A Rip in Time

A Rip in Time: The Tale of a Man with a Score to Settle1
Washington Irving wrote a short story which has prospered in its time due to its immaculate details, especially those related to the Romantic period. It was an interesting and famous story of a man called Rip van Winkle. It tells the tale of his endeavors (or lack thereof) in life, how he deals with it, and how he lives the rest of his life, relaxing at his daughter’s place. Irving was excellent in the way he writes: he would use many literary devices such as imagery and symbolism. However, along with this writing came an opportunity for his readers to infer a little about his personality.
Irving was excellent at getting details through to his readers by using exquisite details. He described Rip van Winkle as a “kind neighbor, and an obedient hen-pecked husband.” (Page 456:Line31) The details used after Rip’s post-coma state was magnificent, as Irving gave many examples about when he finally stirs from his deep sleep. “The birds were hopping and twittering among the bushes, and the eagle was wheeling aloft, and breasting the pure mountain breeze.” (Page 461) The description definitely allows the reader to picture the scene happening in his/her head. Irving describes that, upon awakening, Rip looks for his gun; however, he soon realizes that it was basically an altogether different gun, as it had rusted, breaking, and worm-eaten and is now useless to attempt to even fire. Overall, conclusively, Irving has written the story in a way that the reader can imagine the whole story as it unfolds, due to Irving’s unique wordings that shows his mastery of the imagery form of writing.
Irving had described Rip van Winkle as a nice, laidback character, and he was the protagonist of the story. However, the “antagonist” of the story was his wife, Dame van Winkle. She was represented as a woman who is apparently always terrifying, making the people around her miserable. She was one of the main reasons that Rip van...