Title: Character Analysis in Rip Van Winkle - Owl Eyes
Headings: Character Analysis
in
Rip Van Winkle

Character Analysis in Rip Van Winkle
Character Analysis Examples in Rip Van Winkle:
Rip Van Winkle

Content: Being completely one-dimensional and never given a voice, Dame Van Winkle is less a character and more a symbol of the different types of oppression a person could experience. The strange men: On one of his mountain excursions, Rip encounters a strange man in outmoded clothing who calls him by name and solicits his help carrying a keg. The man leads Rip into a hollow, where a number of similarly dressed men are playing ninepins. They are silent and serious, and Rip is initially afraid of them. However, he eventually relaxes in their company, enough to drink their liquor and fall asleep. A villager later describes them as the crew of Henry Hudson’s 1609 exploratory expedition on the Halve Maen, which sailed up the Hudson River and claimed the surrounding land for the Netherlands. The villagers: Before Rip’s 20-year sleep in the mountains, he and his fellow villagers are of like mind. He is popular with them, due to his good nature and helpfulness, and he has a group of similarly “idle personages” with whom he sits and gossips and discusses outdated news.