Rip Van Winkle Project
Part 1:
-Washington Irving describes Dame Van Winkle’s demeanor towards Rip Van Winkle as “a sharp tongue is the only edged tool that grows keener with constant use”. Most bladed tools like knives are used to cut things, and often need to be resharpened as the blades wear down over time. But Irving states that with common use, sharp language or cursing will not have “to be resharpened” and will eventually be used without thought. Dame Van Winkle is known for her hot temper and berading of Rip anywhere he goes to try to escape from her.
-“He would never even refuse to assist a neighbor in the roughest toil, and was a foremost man at all country frolics for husking Indian corn, or building stone fences… In fact, he declared it was of no use to work on his farm; it was the most pestilent little piece of ground in the whole country...it was the worst-conditioned farm in the neighborhood.”
Rip Van Winkle seems to be so invested in his neighbors that it severely detracts from his commitment to improving his own farm, but that seems to be his only flaw. Rip Van Winkle isn’t lazy, but he would rather help his neighbors than help himself.
- “The dogs, too, none of which he recognized for his old acquaintances, barked at him as he passed.”
In his pre-blackout days (or pre-revolutionary war days), dogs would never bark at Rip, since his blackout, obviously things have changed in the Catskill Mountains as he has missed the entire duration of the war, and is literally forgotten in time.
Part 2:
Rip Van Winkle, descendant of an army family, lives in the Catskill Mountains in New York with his wife, Dame Van Winkle, and his children. The story is set in pre and post Revolutionary War. He looks out for h...
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... epitomize the American dream, or is he the antithesis of one?
Rip Van Winkle is the antithesis of the American Dream. He has no motivation to work hard at anything in life, and finds that socializing with neighbors is enough in life. He also does not seem to care about the fact that the Patriots won the Revolutionary War. The only thing that he seems to care about is that his nagging wife is dead.
Part 4:
I think that by Washington Irving using a narrator for the story, the reliability of this story is generally up in the air. And the reader has to figure that Rip Van Winkle was truly asleep for twenty years and didn’t just lie to escape his wife. Or that there was even a man who was carrying a keg of liquor up the mountains. By trusting the narrator, it adds a complexity to the story because the reader has to believe everything that they were told.
“The fame of my dogs spread all over our parts of the Ozarks. They were the best in the country” (Rawls 131). This is a quote from the book Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls. Where the Red Fern Grows is a book about a boy, Billy, and his two coon hunting dogs. The three of them have many adventures, and many of these adventures demonstrate the theme that change is inevitable.
... American Dream that was sold in society at the time after World War II can overshadow the actual meaning in real life. The “American Dream” is, in the end, defined as a comfortable living in a happy house. Instead, the materialistic society back then attempted to sell it in terms of appliances and products that were not needed, and unaffordable. They marketed it to the middle-class by attracting them to the aspect of credit, buying it with money that they don’t have. As Willy’s neighbor claimed at his funeral, Willy was merely a victim of his profession, leaving him with an unhealthy obsession with an image that was unrealistic, especially for them. This dissatisfaction with his life, and his misinterpretation of the “American Dream”, led to his downfall as a tragic hero, and a death that went in vain, as his son failed to follow the plan he had laid out for him.
Everything and everyone is constantly changing whether people realize it or not. Life after the revolutionary war influenced a lot of the changes that made America. New ideals and customs were beginning to form and people had to learn to conform to these changes in order to survive. Washington Irving depicts this in his writing “Rip Van Winkle”, along with Caroline Stansbury Kirkland’s writing “A New Home-Who’ll Follow”. Although, with some minor differentials, Kirkland and Irving depict similar themes in adaptation and simulating to culture unknown to them.
The American Dream is a thought that everyone has at some point. Some are bigger than others and some are harder than others, but everyone hopes to accomplish their American Dream. In Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck shows that the American Dream is a myth, not a reality. John Steinbeck shows the American Dream being a myth through a few of the characters in Of Mice and Men. For example, Lennie, Curley’s Wife, and Candy all have American Dreams, but they also have some obstacles that stop them from completing their American Dream.
To understand better Van Winkle's predicament we must first understand his character and how he was viewed
One major theme present in both stories is liberty/freedom. In “Rip Van Winkle,” Irving depicts the main character as a person who only wish...
