Washington Irving (1783-1859)

American author, short story writer, essayist, poet, travel book writer, biographer, and columnist. Irving has been called the father of the American short story. He is best known for 'The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,' in which the schoolmaster Ichabold Crane meets with a headless horseman, and 'Rip Van Winkle,' about a man who falls asleep for 20 years.

Washington Irving was born in New York City as the youngest of 11 children. His father was a wealthy merchant, and his mother, an English woman, was the granddaughter of a clergyman. According to a story, George Washington met Irving, named after him, and gave his blessing. In the years to come Irving would write one of his greatest works, THE LIFE OF GEORGE WASHINGTON (1855-59).

Early in his life Irving developed a passion for books. He read Robinson Crusoe , Sinbad the Sailor , and The World Displyed (stories about voyages and travels). He studied law privately in the offices of Henry Masterton (1798), Brockholst Livingston (1801), and John Ogde Hoffman (1802), but practiced only briefly. From 1804 to 1806 he travelled widely Europe. He visited Marseilles, Genoa, Sicily, where he saw the famous English naval officer, Nelson, and met Washington Allston, the painter, in Rome. After return to the United States, Irving was admitted to New York bar in 1806. He was a partner with his brothers in the family hardware business, New York and Liverpool, England, and representative of the business in England until it collapsed in 1818. During the war of 1812 Irving was a military aide to New York Governor Tompkins in the U.S. Army.

Irving's career as a writer started in journals and newspapers. He contributed to Morning Chronicle (1802-03), which was edited by his brother Peter, and published Salmagundi (1807-08), writing in collaboration with his brother William and James Kirke Paulding. From 1812 to 1814 he was an editor of Analetic magazine in Philadelphia and New York.

Irving's success in social life and literature was shadowed by a personal tragedy. He was engaged to be married to Matilda Hoffmanm who died at the age of seventeen, in 1809. Later he wrote in a private letter, addressed to Mrs. Forster, as an answer to her inquiry why he had not been married: "For years I could not talk on the subject of this hopeless regret; I could not even mention her name; but her image was continually before me, and I dreamt of her incessantly."

In 1809 appeared Irving's comic history of the Dutch regime in New York, A HISTORY OF NEW YORK, by the imaginary 'Dietrich Knickerbocker', who was supposed to be an eccentric Dutch-American scholar. It was one of the earliest fantasies of history. The name Knickerbocker was later used to identify the first American school of writers, the Knickerbocker Group , of which Irving was a leading figure. The book became part of New York folklore, and eventually the word Knickerbocker was also used to describe any New Yorker who could trace one's family to the original Dutch settlers. Irving's success continued with THE SKETCH BOOK OF GEOFFREY CRAYON, GENT. (1819-20), a collection of stories, which allowed him to become a full-time writer. The stories were heavily influenced by the German folktales. In 1822 appeared a sequel of The Sketch Book , BRACEBRIDGE HALL. Irving invites the reader to ramble gently with him at the Hall, stating that "I am not writing a novel, and have nothing of intricate plot, or marvelous adventure, to promise the reader." More

IDLENESS OF RIP VAN WINKLE

(written by Hoang Ngoc Trang - DH02G-AV28)

          “In a word Rip ready to anybody's business but his own; but as to doing family duty, and keeping his arm in order, he found it impossible.” Rip van Winkle possessed a very odd characteristic that coincides the message of a Vietnamese saying “Viec nhac thi nhat, viec chu bac thi sieng ”. In fact, he could go everywhere to help anybody in need. He used to sit long day fishing or went through woods and swamps shooting. He was willing to give a hand to village women or little children. The only one thing that Rip never wanted to do was the family duty, his own business, or “all kinds of profitable labor!” This ridiculous feature of Rip Van Winkle urges me to find out the causes of this men's action.

          First of all, Rip Van Winkle himself “declared it was no use to work on his farm” as an excuse for his abandonment of the farm. Rip said that “it was the most pestilent little piece of ground in the whole country; every thing about it went wrong, and would go wrong, in spite of him.” For that reason, he did not need to go to the farm because even with his effort, this “worst conditioned farm in the neighborhood” still could not produce anything except for “a mere patch of Indian corn and potatoes.” The cow, the fences, the weeds, and even the rain-the nature were against his farming and pushed him into idleness. There was no proof to assure the honesty of his complaint; however, this proved that he must have thought over his abandonment of the farm and reasoned his idleness. At least, this man did not think he was a lazy men; it was just because he could not do anything with his terrible farmland.

