Analysis of Rip Van Winkle
How does a short story that is based on borrowed ideas come to be one of the most widely read and loved pieces of American literature? The answer is simple, by using memorable characters to convey a message of freedom and identity to a nation that was just starting to discover both. In Rip Van Winkle, Washington Irving uses the characters to show his ideals as a romantic, and to represent the new found independence of a budding country. Irving wrote this story in 1820, a time when in a literary sense, America was still considered a replica of Britain. Romantic literature in America was just starting to grow and people were striving for more Romantic writing. This want as well as a new identity for the American people were granted when Irving wrote Rip Van Winkle, a story about a man who slept through the Revolutionary War. Just like many other great works such as The Great Gatsby, a novel in which F. Scott Fitzgerald used his characters to show the corruption of the American Dream, Irving used his characters to show his ideals as a romantic. The main character in this story, Rip Van Winkle, was himself an embodiment of the notion of Romantic freedom. He is described as, "one of those happy mortals of foolish, well oiled disposit
their dress too was of a different fashion. " Irving uses Rip's son to represent the new America which he believes might have some of the same problems that the old America had. Just like the Americans when they came upon their independence, when Rip first awoke he "doubted his own identity" (pg. 157) In this case the escape from his wife would represent the Romantics' escape from an industrialized and clamored society. 165), just as America "had thrown off the yoke of Old England. Once he dawned upon the fact that he was independent though, "Rip resumed his old walks and habits. "As to Rip's son and heir, who was the ditto of himself seen leaning against the tree; he was employed to work on the farm; but evinced a hereditary disposition to attend to anything else but his business. 157) The same could be said true for America's situation with Britain, as the harassment only got worse with time. Even though Irving used the main characters to show most of his representations, other characters played a vital role in this piece as well. Even though it took both of them a little while, Rip Van Winkle and the United States finally accepted their place in the world and were able to enjoy their new found independence. The story also emphasizes another important Romantic theme, with Rip Van Winkle often going into nature to "escape from the labor of the farm and clamor of his wife.
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