American Literature

Washington Irving tells a folkloric tale of fantasy in his short piece Rip Van Winkle.  In this story a narrator chronicles the experiences of a young family man, Rip, who, after being discontented with his life, goes up the Catskill Mountains with his trusty rifle and his dog to hunt squirrel.  Sitting under a tree, Rip is visited by a little man who fits the description of a dwarf.  The little man asks Rip for help and takes Rip into a world in the Catskills that was previously unknown to the young hunter.  In this fantasy world, Rip finds many other little men and he joins them in drinking and celebration until Rip falls into a deep sleep.  He awakens to find that he had slept and been gone for twenty years.  He then finds that everything around him has changed and because nobody recognized him anymore, he was taken in by his daughter who had already grown significantly in his absence.  This story of Irving is a clever allegory of fantasy of man more specifically Rip Van Winkle is a symbol of the American fantasy of escape from responsibility.  This symbolism is achieved in the story in three separate ways, first, by presenting a protagonist who is typical of the American quite likely to seek and escape from responsibility, second, by putting this protagonist in situations where he is most likely to respond with escapism, and third, by using the entire story to portray the fight or flight situation where the expected response would be flight.

    Rip Van Winkle himself is the epitome of the American fantasy of escape from responsibility.  Earlier in the story Rip is described to be the kind of individual who seems to have no backbone quite typical of the kind of person who would most likely shrug off responsibility.  For instance, in the lines, I have observed that he was a simple, good-natured man he was, moreover, a kind neighbor and an obedient, henpecked husband (Irving) the author pays particular attention to highlighting the word henpecked in this description of Rip.  This can be loosely interpreted as Rip being a mamas boy as is the implication of this particular word.  The other qualities of Rip as described in the story serve to validate this supposition.  He is as well described as descending from a prominent bloodline, hence, He was a descendant of the Van Winkles who figured so gallantly in the chivalrous days of Peter Stuyvesant, and accompanied him to the siege of Fort Christina. (Irving)  This gallant quality of Rip initially serves to swell up the expectations of the reader for the protagonist but also presents Rip as some kind of a spoiled brat or someone who has a name to live up to, hence, is able to act the way he would want to act.  Rip is also described to be hopelessly indolent by the line, The great error in Rips composition was an insuperable aversion to all kinds of profitable labor.  (Irving)  This line suggests not only that Rip did not seek remuneration for whatever services he offered but beyond that, implies that Rip stayed away from labor itself, quite typical of someone who cannot and will not do something to change his fate.  This is validated by the line, Rip was ready to attend to anybodys business but his own but as to doing family duty, and keeping his farm in order, it was impossible. (Irving)  and If left to himself, he would have whistled life away, which both suggest that the protagonist was terribly passive and indifferent.  These qualities of Rip serve to paint a portrait of a person who will most likely react by escaping when subjected to situations normally encountered by any living person.

    So, as expected, Rip is indeed subjected to these kinds of situations  first, by subjecting his surroundings to circumstances resulting from his own indolence, then by having a family that will not tolerate his indolence, and third, by giving him internal hopelessness.  The first situation is seen in how everything around Rip had fallen apart in the story, hence, His fences were continually falling to pieces his cow would either go astray or get among the cabbages weeds were sure to grow quicker in his fields than anywhere else his patrimonial estate had dwindled away under his management, acre by acre, until there was little more left than a mere patch of Indian corn and potatoes, (Irving) describing how his assets have began to deteriorate because of his indolence.  Then Rip is subjected to the people surrounding him, especially his wife, who will not just sit and watch his decay.  This situation is described by the narrator in the way Rips wife was, A termagant wife may, therefore, in some respects, be considered a tolerable blessing and if so, Rip Van Winkle was thrice blessed. (Irving)  This means that Rips wife scolded him constantly about their situation, and nagged him out of his mind.  This is clear in the lines, his wife kept continually dinning in his ears about his idleness, his carelessness, and the ruin he was bringing on his family. (Irving)   Other than this, Rip seemed to be experiencing domestic problems with his children as well as described in the line, His children, too, were as ragged and wild as if they belonged to nobody. His son Rip, an urchin begotten in his own likeness, promised to inherit the habits, with the old clothes of his father. (Irving)  Then, as a fitting cap to all these difficult situations,   Poor Rip was at last reduced almost to despair and his only alternative, to escape from the labor of the farm and clamor of his wife, was to take gun in hand and stroll away into the woods. (Irving)  So, we see here that Rip, in response to his difficult situation responds with more indolence and turns his back from his problems and walks away.  Judging by these the incident where he sleeps for twenty years is not actually necessary anymore to accurately signify Rips escape because in reality he already escapes from his responsibilities.  However, the entire story is used to describe this fight or flight attitude of Rip as it also reveals what he is preoccupied with while in a world of his fantasy.

    The narrator makes reference to a celebratory situation where Rip chooses to intoxicate himself instead of face his own problems in the lines, He even ventured, when no eye was fixed upon him, to taste the beverage, One taste provoked another at length his senses were overpowered, his eyes swam in his head, his head gradually declined, and he fell into a deep sleep. (Irving)  This particular situation suggests that Rip had chosen to flee from the world he was in and continue existence in his own comfort zone, typical of the classic individual who has problems with responsibility.  Here we notice that rip chooses to escape from reality.  Reality is equated with responsibility and his escape from reality as well represents his escape from responsibility.  As a result of this flight response, the world leaves Rip behind and everything around him changes when he finally decides to take up the cudgels of his role as father and member of society.  This is what normally happens to people who would rather take a different path away from responsibility when such is encountered.

    So, based on the textual evidence it is clear that the story Rip Van Winkle by Washington Irving portrays a typical American, in attitude and personality, who is expected to turn his back on responsibility.  The matter is aggravated when the protagonist in the story is dumped into a seemingly hopeless situation where a great effort was required to effect repair.  In the end, the protagonist does not lift a finger and instead escapes from reality typifying the flight response which is common among people who are not able to take responsibility of their actions.  All these confirm the assumption that the tale is in fact a very clever symbol of the American fantasy of escape from responsibility.