          The second reason for Rip's idleness might be his wife, Dam Van Winkle. I imagine that if my mother keeps scolding at me, looking me down, and seeking for my mistakes at any my behavior, I may do the opposite things that she wants. Then what does a wife hope from her husband? She must want him to take care of the family and to earn money. If these were also Dam Van Winkle's hopes, it was understandable for Rip - her antagonist - to react oppositely as his secret opposition to the termagant wife. Hence, he preferred to go around as a knight, helping the neighbors, and receiving their praises, love, and respect.

          One more important cause was very likely to be the acceptance of the society into his idleness. It was obvious that Rip was not the only man in the village who did nothing but wandered the village everyday. His comrades were “the sages, philosophers, and other idle personages of the villages” gathering at a “perpetual club … which held its sessions on a bench before a small inn.” If there were no or very few men leaving their houses and their business to travel around, Rip would be a hot subject of people's criticisms. If so, this lazy man did not dare to go anywhere but stayed at home to be free from the shame and the guilty feeling. But in this case, a lot of men, important men, sat “in the shade through a long lazy summer's day, talking listlessly over village gossip, or telling endless sleepy stories about nothing.” Thus, Rip was, in some way, supported by a number of men including very important men such as Derrick Van Bummel – the schoolmaster and Nicolas Vedder – the patriarch of the village. When a person has comrades and alliance, he/she dares to do things agreed by the alliance and may not realize if they are wrong.

          The most important reason, in my point of view, was Rip Van Winkle's personality. Washington Irving depicted him as “one of those happy mortals, of foolish, well-oiled dispositions, who take the world easy, eat white bread or brown, whichever can be got with least thought or trouble and would rather starve on a penny than work for a pound.” Such kind of people always sought for the simple and easy things. They were not so serious about working hard to get rich. This feature represented the characteristics of the first Americans who just worked enough to make the ends meet, called it a day and went to bed. It was the reason why even when his wife died, he still did nothing but “took his place once more on the bench at the inn door” and told his story. He considered the old age a “happy age when a man can be idle with impunity.” Moreover, Washington Irving, intentionally or not, admitted Rip's lazy personality by telling that her son inherited his idleness “As to Rip's son and heir, who was the ditto of himself, seen leaning against tree, he was employed to work on the farm, but evinced an hereditary disposition to attend anything else but his business!”

          To conclude, there are reasons for the idleness of the main character. Although some people may not think he was idle, although his neighbors might appreciate his assiduity, he was still a lazy and irresponsible man in his family. I think that it was because of his idleness, his ignorance, and his thoughtlessness, the author let him to sleep for twenty years during the revolution so that his legend situation was “a common wish of all hen-pecked husbands in the neighborhood, when life hangs heavy on their hands.” They wished to take Rip Van Winkle's flagon, sleep, and wake up when everything has been done! Rip van Winkle can be a reference to a person who sleeps a long time, or to a person who is inexplicably unaware of current events.

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What do you think about the quotation “In a word, Rip was ready to attend to anybody's business but his own, but as to doing family duty, and keeping his farm in order, he found it impossible”?

(written by Dang Xuan Thai Ngan DH02G-AV28)

Rip Van Winkle is a man who is willing to help do jobs around town, but managed to keep away from doing his own work around his farm. Rip Van Winkle" is a story of a man longing to be free, and of the transformation that occurs to him and the town. I am extremely confused about the subtext of the story. But because every author expresses his concern and expectation in his works, I think there are 2 possible interpretations for the quotation “In a word, Rip was ready to attend to anybody's business but his own, but as to doing family duty, and keeping his farm in order, he found it impossible”. First, it refers to early American colonies under English rule and second, it may reveal Irving's wish of escaping the responsibilities of earning money.

          Washington Irving I among the first generation born in the newly created United States of America. The year of his birth – 1783 - was also the year England officially recognized a new nation, ending the American Revolution. Irving inherited the freedom brought by the victory of the war for American independence.

