This story was written using frame narrative. Irving opens the story by saying that the story of “Rip Van Winkle” was, “…found among the papers of the late Diedrich Knickerbocker…”(pg. 428). Then Irving begins to describe a little village at the foothill of the Catskill Mountains where a man by the name of Rip Van Winkle lives. After the description of the village comes the reader’s first glimpse of Rip Van Winkle’s wife who, in the story, symbolizes King George III. This is illustrated when the villagers, “…lay all the blame on Dame Van Winkle.”(pg. 430). Before the Revolutionary War, whenever something went wrong in the colonies King George III was usually to blame.

Irving goes on in greater detail about Rip as a “henpecked”

It is on this particular stroll that Rip walks further up the Catskill Mountains and runs into the ghosts of Henry Hudson and his crew. It is here that he drinks the wine and falls into a deep sleep. When he awakens he heads to the village and encounters a whole new village. He comes to his home and finds it decrepit and abandoned. He leaves his house and comes upon “The Union Hotel.” He looks at the sign and realizes that in the place of King George III is now a picture of General George Washington. The irony of the new inn sign is that Rip, “…recognized…the ruby red face of King George…The red coat was changed for one of blue and buff, a sword was stuck in the hand, the head was decorated with a cocked hat, and underneath was painted in large characters GENERAL WASHINGTON” (pg.436). It is here that Rip sees the crowd and announces he is loyal to the king. Now it becomes apparent to the reader that Rip has missed the entire Revolutionary War.

This story is fraught with political implications and references to America before and after the war. It is still unclear, though, if Irving takes a passive or active role through his story on the subject of America’s Independence. It appears that others should learn from Rip Van Winkles mistakes. They should take an active role in the world around

Some topics in this essay:
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