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Rip Van Winkle and the Generational Divide in American Culture

2005; University of North Carolina Press; Volume: 40; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1353/eal.2005.0051

1534-147X

Robert Ferguson,

American and British Literature Analysis

Rip Van Winkle and the Generational Divide in American Culture Robert A. Ferguson (bio) Rip Van Winkle prospers as an American literary hero and an international favorite from the moment he appears in Washington Irving's Sketch Book from 1819. Leading critics do not exaggerate by much when they claim that Rip "presides over the birth of the American imagination" (Fiedler 6) as the "guardian angel" and "symbol of the mythic American" (Leary 22–23).1 These phrases do more than praise. The imagination is the seat of low thoughts as well as high. Guardian angels protect the unwary from ruin and evil. Myths explore alternative sides of a mystery. We continue to hold Rip in such high esteem because he is a failure that succeeds and because his failure indicates something about us that we can face only indirectly. That he gets away with failure is a great relief. Everyone knows the story of the henpecked but lovable and comic vagabond who wanders away from Sleepy Hollow into the Kaatskill Mountains to return 20 years later with the excuse that he has just awakened after drinking out of the flagon of Hendrick Hudson. The fantasy involved is clear enough, but it is told from the irascible point of view of a highly suspect historian named Diedrich Knickerbocker. Elaborately qualified in three addenda to the body of the tale (a preamble, an added note, and a postscript), Knickerbocker operates as one of the first exercises in ambiguity of American fiction. The device forces the reader into a game of levels—levels that confuse but also protect us from our worst fears and thoughts.2 For although Rip's failures are evident, he manages to solve problems that we cannot solve. Moreover, the remaining problem that his solution leaves us with is one that tells us more about ourselves than it does about either Rip or Diedrich Knickerbocker, or Washington Irving. "Rip Van Winkle" unfolds as a story of many meanings, and it speaks through them to every new generation of readers. The man who wanders into the hills has refused to accept adult responsibility in his community. He plays at work instead of working. Rip has [End Page 529] allowed his farm to fall into wrack and ruin, and he does little to provide for a large and growing family, which explains at least some of the shrewish behavior assigned to his wife. As the imputed explanation of Rip's flight, Dame Van Winkle never receives so much as the courtesy of her full name. The only other trait ascribed to her comes late in the story after she is dead: we enter with Rip on his return into her deserted house, "which, to tell the truth, Dame Van Winkle always kept in neat order."3 The familial discrepancy noted here is a significant one. Rip is the one who has failed to hold up his end.4 A symbol of American infancy and misplaced innocence, he is the adolescent who refuses to grow up and gets away with it. The success of the story that he tells on his return to Sleepy Hollow allows him to pass conveniently from childhood to second childhood without assuming the obligations of maturity in between. Rip, at this superficial level, embodies an escapist mentality. He is the dreamy alternative in a culture driven by mundane prosperity and social conformity.5 All of these matters have been noted at length by readers over the years, but surprisingly little attention has been given to the device that allows Rip to remain a comic hero. Lovable Rip trumps irresponsible Rip only because he is taken care of. Vulnerable and out of control on his return, he needs help. All ends well because other people decide to come to his aid, but their decision is notably complex and a close call. Exactly how Rip comes to be taken care of will be our main subject here. Consider, for the moment, an alternative ending that is hinted at in Irving's story. As before, the preternaturally old and bewildered Rip returns to a bustling republican town instead of the quiet colonial village of Sleepy Hollow. He wears tattered...