          Irving wrote this story when the American society was changing dramatically to set them free from English culture and rule. Irving uses his main character, Rip Van Winkle, to symbolize America and uses Dame Van Winkle to symbolize the English colonist and King George in the years around the Revolution War. In the story, Rip pays attention to other people's jobs and he acts like a kid; he often “made their playthings, taught them to fly kites and shoot marbles...” He always did what could “be got with least thought or trouble,” just as a child often does. He just “shrugged his shoulders...but said nothing,” to Dame Van Winkle's lectures. Rip's lazy attitude to his family duty is the same as American having no worries and responsibility to their colonial fate.

          Dame Van Winkle's harsh control over her husband represents King George and the English rule of the colonies. Whereas the colonies were ill – treated by George, they were still faithful and attached to the Crown, like Rip's indifference and ignoring to Dame Van Winkle's criticism and blame. He is tired of hearing her, but he does nothing to change his behaviors or at least to try to please her. The interpretation here is that America was having difficulty finding its identity throughout the history. Americans did not appreciate what they had and they did nothing to fight back or to resist the influence and control of the British colonist

          Dame Van Winkle may also represent the Revolutionary War. For the war brought liberty and citizenship to the town, and the end of Dame Van Winkle brought liberty to Rip. Rip does not want have a tyrant wife just like Americans did not want to have a war. Rip wants to live a peacefully life with his wife and pays no attention to her insults or scolding. It is the same as America when they were British colony. The British colonist imposed exploiting policies and limitations on 13 colonies but these colonies did not think of standing up together to fight for independence. In other words, they neglected the duty to start the revolution which was as important and necessary as “Rip's family duty”.

          Another interpretation is that Irving uses Rip to express his expectation to be free from the “earning money” life. As far as I know, Irving wrote this story in 1820, the year after his failures in business. Rip's negative attitude to his family duty suggests that Irving was tired of life pressure. Rip wants to wander around to enjoy freedom and relaxation just like Irving wanted to escape from anxiety of earning a livelihood.

          In conclusion, this is a meaningful story with a lot of interpretations which can be discovered only when the readers have broad knowledge about the author as well as about the Revolution War.

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What do you think of the concept of the author
over the expression “joy at his deliverance”?

(written by Tran Thi Kim Chau - DH02G-AV28)

As time went by, after twenty years, Rip Van Winkle changed from a hen-pecked husband to a free man. He finally could enjoy the joy of deliverance from his wife. Through the _expression “joy at his deliverance”, I think that the author wanted to express his concept toward the family tie and the human nature.

          The first thing to be mentioned is Rip's family tie. It is often said that family is necessarily the most peaceful place to be. Also, it is the place that we are loved by our beloved ones. However, this was not true with Rip Van Winkle's family. Rip did not have a voice in his own family. Moreover, he was despised in his own family by his wife, Mrs. Dame Van Winkle. She was known as a termagant, bad-tempered, and tyrant woman who overly wore the breeches. She “kept continually dinning in his ears about his idleness, his carelessness, and the ruin he was bringing on his family”. She minded Rip's laziness very much and nagged him about it all the time. She yelled at him loudly enough to be heard across town and often threw pots and other household items at Rip and Wolf. She would criticize Rip and nag at him no matter where he went to get away. Also, she had no hesitation in nagging at his friends and calling them names. These details indicate that Rip's family is not a favorite place to be. Instead, when a husband very often tries to think of an excuse to say to his wife, it has become a heavy tie. Our Rip has lost his role in the family and his face in front of his friend as well. From this point, it is understandable why after her death, whenever her name was mentioned, Rip leisurely expresses “joy at his deliverance”.

          The second thing expressed through the term “joy at his deliverance” is the human nature which is represented by the character Rip Van Winkle. It is widely accepted that human nature is hard to change over time. This is the case of Rip. After twenty year of sleep, his nature of being a person of community still existed. He still thirsted for a sense of community. He wanted to “go in and out whenever he pleased”, communicated with many people and did many things for them. He was free to do whatever he liked without being yelled. This explains for the fact that he felt relieved when his wife was no longer alive. The “joy at his deliverance” derives from his unchanged nature in a time which everything has changed.

          In conclusion, from my point of view, the concept of the author over the _expression “joy at his deliverance” aims at the family tie and the human nature. To a certain extend, the living circumstance gives an influence on the way people live, act, and behave. Yet, the crucial element is the human nature. It is what makes people live the way they are living.