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: he fishes and hunts, and his children are messy but not starving. Moreover, Rip is a conscientious and helpful member of his community, behaving appropriately for the earlier days of American settlement. However, he does not perform the sort of farm work considered productive in the more commercially established American colonies. As the colonies stabilized and began to move toward unification, programs for the encouragement of a market-based economy spread outward from major commercial hubs. Mountain communities like Rip’s would have been slowly converted from subsistence farming, relying on barter and self-reliance to survive, into commercial farming, using money to attempt a betterment of station. Caitlin, Owl Eyes Staff
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"lay all the blame on Dame Van Winkle..." See in text (Rip Van Winkle)
The contrasting characters of Rip Van Winkle and his wife speak in a subtle way to the nature of how stories can be defined by their tellers. The villagers see a kind and helpful man being constantly berated, and draw the conclusion that Dame Van Winkle is a dreadful wife. The untold story is that of Dame Van Winkle’s attempts to make a life for herself and her children without the support of her husband, who at that time would have been the primary breadwinner in the household. Caitlin, Owl Eyes Staff
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"Rip complied with his usual alacrity..." See in text (Rip Van Winkle)
While his wife considers him to be lazy and useless, Rip is repeatedly described to be industrious and helpful in his own way. Despite finding his new companion unusual, he nevertheless wants to help.