Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Rip Van Winkle Book Review and Thoughts

I was reading a story called Rip Van Winkle yesterday, and it was such a touching story I thought I would share it with my readers. Now, if you have read Rip Van Winkle before, you might want to skip from the story to the thoughts and review. Here is how the story goes:

Rip Van Winkle is a young man in a town were he is loved by everyone, because he always helps them. However, his wife is always mad at him for not getting his chores done on his own farm, and always going out hunting. So one day, he goes out hunting in the mountain, and he hears a small voice call his name. So he goes and sees a man carrying a casket, so he helps him. He finds a group of small men bowling high in the mountains, and has a drink they give him. He wakes up lower in the mountains as an old man, and he goes back to town. His son and daughter are grown, and his wife is dead. He missed his life doing something his wife asked him not to do.

Being young, I didn't get the main story idea at first, so I needed some help from Dad. But I finally got the main concept of the story: Sometimes the hero isn't really the hero. I find that some of the sad points in the story are that he practically missed his life. He didn't get to see his children grow up, and he never got a chance to set things right with his wife, who thought he was lazy.

The fact is, if he had done his work in the first place, his wife would not have yelled, he would not have gone into the woods to get away from her, he would not have heard the voice, and then he would never have been turned old. So in the end, Rip had no one to blame but himself for missing his life. It was unfair, but it taught him a lesson.

Rip was showing a lack of honor and respect for his home and his family by not doing his chores. He was lazy and irresponsible, and got what he deserved.

Maddie

No comments:

Post a Comment