Washington Irving's short story "Rip Van Winkle" has remained an American classic that sets timeless themes against the backdrop of the American Revolution. Rip Van Winkle, the placid, charitable, and idle Dutch-American protagonist, enjoys his slow life in a town at the foot of the Catskill Mountains. His only source of agitation is Dam Van Winkle, his wife, who constantly berates him for his reluctance to do domestic or farm work. One day, while walking in the mountains with his dog Wolf, Rip encounters a group of men dressed in old-fashioned Dutch clothing and playing bowling. Rip doesn't care who they are, drinks their gin and falls asleep. When he wakes up and returns to his village, he realizes that his wife is gone, that he does not recognize anyone and that the life he knew has disappeared. Eventually, he is told that one night on the mountain lasted twenty years and the American Revolution took place. Although Rip has lost many years, he can now enjoy the peace and quiet without his nagging wife. In "Rip Van Winkle," Irving uses Rip's story to describe the dramatic changes in the new America after the revolution. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay Dame Van Winkle's harassment is the primary inhibitor of Rip's freedom, and is therefore the symbol of the past and the undesirable, as well as the factor by which productive change is judged. Although Rip responded to her complaints with his "well-oiled character" by "[shrugging] his shoulders, [shaking] his head, [rolling] up his eyes, but [saying] nothing" (473), "the times have worsened […] over the years of marriage” (474). The increasing problems that Dame Van Winkle gives Rip resemble a revolution within Rip himself: the worsening times lead to a significant transition in which the negative qualities of the past are rid of. The life Rip leads under the control and criticism of his wife is to some extent repressed and leads him to constantly seek the freedom of the wilderness, solitude and exploration, similar to the motivations behind the discovery of America. During his walk in the mountains, Rip Van Winkle literally plunges into the past with the appearance of Henry Hudson and his men. The men are dressed “in the ancient Dutch manner” (475) and remind Rip of “the figures in an old Flemish painting” (476). The group of men are playing ninepin, a British game. This scene is saturated with representations of the past; it's a glimpse into America's British roots during a time of significant change. Rip Van Winkle's return to his village the next day, or two decades later, is Washington Irving's meditation on the change brought about by the Revolution. Initially, Rip is "terribly perplexed" (478), and when he discovers that he is surrounded by strangers and that his family is gone, he is like his home, "empty, forlorn, and seemingly abandoned" (478). . In his desolation, he even calls his wife, his only reason for unhappiness in his past life. The portrait of King George, affectionately described as having a "ruby" face and a "peaceful pipe" (478), is replaced by a painting of George Washington, a stranger to Rip. New terms that Rip does not understand confuse him: “war, congress, Stoney-Point” (479). Irving uses the universal symbols of the American Revolution to describe the massive changes that have occurred since Rip's departure. As Rip's emotional state shows, change without continuity is not progress. The shock that Rip experiences in the face of a transformed homeland is proportional to the magnitude of the changes that have occurred over the course of..