Washington Irving's Rip Van Winkle

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What do a country and a fable have common? Sometimes, a story can represent a country. Rip van Winkle, a short story by Washington Irving, tells of a simple minded, easy-going man who fell asleep for 20 years and missed the entire American Revolution. On the surface, it appears Washington meant the story as just another old tale that could have never really happened, but the truth goes much deeper than that. Washington's contribution to American classics, Rip van Winkle, symbolizes America's early immaturity, self-absorbedness, and conflicts.
First of all, Rip acts immature and boyish. Washington writes, “He [Rip] assisted at their sports, made their playthings, taught them to fly kites and shoot marbles, and told them long stories of ghosts, witches, and Indians.” Rip enjoyed playing and having fun with children; although not detrimental in and of itself, he additionally did not want to work for himself or his family. Irving points out, …show more content…

In the story, Rip's wife continually nags and exasperates Rip to the point of escaping. Washington says of the two, "Morning, noon, and night, her tongue was incessantly going, and everything he said or did was sure to produce a torrent of household eloquence. Rip had but one way of replying to all lectures of the kind... he shrugged his shoulders, shook his head, cast up his eyes, but said nothing". This friction between Dame Winkle and Rip could symbolize Britain taxing its colonies to exhaustion and the general dissatisfaction of people in the colonies of Britain. When Rip finally wakes up from his twenty year slumber, he discovers his wife died and he can now live his life in freedom, free from the incessant nagging of his wife forever. Likewise, America gained her freedom from England after the War of Independence. Rip and his wife, while not perfect symbols, strongly represent the relationship between America and

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