The Devil And Tom Walker And Rip Van Winkle Analysis

Similarities of “The Devil and Tom Walker” and “Rip Van Winkle” Edwin Rolfe, author of the Murder in the Glass Room, once said, “You can never tell a book by its cover.” This means readers cannot tell whether they will enjoy a book just by what is on the cover. However, they can judge a book by the author of the book. Readers are able to judge whether they will like a book based on the author. Authors write stories that have a similar theme with similar characters and settings. We can often judge if we like one book by an author, we will like other books by that author as well. This is proved in Washington Irving’s stories “The Devil and Tom Walker and “Rip Van Winkle,” for he uses similarities in setting, male protagonist, female antagonists, …show more content…
During the two stories Tom and Rip both show their laziness. Irving states Tom had a “miserable horse, whose ribs were as articulate as the bars of a gridiron.” This shows Tom’s laziness because he is too lazy to feed his horse. Similarly, Irving states Rip’s farm is “the worst conditioned farm in the neighborhood.” This shows Rip’s laziness because he is too lazy to take care of his farm. Similarity also proves to be evident in both of their submissive stereotypes. During the two stories both Tom and Rip are extremely submissive. Irving shows Tom’s submissiveness when he says “Tom’s face sometimes showed signs that their conflicts were not confined to words.”This lets the reader know that Tom’s wife beats him when they have conflicts between them. Similarly, Irving shows Rip’s submissiveness when he states Rip was “an obedient henpecked husband.” This lets the reader know that Rip takes orders from his wife. Tom and Rip are both submissive to their wives. Irving most likely uses these stereotypes in his male characters because this is how he viewed husbands in marriage in his parents …show more content…
Both Tom and Rip’s wives are shown nagging them all the time. Irving states that Tom’s wife was “loud of tongue.” This tells the reader that Tom’s wife was extremely loud and nagging. Similarly, Irving says Rip’s wife, Dame Van Winkle, “kept dinning in his ear about his idleness.” This lets the reader know that Rip’s wife was also an extremely nagging wife. Similarity also proves to be evident on both of the wives termagant stereotypes. The reader knows Tom’s wife was termagant because Irving says, “Tom’s face sometimes showed signs that their conflicts were not confined to words.” This tell the reader that when something Tom did that his wife did not like she would just beat him for it. Similarly, Irving lets the reader know Rip’s wife is also termagant when he says, “a termagant wife may, therefore, in some respects, be considered a tolerable blessing; and if so, Rip Van Winkle was thrice blessed.” This tells me that Rip’s wife was also termagant and extremely mean. Irving most likely used these stereotypes because this may have been how he viewed wives who were married to lazy husbands, and he may have seen marriages like