Julie Borrego
English 48A
Journal for
Washington Irving

"At the foot of these fairy mountains, the voyager may have descried the light smoke curling up from a village, whose shingle roofs gleam among the trees, just where the blue tints of the upland melt away into fresh green of the nearer landscape."(p.954)
"Irving is much over-rated" (Edgar Allan Poe)

Irving in the quote above from "Rip Van Winkle", is describing the the quaint Dutch village where the story takes place.

















My Ideas:

As I read “Rip Van Winkle” as a child, I was not impressed with it. I did not identify with an old man who fell asleep for twenty years; in fact the old man was creepy to me. The imagery was not appealing to me at the time either. But as I read it again this time I appreciate so much more. First I read it as just a fairy story with great imagery. At this level I loved the idea of the old quaint Dutch village where everyone knows everyone and the beautiful mountains that they lived near. The idea of just sleeping away the hard times is appealing and waking up and life resumes business as usual. Rip Van Winkle reminds me of people who see life through rose-colored glasses. I admire these people who can go through life with out a care in the world, nothing gets them down and life just passes over them. The ghosts in the forest were creepy and intriguing. Then I read it again looking for the political imagery and discovering that this story is so much more than just a fairy story. Irving wrote a clever Allegory regarding American politics during the early 1800’s. I did not like that the only time that the American Indians were mentioned in the story they were portrayed as kidnappers, but Irving added this in his story definitely to prove that he was a loyal American. I feel the next time I read this story again it will have a different impact on me and I will take away something completely different than before.