Washington Irving’s, The Sketchbook of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent. is a collection of thirty-four of his essays and short stories. Attributed to the fictional Dutch historian character, Diedrich Knickerbocker, are two of Irving’s most popular stories, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Rip Van Winkle. Rip Van Winkle is the story of a Dutch villager, living at the foot of the Catskill mountains before and after the American Revolutionary War. Van Winkle is genuinely loved by the people of his village, especially by the children whom he tells ghost stories to, plays with, and gives toys. However, this simple, easy-going man has one great error in his character: he is incredibly lazy, despising work in all forms. Therefore, Van Winkle must endure the unrelenting nagging of his wife, Dame Van Winkle, every day. When he can no longer deal with the words of his wife, Van Winkle decides to wander the mountainside with his loyal cur dog, Wolf. After some time, Van Winkle hears his name called out by a Dutch man, …show more content…
In Rip Van Winkle, Irving uses the countryside and supernatural elements as an escape for Rip Van Winkle from the constant nagging of his wife and demand of labor, where he is finally happy and at peace. Does this reveal an insight into Irving’s character?
II. As Rip wanders from his wife up the mountains with his dog, he eventually approaches a strange group of men playing nine-pins in a hollow. Instead of asking the men who they are and what they are doing, Rip joins them and drinks their moonshine. Why does he do this?
III. At the end of Rip Van Winkle, when Rip returns to his village, he resumes the same idleness he exhibited before. What could have been Irving’s reason for withholding growth from his character? Is this a reoccurring theme in Irving’s other