Rip Van Winkle

Washington Irving, Rip Van Winkle, 1819

With Thanksgiving and a generally busy time this shorter story was slotted in to my list with a class reading of Tolstoy’s Death of Ivan Ilyic for next week. This is a classic short story that I learnt and read growing up so it was nice to revisit it. It has historical and cultural significance and the trope of awakening from a long sleep to a changed world can be seen in works where the protagonist has to come to terms with their new life in a different time.

Rip Van Winkle, however, was one of those happy mortals, of foolish, well-oiled dispositions, who take the world easy, eat white bread or brown, whichever can be got with least thought or trouble, and would rather starve on a penny than work for a pound.

Rip is shown to be content but not driven for more. This created a number of issues for Rip in his marriage and the crux of the story takes place after he enjoys some Dutch travelers liquor and passes out under a tree.

His process of adjustment is fascinating to read and picture his confusions.

Rip’s story was soon told, for the whole twenty years had been to him but as one night.

The fascination of the villagers that had passed through the American Revolution and seen the deaths of Rip’s friends, neighbors and family in the story aligns with the same sort of questions that the reader wants to find out. Eventually Rip actually comes to appreciate his new position as he regains his popularity and even enhanced status given his celebrity story. He now can live the idle life without judgement now being twenty years older. He is also reunited with his daughter and ultimately this is a short story without many moral lessons or sharp twists but it is a literature classic that if looking for a fun story is worth reading.

It is certainly interesting to see how a representation of what it would be like to wake up twenty years later. Consider that from now, going to sleep in November 2000 and waking up now, think of how much the world has changed and how little you might recognize. This is a great story for prompting imagination and thoughts about the future but also for looking back. In an unserious manner it might also be said that you should avoid being lazy but in Rip’s case it is also true that he prioritized the happiness and lives of others over his own. This is a laudable quality even if it presented from the perspective of his deficiency of work ethic.

The most fun sections concern his coming to terms with the changes in the village and the events of the American Revolution. It should not take too long to read and I am sure this story has been heavily anthologized for school lessons, it is fun and thought provoking.