Washington Irving essay

Though a trained lawyer, Irving had a knack for poetry and literature as demonstrated in series of satirical essays that focused on phases of life in a contemporary society, greatly influenced by his several trips in Canada and Europe due to his health complications. In context, just like authors during his time, societal, social and cultural forces had significant influence on the fascinating life Irving that Irving led, and this paper will focus on his texts in Rip Van Winkle to expound on his unique writing style, tone, common themes and his general use of literary devices. Thematically, his texts on Rip Van Winkle revolve around freedom and progress and change; the ability to think and do what one wishes in life as the major drivers of holistic human growth and development.

That is, in a free society and with availability of choices, one’s destiny depends on choices an individual makes and the ultimate expectation of the society is to have all-round developed individuals. For instance, before taking the 20-year nap, Rip’s wife nagging of him about the job had him lose the context of freedom. Comparatively, Irving employs motifs in his constant representation of idea of change and awakening to a new environment as envisioned in the historic era of his time. For instance, after waking up, he finds the mountains had changed; an indication of economic development of buildings and other structures and representation of change as the overall theme of the story. Motif of escape helps in changing the society around, in that, it regurgitates the idea of the importance of being realistic in setting goals and working on them as the basis of achieving substantial change.