Washington Irving's Rip Van Winkle - Essay Example

Washington Irving was a great traveler and reader. He made innumerable voyages to Europe. His lifetime of reading led him to know many folk tales. One of the most fundamental purposes behind writing “Rip Van Winkle” was the fact that Irving wanted to lend the United States, which was by then a newly found country, the same conventional sense of tradition which had been previously enjoyed by the older nations due to their traditional wisdom. Irving also wanted to elaborate on the importance of politics in America throughout history. Through his writing, he conveyed to the audience the influence of the American Revolution upon society as a whole. I believe Washington Irving’s purpose for writing ‘Rip Van Winkle’ was to teach that idleness is the biggest hindrance in the path to modernization, and elaboration of political importance in America.

The plot is an escapist castle in the sky. The inefficiency of Rip Van Winkle as a male hero symbolizes his inability to provide for his family and take care of his farm. He sleeps through the time for full twenty years in an attempt to escape the cost of his idleness and does not wake up until his idleness is forgivable. The American dream is grounded in ambition and hard work. This behavior of Rip Van Winkle contrasts with the American dream. Therefore, he can not keep pace with the rapidly changing and modernizing society. His idleness does not let him progress with time. Politics is also an important theme of the story. Irving has shown that political discussions were important in America at all times. Rip’s discussions with his friends about politics in the youth and people’s curiosity about which political party is Rip from symbolize the importance of politics to the American people.
Rip Van Winkle and Fall of the House of Usher are entirely different stories with little to no obvious resemblance in any way, though some underlying themes may support the comparison between the two stories. One of the themes is idleness. Usher kills the time playing guitar while Rip kills the time gossiping with friends and wandering around. Usher is the last descendant of the family just like Rip is the last to know the old American culture. Death in both stories is a sign of life. For Rip, Dame’s death is a source of liveliness. On the other hand, death gives that power to Madeline that life had sapped. Read More