Rip the Hero
Literary critic Cynthia Bily suggests that Rip Van Winkle can be compared to countless other literary heros. For example, she compares the first part of Rip's journey.
"As Campbell explains it, the hero's story starts with a call to adventure.The hero does not necessarily want to become a hero, or to venture outon a quest that will separate him from the world he knows and change hislife forever. Instead, some outside force compels him to leave home. FrodoBaggins must leave home because his Uncle Bilbo has left him the One Ring,and he must get it out of the Shire before it is found. In Rip's case,the force that drives him away from home is his wife's bad temper. Shescolds him to such an extent that he is "at last reduced almost to despair,"and finally "his only alternative" is to take up his gun and "stroll away into the woods." Campbell writes that "the dark forest" is "typical ofthe circumstances of the call," and it is not until late evening, too latefor him to reach home before dark, that Rip begins to leave for home andhears a voice calling his name" (Bily).
Pick another hero that you are familiar with and compare them to Rip Van Winkle. Don't worry about finding a hero who is an exact match. Find a hero with an interesting similarity and run with it.
"As Campbell explains it, the hero's story starts with a call to adventure.The hero does not necessarily want to become a hero, or to venture outon a quest that will separate him from the world he knows and change hislife forever. Instead, some outside force compels him to leave home. FrodoBaggins must leave home because his Uncle Bilbo has left him the One Ring,and he must get it out of the Shire before it is found. In Rip's case,the force that drives him away from home is his wife's bad temper. Shescolds him to such an extent that he is "at last reduced almost to despair,"and finally "his only alternative" is to take up his gun and "stroll away into the woods." Campbell writes that "the dark forest" is "typical ofthe circumstances of the call," and it is not until late evening, too latefor him to reach home before dark, that Rip begins to leave for home andhears a voice calling his name" (Bily).
Pick another hero that you are familiar with and compare them to Rip Van Winkle. Don't worry about finding a hero who is an exact match. Find a hero with an interesting similarity and run with it.
posted by Jared at 10/23/2006 03:20:00 PM
3 Comments:
Another hero like Rip Van Winkle is Peter Parker. Both of them fall asleep (Obviously Rip's was longer) and both wake up and think that everything is the same. Soon however they find out that something has changed. Peter is stronger and can see without his glasses. Rip has a long beard and the people in the town are different. At first all of these changes are frightening to the characters, but both learn to deal with them. It seems only after loosing someone they love do they change. Peter looses his Uncle and Rip looses his life. Peter becomes Spiderman and Rip lives with his daughter to the end of his days. Both characters at first dislike the changes but in the end adapt to meet these changes and live happily. It seems that although the characters story's are different the journey is near the same.
Another hero that is like Rip Van Winkle is Batman(compared to the movie, "Batman Begins"). Batman is locked away in prison and when he gets out he is like Rip when he gets out of prison he is different and the world is different. He and Rip both have to change to fit into what the world has become. In the begining the changes, such as Rip's long beard, are shocking to both the characters, but they learn to overcome them in the end. For the characters to change it takes a little persuasion, Rip looses his life and Batman is compelled to protect the cop girl from dying. The changes that the characters underwent were for the better eventhough they didn't like them at first. If you think hard about both these characters you can find the similarities between their journeys through change.
Chuck Noland, played by Tom Hanks in the movie Cast Away, is similar to Rip Van Winkle. Chuck spends four years on an isolated island after his Fed-Ex plane crashes. When he finally returns to civilization his entire life has changed. Similar to Rip Van Winkle who looses his wife, Chuck returns to find his fiancée married with a child. Chuck and Rip Van Winkle both most accept that everyone and everything they once knew has changed. Unlike Chuck, when Rip Van Winkle returns to his home he doesn’t think that anything is suppose to be different. Chuck returns grateful for surviving and instead of feeling self pity, he begins to understand what is really important in life.
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