This is an intelligent question to ask about this
intriguing short story that seems to offer some kind of reflection on the Americna
Revolution and the independence from Britain that was achieved. Obviously, this is one
of the central differences, and the fact that Rip Van Winkle went for his sleep before
the Revolution and then woke up afterwards suggests that Washington Irving is trying to
say something about it.
As Rip draws near towards his
village he is started to see that he doesn't know any of the people that he meets and
that they are dressed in a strange manner to his eyes. Superficially, the village itself
has grown larger:
The very village was altered; it was larger and
more populous. There were rows of houses which he had never seen before, and those which
had been his familiar haunts had disappeared. Strange names were over the doors--strange
faces at the windows--everything was
strange.
His own house has
gone to "decay" and the inn has changed as well, most importantly now bearing a picture
of George Washington instead of King George and having changed its name. The people in
the inn seem to have changed as well, as Rip Van Winkle notes in their
conversation:
The very character of the people seemed changed.
There was a busy, bustling, disputatious tone about it, instead of the accustomed phlegm
and drowsy tranquillity.
Rip
later finds out that some of his friends went off either fight in the war and some serve
now in the new government. So, plenty of changes in the village have occurred. The
question you need to ask is what Irving is suggesting through these
changes.
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