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Content: In a word Rip was
ready to attend to anybody's business but his own; but as to doing family duty,
and keeping his farm in order, he found it impossible." Seeing that Rip Van
Winkle's family was deteriorating while the people of the town were profiting
from his rebellion against the authority and possible needs of his family shows
that the Crown was losing respect while America was gaining the loyalty of its
own people. Rip's idleness could be perceived as the British perception that
America was unwilling to focus on their duties as servants of the Crown. In
representing the Crown, Dame Van Winkle would nag him to death over his duties so
much that he would seek refuge from these tirades by going to town to sit in
front of the tavern and remain idle with his friends. Even this did not prove to
be an efficient escape because soon enough his wife would track him down to nag
him and his colleagues further. This is a direct parallel to the political
situation with the continued government control of Mother England. England was
very domineering in their everyday lives and not willing to allow America its
freedom. Americans were trying to avoid the tyranny of the Crown, just as Rip
would do everything possible to escape his overbearing wife. The townspeople, in
representing the American society, show how American society changed before and
after the revolution.