Rip Van Winkle, by Washington Irving, and Cheever’s “The Country Husband” are similar stories about the American Revolution. Rip Van Winkle and Francis Weed’s character depicts the American society. Dame Van Winkle and Julia Weed represent the colonial masters of America and how they suppressed America to bow down for the British crown.
Rip Van Winkle and Francis Weed are also portrayed as generous and patriotic husbands as they seem to be liked by their people. They are liked by most people in their village and they represent significant figures in their household but they face problems with their wives with constant nagging about their duties. This can be related to the political situation with the continued government control by America’s colonial masters who refused to grant America its freedom. Francis Weed tried to avoid the wife and date the babysitter in other to run away from the wife’s trouble and Rip Van winkle also tried to escape the wife by going into the city to sit and drink in front of the tree. Both characters represent how colonial masters do not give the American society the freedom to live as free people even as they yearn for it every day.
After the revolution the American society became more aware of their self government. This is seen when Rip came back to town after his 20 year nap, the townspeople were filled with a new found energy looking forward to the next elections. They asked questions of political nature as opposed to before when all conversation was idle gossip. In the case of Francis Weed, after the plane crushed and he got home on his regular schedule, no one paid attention to what he was saying, he realized that no one actually loved him in his family so he started to hurt everyone intentionally to gain his freedom.
While Rip seems to be enjoying some love from his village, Francis is somehow rebelling against the pompous propriety of Shady Hill. When he meets Mrs. Wrightson at the train station and she rants on and on about what in the world she should do about her odd-sized windows, Francis tells her to shut up and paint them black. Both the irrepressible child Gertrude, who dresses like a bag lady and wanders in and out of people’s homes, and the stubborn dog, Jupiter, who “broke up garden parties and tennis matches, and got mixed up in the processional at Christ Church on Sunday, barking at the men in red dresses” represent for Francis a deliberate flouting of the social mores which so completely constrict him within the bounds of Shady Hill. He definitely wants his freedom in other to live free and be a happy man.
Even though Francis Weed is a worthy man as compared to Rip Van Winkle, both of them have the same problem of lack of power. This led to both characters vanishing at a point in their life to explore the world beyond their home to see if they can acquire that power and freedom that they desperately need, making both stories about the same struggle for freedom and independence of the American society before and after the revolution.
