Washington Irving is an author and editor of numerous fictional works and short stories. His fictional works, biographies, historical writings and short stories made him achieve international fame. Before his death in 1859 Irving was the United States ambassador to Spain and he used his position to promote international copyright law. Irving is a scholar for he studied law; however he was not an exceptional student, and he barely passed the bar. His writing career began by writing periodicals, whimsical journals and letters. Irving has many writings in his literary career. His works include The Legend of The Sleepy Hollow, The Devil and Tom Walker, Rip Van Winkle and A History of New York. In spite of all of these famous works, Irving did not win any awards.
Irving is both a mythical and factual person this is evident in his book Rip Van Wrinkle. In this narrative, there appears to be myths and facts. The myth is the lengthy night slumber of Rip and the fact is the shifting proceedings of the revolution. In this story, the writer presents to us a general outlook of life of a rural community in the Kuatskill mountains region. Rip Van Wrinkle is the main character of this narrative. Irving puts together Rip with relatively odds attribute that makes persons hard to comprehend. He is polite and kind based on the judgments of the villagers. He is a hardworking fellow, and he is forever prepared to help everyone in his village.
Washington is religious, and he acknowledges the existence of God. This is evident in his book “The Legend of The Sleepy Hollow”. In abandoning the Puritan Past, one of the earliest fictional societies in America was that of the Puritans. Their scripts were aiming at instructing on the wonders of God as well as to initiate a reader’s reflection on his or her position in God’s Universe. The natural world, in Puritan scripts, was a terrifying thing. God made nature with the intention that the Puritans can make a livelihood in this earth, but nature is also where sorcerers, spirits and demons live, waiting to lure and trouble the righteous.
Some of The Irvin’s works portray him as Nepotic. This is evident in the Legend of the Sleepy Hollow, where he has two leading characters, Bram Bones and Ichabod Crane. These two heroes want the same lady, Katrina Van Tassel, the daughter of a prominent Dutch farmer. Despite the fact, they both desire the same lady these two lads are entirely dissimilar. In this narrative, Washington Irving does not conceal the reality that he evidently favours Ichabod Crane more than Brom Bones.
Irvin also explored native themes in his first book “A History of New York”. This book made him contribute significantly to portraiture of the American Indian. Even though, his immediate surveillance of Indians was partial, he was open-minded on the pioneer's need to validate Indian displacement. He was able to sympathize with Indians, bringing the perception of a worldly person to issues of civilization and barbarity.
Irving illustrates traits of Romanticism in his works. He does not portray perfect characters; he depicts individuals how they truly are, including all of their imperfections. Through his scripts, he articulates his love for the natural world by where his narratives take place. He also demonstrates vast imagination in his works, with a little surprise and mystery. In the book Rip Van Wrinkle, Irving portrays one of the men that Rip came across in the mountains as having “a gigantic head, wide face, and tiny piggish eyes: the face of the other one look as if it comprises of only the nose and a hat overcomes it, set off with a small red cock’s tail.” He did not portray these characters perfect features.
Despite Washington Irving admitting that he was not an exceptional scholar, evidently he was a talented writer. His works cover a broad range of themes and his style of writing display his masterly prowess. Irving’s works are still intriguing readers’ minds centuries after his demise. Clearly, Washington Irving is a legend and his works are a masterpiece.
