecedented amalgamation of opinion, social action and success. Throughout this time however, America has not been absent its critics, nor has it been isolated from internal critique either. One such example of this internal American critique can be found in Washington Irving’s, “Rip Van Winkle.” Therefore, the purpose of this brief work is to discuss the theme of Irving’s timeless masterpiece and offer critical insight as to its deeper meanings. The tale of Rip Van Winkle is set in the whimsical wilderness of the Catskill Mountains in pre-revolutionary America. As the story portrays, Rip is a simple man caught between his own ferocious hedonistic motivations, and the insurmountable demands of his condescending and oppressive wife (Perkins). ...
Words: 815 - Pages: 4
...In Washington Irving’s Rip Van Winkle, one may think the story is for entertainment, but there is also the key point of Politics which is of more importance and can be reflected on with a better perspective. Rip Van Winkle was a gracious and charitable man whom many people from his village admire with sincere respect. He had a caring heart for both people his age, and for children, but did not have a good home life. He was constantly nagged by his wife and was lazy. Unlike working, Rip spent his days away from home fishing and hunting. According to Wyman, Rip ventures out to the mountain to hunt, encounters the ghosts of Henry Hudson’s Half Moon crew, joins in their revealing, and falls unconscious. After his twenty-year sleep, Rip experiences...
Words: 681 - Pages: 3
...Irving's “Rip Van Winkle” tale is a myth, but also a part of American mythology. In “Rip Van Winkle”, Washington Irving skillfully incorporates three characteristics that come together and make an excellent and enjoyable story for its readers. The first characteristic is that the story is set in a remote place, in the past. Second, “Rip Van Winkle” includes exaggerated and remarkable characters. Lastly, the tale of Rip Van Winkle includes magical and mysterious events and shares the consequences of them. Washington Irving uses exaggerated characters, detailed settings, and magical and mysterious events to create an amazing story that helped create American mythology. The characters of “Rip Van Winkle” are exaggerated. The most exaggerated character is Dame Van Winkle; Rip Van Winkle’s wife. Dame Van Winkle is a nagging and brawling woman, who doesn’t give Rip a break. Irving says, “his wife kept continually dinning in his ears about his idleness, his carelessness, and the ruin he was bringing on his family” (Irving 64). This gives the reader more incite on Dame Van Winkle...
Words: 653 - Pages: 3
...The story of Rip Van Winkle was written by Washington Irving. It is about a man named Rip Van Winkle who lives in a village at the foot of the Catskill Mountains in the state of New York. One day, he and his dog venture into the mountains, Rip falls asleep and awakens twenty years later. He soon discovers many shocking changes have occurred in his absence. Using exaggerated characters, an exciting setting, and mythical events, Washington Irving has created an American myth in his story, Rip Van Winkle. Having an assortment of...
Words: 369 - Pages: 2
...in his story “Rip Van Winkle”. The first characteristic is that the story is set in the past and in a remote location. Secondly, it has a variety of strange and exaggerated characters. Next, the story has a magical quality included that has an effect on Rip. In the conclusion of Rip Van Winkle Irving shows how the community accepts Rip Van Winkle with his flaws. This lets Rip enjoy the last few years with his family and community. The setting of “Rip Van Winkle” takes place up the Hudson River and near the Catskill Mountains before the Revolution. The American Revolution dated 1775-1783. The story was published in 1819. This meets the...
Words: 456 - Pages: 2
...Washington Irving is often named "the Father of American Literature." He is best known for his work of “Rip Van Winkle”, a historical fiction story, written around the time of the American Revolution. The character of Rip Van Winkle that Irving creates certainly has a unique personality and character that stands out from everyone in the story. In the story of Rip Van Winkle, Rip could be described as a thoughtful, easy-going person but also irresponsible. Irving creates the character of Rip Van Winkle as a thoughtful man. He was adored by just about everyone who knew his name. Rip “would never refuse to assist a neighbor even in the roughest toil” (151). He never made an excuse to not help someone else, even if it meant to put off his own work. This characteristic creates positive effect of his personality and heart to others around him and the reader. The author continues to mention his thoughtfulness saying that even “the women of the...
Words: 614 - Pages: 3
...Rip Van Winkle, a story that becomes a legend of early America. Rip Van Winkle was a short story written by Washington Irving and published in 1819. It is a story about a man in the Catskill mountains before the Revolutionary War. There are several characteristics that make this story a story of American Mythology. Rip Van Winkle was a story set in the past, filled with exaggerated characters and surrounded by mysterious events. The setting for the story Rip Van Winkle was set in the foothills of New York's Catskill Mountains. It takes place years before the Revolutionary War to years after the war. Rip lives in a remote little village where the people love him especially the children. He is a husband to a nagging wife and father to a...
Words: 418 - Pages: 2
...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...
Words: 802 - Pages: 4
...At the time when Washington Irving’s “Rip Van Winkle” was written, a transition was occurring in the literary landscape of the post-revolutionary United States, from the rational and mimicking nature of the enlightenment to the more creative and fantastical style of romanticism, which is exemplified in Irving’s story by Rip’s journey from the civilized world of his home town into the wilderness of the Kaatskills. In “Rip Van Winkle,” the titular main character dislikes work, and abhors the idea of being productive, and in order to “escape” the “labour and clamour,” (452) of his busy home, as well as his nagging wife, he walks aimlessly into the Kaatskill forests. He brings his hunting rifle and his dog, named Wolf, whom he views as a “fellow...
Words: 581 - Pages: 3
...Throughout the short story “Rip Van Winkle” Washington Irving explains the story of a man who is so bossed, bothered and controlled by his wife that when he falls asleep and awakens 20 years later, he is thrilled when he realizes he no longer has to deal with her. Rip Van Winkle wakes up and the people who were the colonists of Great Britain were now citizens of the United States of America. Irving’s compulsive use of historical references makes the reader question if he is symbolizing something else through this relationship of husband and wife. We can gather this easily but what we cannot understand is why Rip is so surprised that Independence from Great Britain is declared. Irving just might be suggesting that much of society did not feel...
Words: 1312 - Pages: 6
...The tale being discussed shares a handful of morals and lessons, while also expressing the author's views of marriage. The short story, Rip Van Winkle by Washington Irving tells the story of young man, Rip, who is nagged by his wife and one day ventures into the woods to shoot squirrels. Rip left his failing farm one day to escape Mrs. Van Winkle’s arguing. He falls asleep high in the mountain after drinking from a keg that he had assisted carry to a mysterious group of travelers. He then wakes up 20 years later to a completely different world. His gun has rusted and his dog, Wolf has disappeared. In his village he discovers that there are more houses, unfamiliar children, and his house that is normally kept tidy is in a state of despair....
Words: 418 - Pages: 2
