Comparison: Rip Van Winkle and The Devil and Tom Walker

I actually enjoyed reading "Rip Van Winkle" and "The Devil and Tom Walker." They were both very interesting stories, that in a way had the same message and closely followed the romanticism writing style. "The Devil and Tom Walker" was one of the more descriptive stories I have ever read. All in all, the story could be summed up in a couple paragraphs, but in actuality it is about ten pages long, which shows how descriptive the writing is, and how things are being carried out. In "Rip Van Winkle," I experienced the same story line, just told in a different perspective.  I like how the stories have the same detail about the wives constantly nagging them and persistently putting them down or yelling at them.

As for the actual writing style, both of the short stories are examples of romanticism writing. For example, one characteristic of romanticism writing is the seeking unspoiled nature. In "The Devil and Tom Walker," Tom ends up going to the Indian Fort that not many people visit because they are too afraid of the things that happened there. To Tom, that is sort of like unspoiled nature because it is not a place that many people visit and he goes there and can sort of clear his mind of all thoughts. It is also a place where he can go to escape the wrath of his wife at times.

In "Rip Van Winkle," there is a seen where the men are sitting and gossiping about news in the town, where it is mentioned if a newspaper were to fall in their laps they would read and discuss the issues. I find this as an example of how the characters value their opinion as compared to the educated sophistication of others. "
But it would have been worth any statesman’s money to have heard the profound discussions which sometimes took place, when by chance an old newspaper fell into their hands, from some passing traveler." The above quote shows me that Rip Values the opinions that were told in the meetings over the government rulers, which is a characteristic of the romanticism writing. 

Another aspect of the stories is the nature that is found in them. The nature described is always vivid and detailed. Nature played an important role in romanticism writing, which was reflected in both of the short stories. In "The Devil and Tom Walker," the quote "It was full of pits and quagmires, partly covered with weeds and mosses; where the green surface often betrayed the traveler into a gulf of black smothering mud; there were also dark and stagnant pools, the abodes of the tadpole, the bull frog, and the water snake, and where trunks of pines and hemlocks lay half drowned, half rotting, looking like alligators, sleeping in the mire," is the most vivid quote of the whole story for me. I can really image the swamp he is travelling through and get a mental picture of what is happening. In "Rip Van Winkle," the quote "On the other side he looked down into a deep mountain glen, wild, lonely, and shagged, the bottom filled with fragments from the impending cliffs, and scarcely lighted by the reflected rays of the setting sun," gives me a clear picture of the mountains and the transition from day to evening. 

Overall, I like the stories and how they portrayed the same message, but had entirely different writing styles to get the message across. They both follow the romanticism writing style, and can closely be compared to each other considering they were written by the same person.

Irving, Washington. "The Devil and Tom Walker." Comp. Jeffrey D. Wilhelm, Ph.D. and Douglas Fisher, Ph.D. Glencoe Literature. American Literature ed. Columbus: McGraw-Hill Companies, 2009. 240-250. Print.

Matthews, Washington Irving. "4. Rip Van Winkle By Washington Irving. Matthews, Brander. 1907. The Short-Story." Bartleby.com: Great Books Online -- Quotes, Poems, Novels, Classics and Hundreds More. Web. 05 Dec. 2011.