Protagonist Rip Van Winkle possesses mystical and entertaining characteristics that captivate the reader. Rip Van Winkle regards all of his neighbors with kindness continuously. He shows the depth of American values such as kindness and the love of the neighbor. Van Winkle’s great kindness is illustrated by his helping of others. On page 62, the narrator states “He inherited, however, but little of the martial character of his ancestors. I have observed that he was a simple, good-natured man; he was moreover a kind neighbor, and an obedient, henpecked husband,” confirming that Van Winkle is a kind person and a loving
When I was younger the world was such an innocent, delightful place. People were kind, and always willing to help. As I have grown I have found that my views of the world and the people in it have changed; I don 't find it to be as innocent or delightful. I have slowly become to notice the wicked around me. Nathaniel Hawthorne 's "Young Goodman Brown" and Washington Irving 's "Rip Van Winkle" both convey changes in their views of the people and world around them.
In “Rip Van Winkle” by Washington Irving he writes about a simple man, Rip Van Winkle, who does just enough to get by in life. He lives in a village by the catskill mountains, and is loved by everyone in the village. He is an easy going man, who spends most of his days at the village inn talking with his neighbors, fishing all day, and wandering the mountains with his dog to refuge from his wife the thorn on his side. On one of his trips to the mountains Rip Van Winkle stumbles upon a group of men who offer him a drink, and that drink changes everything for Van Winkle. He later wakes up, twenty years later, and returns to his village were he notices nothing is the same from when he left. He learns that King George III is no longer in charge,
One of the characters that falls short of the American Dream is Tom Buchanan. Tom is a powerful wealthy man, and much more than that. He is very shallow argent person with little moral values. Which in the end leaves him with a very uncontrollable life. “His wife and his mistress, until an hour ago secure and inviolate were slipping precipitately from his control.” (Fitzgerald 131). According to Colin laPenta wealth and power can turn a person into a hallow shell of their former self “Arrogance and unfortunate quality that is often associated with people of power and wealth and Tom Buchanan is no exception.” (LaPenta). As well, Tom Never has really cared about the wellbeing of his fellow man as long as he is safe in his mansion. Also, explained by Matthew Bruccoli “Although it’s hard to choose just one character flaw of Tom Buchanan, the most prevalent one is his cruelness, he believes that money and power gives him the ability to bully others” (Bruccoli). Another character who falls short of the American dream and their own personal dream is Jay Gatsby. Gatsby doesn’t achieve his dreams because he is trying to not look into the future, but instead alter the future to make it like the past relationship with Daisy through wealth and power to be more like her new lover (Tom). “Can’t repe...
Each character in the novel has their own interpretation of the ‘American Dream – the pursuit of happiness’ as they all lack happiness due to the careless nature of American society during the Jazz Age. The American Dreams seems almost non-existent to those whom haven’t already achieved it.
... his aspirations. His dream symbolizes the larger American Dream in which all have the equal opportunity to get what they want. Nonetheless, the failure of his personal dream also typifies the collapse of the American Dream as a whole.
In RIP Van Winkle, Dam Van Winkle is abusive, nagging, and sarcastic. In Rip Van Winkle, Washington Irving states that “but what courage can with stand the ever-during and all besetting terrors of a woman’s tongue.” He seems to imply that he did not like women who gave their opinions and spoke their mind. It seems that Rip is going into the woods to escape his wife.
In conclusion, the American dream targeted the individual working hard in the pursuit to become successful and wealthy, with high-quality job and prosperity. In the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, the American dream symbolizes being free from any kind of restrictions and the ability to have the pleasure in the wide-open Western edge. However, The Great Gatsby criticizes the American dream due to moral and social value decay of the society.
In today’s society the term “American Dream” is perceived as being successful and usually that’s associated with being rich or financially sound. People follow this idea their entire life and usually never stop to think if they are happy on this road to success. Most will live through thick and thin with this idealization of the “American Dream” usually leading to unhappiness, depression and even suicide. The individual is confused by society’s portrayal of the individuals who have supposedly reached the nirvana of the “American Dream”. In the play “Death of a Salesman” Willy thinks that if a person has the right personality and he is well liked it’s easy to achieve success rather than hard work and innovation. This is seen when Willy is only concerned how Biff’s class mates reacted to his joke of the teachers lisp. Willy’s dream of success for his son Biff who was very well liked in High School never actually became anything. Biff turned into a drifter and a ranch worker. In the play “Seize the Day” Tommy who is financially unstable also pursues the idea of getting to the “American Dream” and becoming wealthy. He foolishly invests his last seven hundred dollars and eventually loses it leaving him broke and out of work. In both plays following the American Dream is followed in different characters and in both the characters are far away from it leaving them broke and forgotten by almost everyone.