Rip Van Winkle

Paper Summary:

This paper examines how in her essay "An American Dream: Rip Van Winkle" Judith Fetterly states that Rip Van Winkle is a character who established the pattern followed by all other heroes in American literature. It attempts to evaluate Winkle's qualities and compare him to other heroes in American literature to clarify whether or not Rip really has served as an example to all other "great men" in the country's fictional world.

From the Paper:

"It is not hard to notice that the most appealing, the most popular character in American books would be some gruff, terrible fellow with a horrid reputation and no friends. A perfect example would be Rhett Butler from Margaret Mitchell's Gone with the Wind. He is by no means a well-liked or kind man; on the contrary, he is everything that we would usually be expected to dislike. However, what makes us fond of him is the fact that underneath all that nastiness lies something genuinely beautiful. This beauty we see in his undying love for Scarlett and his few brilliant years of fatherhood. The same can be seen in the wild cowboys of the West who shoot people right and left and are usually on a bloody quest for some long-lost treasure. All of these qualities point to ruthless hunger for wealth and an absolute disregard for those around them."

More papers on Rip Van Winkle:

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• Analytical Essay # 31722 : "Gender in "Rip van Winkle"

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