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Rip Van Winkle

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Rip Van Winkle

By Washington Irving

Overview

"Rip Van Winkle" is a short story written by Washington Irving. Irving published it in the year of 1819 while he was temporarily living in Birmingham, England. The story is about a man named Rip Van Winkle who is married to a nagging wife. He sets out one day to hunt in the mountains with his dog and meets a strange man carrying a keg of liquor on his back. He follows the man into the mountains where he drinks the liquor and falls asleep. When he wakes up, he finds that he has aged twenty years and that many things have changed in his town.

Plot Summary

Rip Van Winkle sets out with his dog, Wolf, to go hunting. They are going out in the Kaatskills Moutains because his wife, Dame Van Winkle, is nagging him again. While he is walking in the woods, he encounters a strange man carrying a keg on his back. In the distance, Rip can hear thunder rumbling. The strange man asks Rip if he can help him carry the keg up the mountain. Rip agrees and follows the man up the mountain.

As Rip carries the keg up the mountain, the thunder gets louder. Rip and the strange man reach a camp where there are a few other men playing a game of ninepins. The men open up the keg and pass it around as they play ninepins. Rip soon finds a liking to the liquor and drinks more until he falls asleep. Rip wakes up finding the group of strange men gone and Wolf missing. He decides to head back home knowing that Dame Van Winkle will nag at him. When he reaches for his gun, he finds it covered in rust and the ammunition eaten away by worms. As he walks back home, he is stiff in the joints and something about the path he took has drastically changed.

When he reaches town, he notices that there are people he doesn't recognize that are wearing strange clothes. He even notices that the town is bigger. The townspeople look at him and are afraid that he is there to cause trouble. As he walks to his home, he sees that it is in rambles. The townspeople ask who he is and where he is from. He replies that he is Rip Van Winkle. Rip lists of names of his neighbors to prove them he is who he says. The town replies that those people are dead or they do not live there anymore. Rip asks if anyone knows who Rip Van Winkle is. They point to a man who is a spitting image of him that is leaning against a tree. The man turns out to be his own son. A woman approaches Rip, holding a son who was named Rip. When he asked her who her father was, she replied her father was Rip Van Winkle, a man who went into the woods to hunt one day and didn't come back. She said that was twenty years ago when he left. She also said that her mother died from a broken blood vessel after yelling at a peddler. Rip then realizes the woman in front of him is his daughter Judith. An old woman approaches him and confirms that it is indeed Rip Van Winkle. The story concludes with Judith taking her father to live with her and her husband. Rip continues his daily life and going to back to his old habits.

Characters

Primary Characters: (1)

Rip Van Winkle- Rip is a quiet, softhearted man residing at the foot of the Catskill Mountains, in a village founded by Dutch colonists. He is patient and practices much forbearance towards his nagging spouse, and his kind demeanor makes him a friend to all who know him. His fatal flaw, however, is his inability to work for a profit. Although he was apt to help anyone in need, when it came to making a living for himself, he seemed incapable.

Dame Van Winkle- Dame is the wife of Rip, who frequently berates him and grumbles at her husband. The negative portrayal of Dame is telling of Washington Irving's own anti-feminist views.

Old Nicholas Vedder- The owner of an inn in town, this man smoked his pipe idly on a bench with a cluster of other townspeople, exchanging gossip.

Man Carrying Keg up the Mountain- On a hunting trip with his dog, Wolfe, Rip Van Winkle came across a man carrying a keg up the Catskill Mountains. He was a short and squat man wearing Dutch clothes, motioning for Rip to help him carry his keg of liquor. He led Rip to a group of other Dutch men, and this is where the illusions and plot twists begin.

Judith Gardenier- Judith is the young woman that Rip saw carrying his son, little Rip, when he came down the mountain after the storm. Judith is also the grown version of the daughter he had left when he first went up the mountain, symbolic of the passing time and what he had missed while he was gone.

