Uncontrollable Change In Washington Irving's Rip Van Winkle

I believe Washington Irving’s purpose for writing “Rip Van Winkle” was to express the simple concept of uncontrollable change. To express change Irving used a clever fairy tale, drenched in historical truths. Reading Rip was entertaining, but unlocking the depth was not simple. My conclusion is this: on the individual level change is inevitable, the world is a moving place, but we have a choice, we can either change with it or stay the same, and even with that it is still up to the community to accept or deny us.

Author Washington Irving was a well-traveled, educated man. His knowledge and experience allowed him to write well-crafted fantasies that intertwined relevant truths. This is prevalent in Rip Van Winkle. The story …show more content…
We are first given a glimpse of the world Rip lives, his homestead and the places he is frequent to, and an elaborate telling of his lifestyle and ways. The second phase is the period by which Rip finds himself amongst Henry Hudson and his men, drinking and playing nine pins. Lastly, it is Rips return to a vaguely familiar yet very different land. In parts one and three, we are given some land marks that give a before and after image of change. We see in Rips arrival into his home town how the way of the land has changed since the American Revolution. Rip, being a fairly passive, aloof man is caught in the middle of two words: his own, the past, and the new, the …show more content…
He is a man that is well liked and care free. To be said he would lend a hand to any form of help, except his own. His care free way of life often rubbed against the likes of his wife, which in hand fueled his own fire. So how does this catastrophic change affect Rip? The world moved in disregard of him, he came back into an new unfamiliar place that was no longer accustom to his ways, the world was a different place, different politic agendas at play; so what did he do, he continued just the same. Fortunately, in time, the changed world accepted him the same.

Rip Van Winkle and Walter Mitty were both men who lead a life that walked against the grain of the very women they said “I do” to. They both tried to live simple lives, only one was more successful than the other. Both authors were detailed of their depictions of their characters surroundings and were able to create vivid imagery. The biggest difference in my opinion lies in the purpose of the two authors. Washington Irving had a deeper meaning underneath his rich storytelling, where James Thurber in my opinion aimed to entertain, which I believe he was successful