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Analysis of Rip Van Winkle

The story of Rip Van Winkle presents the character and narrator who is attempting to run away

from his wife as a result of her sharp tongue. After this successful venture, this character takes

wine which overpowers him and takes him to 20 years of sleep. When character wakes up, he

travels to his former home town, but to his surprise, everything has transformed. He can see

modern infrastructure and technology he never imagined it would prevail during his lifetime.

This story seems to be an allegory explaining the revolution that swept across America.

Rip Van Winkle’s story happens during the mid-18th century in an anonymous village within

the region called the Catskill Mountains located near the New York’s upstate, which overlooks

the Hudson River. Bearing in mind this story is atypical of ancient romantic literature; the,

therefore, the picturesque one. For instance, it was in the culture of the ancient authors to

describe the aesthetic value of nature to counteract the artificially established urban milieu which

was slowly taking over both America and European states.

For this story, I present the main characters as Diedrich, Knickerbocker, Rip Van Winkle, Dame

Van Winkle, and Rip Van Winkle Jr. Derrick Van Bummel. Diedrich Knickerbocker is the

narrator of this story who is since deceased. Rip Van Winkle is a protagonist of this narrative

who is also a genial and passive character who resides in the minor Dutch province in the

Catskills. Dame Van Winkle is the wife to Rip Van Winkle, the source of his escape as a result

of her nags and talkativeness and who plays an antagonistic role against her lazy husband that
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has no regard for domestic obligations. Rip Van Winkle Jr. is the son to Rip Van Winkle who is

determined to follow in his father’s footsteps.

Among the most engaging conflict in this story is the standoff between Rip Van Winkle and his

wife who seem to dominate in this story. Whereas the former wants to live and do things the way

he pleases, the latter tries to compel him to do whatever she asks of him. As a result, Rip Van

Winkle plans and runs away from his wife to go and live the way he wants. In the process, he

gets used to the tradition of drinking. At one time, Rip Van Winkle drinks a vast quantity of wine

which results in his sleep of 20 years! After waking up, he travels to his home town and finds

that everything has completely changed. The second conflict emerges between Winkle, and the

mountain Winkle was residing after running away from his wife. After waking up from his

prolonged sleep, Rip tries to find the men that were with him before he went to sleep, but the

mountain does not give him space to succeed with his objective.

Various reasons could help explain why Rip Van Winkle returns home after running away,

drinking and sleeping for twenty years. First, it is likely that Rip has discovered whom he is after

living a life of lies with his wife and children. His earlier life shows fascinating episodes. He

would prefer to help the villagers especially families in the neighborhood in every problematic

situation. He could at times play with the children in the neighborhood and teach them on how to

fly kites, but he could apply none of these to his family. After sleeping for twenty years, his eyes

became wide open; thus he rushed back home. The second possible reason why he came home

was his family. As they always say, blood is thicker than water. He, therefore, realized that the

only people he could go to were his family. After getting to his former home and discovering that

change had played its part in changing this region, Rip Van Winkle faces various issues. First, he

did not experience the change; thus he still understands less about these new societal structures.
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Rip is therefore likely to face challenges in trying to adapt to these changes in the form of

modern buildings, technological utilities, active societal members who engage in income-earning

activities, unlike his earlier lifestyle. The second challenge was the reception he could get now

that his children had grown to the extent that he now has grandchildren. More so, he had slept as

a British citizen, and when he wakes up, he is an American; hence the traditional norms he

embraced are no more. He has to struggle and embrace these new changes.

In the present world, Rip Van Winkle is likely to experience several external and internal

conflicts. For instance, his inability to participate on this change is likely to make him preserve

his old tradition of leading a lazy lifestyle as people of the modern generation wake up very early

to go to work and earn a living. At the same time, it is likely that his son, who experienced the

change and did not take after his father as a result of this change is likely to take up from where

his mother left in conflict with his father due to his lifestyle. Rip Van is also likely to have it

rough with the authorities due to the current legal policies that compel people to work.

Works Cited
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