Washington Irving's "Rip Van Winkle" express a story about a man named Rip van Winkle. Every small community has someone like Rip: the entertainer of local children, the willing helper of his neighbor, but a man constitutionally unable to work on his own behalf. But also this theme is still relevant today and with probably be there forever. Rip Van Winkle wakes up after twenty years of sleep and everything has changed and he had slept through it all. The author is conveying to the reader that life should be lived with no regrets and if you don't, then life will pass you as if you slept through it. The author expresses that life shouldn’t be taken for granted because everyday is a chance to do something new. Furthermore the question why is this story still important today.
In the beginning of the story Irving describes Rip as a favorite with the townspeople because he would help anyone who needed help. Others see Van Winkle as a kind neighbor, and an obedient henpecked husband, as seen in the following passage:
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The children of the village, too, would shout with joy whenever he approached. He 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. Whenever he went dodging about the village, he was surrounded by a troop of them, hanging on his skirts, clambering on his back, and playing a thousand tricks on him with impunity; and not a dog would bark at him throughout the