Secondary Characters: (1)

Wolf

Ninepin Bowlers

Nicholas Vedder

Derrick Van Brummel

Old Woman

Peter Vanderdonk

Mr. Gardenier

Rip Van Winkle II

Rip Van Winkle III

Van Shaick

Jonathan Doolittle

Various Men, Woman, and Children of the town

Key Stylistics, Structure, and Form

Personification: Irving uses personification throughout "Rip Van Winkle". He uses it to give inanimate objects human characteristics.

"Whoever has made a voyage up the Hudson must remember the Kaatskill mountains. They are a dismembered branch of the great Appalachian family, and are seen away to the west of the river, swelling up to a noble height, and lording it over the surrounding country." Irving gives the Kaatskills mountains personification because they "swell up to a noble height". (2)

Simile: Irving uses simile to compare two unlike things.

"He was generally seen trooping like a colt at his mother's heels, equipped in a pair of his father's cast-of galligaskins, which he had much ado to hold up with one hand, as a fine lady does her train in bad weather." Irving compares Rip Van Winkle's son to a colt at how he is always at his mother's heels. He also compares on how he holds his pants up like a woman does when she does not want to get her clothes wet. (2)

Imagery: Irving uses imagery to paint a picture in the reader's mind. He uses them by describing his characters and the setting of the story.

"At the foot of the Catskill Mountains of New York was a picturesque village founded by Dutch colonists. Approaching it, one would see gabled homes with smoke curling up from the chimneys and shingle roofs reflecting the sunlight." Irving uses visual words to create the pictures in the reader's mind. (1)

Third Person Narrative: "Rip Van Winkle" is written in third person narrative. It is obvious because Irving does not use first person or second person unless the character is referring to himself.

" To escape his wife and the drudgery of his farm, Rip would sometimes head into the woods with Wolf and his gun." (1)

Thematic Concerns

Change With Continuity and Preservation of Tradition: All humans have to accept the concept of change. Things are always moving forward and they can't stay in the past forever. When Rip wakes up and returns to town, he sees people that he does not recognize wearing. He is still stuck in the past when he is trying to figure out where he is and where everyone else is. (1)

The Magic of the Imagination: Irving’s story suggests that human imagination can can give society charming, humorous stories that become part of an enduring, magical folklore. Today, the Catskill and Hudson Valley regions well remember Rip Van Winkle and Ichabod Crane–the hero of another Irving story, “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow”–as if they were real persons. A bridge across the Hudson has even been named after Rip. Sunnyside, Irving’s Tarrytown home between 1835 and 1859, is a major tourist attraction in the Hudson Valley. (1)

Excerpts

"One day, high in the Catskill Mountains, he hunted squirrels, firing one shot after another. Hours later, tired from all the activity, he decided to lie down for a rest on a green knoll overlooking the rich forests and the Hudson River in the distance. When evening neared, he got up to return home, heaving a sigh at the thought of Dame Van Winkle and the terror of her tongue. At that moment, a man came up the mountain, calling out Rip’s name." (1)

"As the man neared, Rip noticed that he was short and squat, with a beard and bushy hair, and wore old-fashioned Dutch clothes with buttons down the sides of his breeches. He was carrying a keg–probably liquor, Rip thought–and beckoned for Rip to help him. Always ready to assist others, Rip did so. As they ascended the mountain, Rip heard rumbling, like thunder, coming from a ravine." (1)

"An old woman stepped forward for a closer look at him and confirmed that he was indeed Rip Van Winkle. When she asked where he had been for twenty years, Rip told his story to everyone. The people, skeptical, winked at one another or shook their heads." (1)

Reception

"Rip Van Winkle" was a huge success during Irving's lifetime. He managed to sell hundreds of copies even if they were at a cheap price. "Rip Van Winkle" was Irving's first published book in The Sketchbook, which contained other works by Irving. Decades after the book was published, they adapted the story into plays for entertainment. "Rip Van Winkle". Over the centuries, the tale of Rip Van Winkle has been put into TV shows, movies, songs, and other books with plots closely resembling "Rip Van Winkle".

Further Reading