Question

What kind of man was Rip van winkle?

Answer 1

Hint: Washington Irving's novella "Rip Van Winkle" is about a colonial Dutch American peasant who falls asleep for twenty years in the Catskill Mountains. Only his old buddy Peter Vanderdonk knows Rip when he wakes up twenty years later and learns the American Revolution has been won.

Complete answer:
Rip Van Winkle is a kind farmer who goes into the Catskill Mountains and encounters a gang of dwarfs who are playing ninepins. Rip accepts their offer of a sip of bourbon and falls asleep almost immediately. He is an old man with a long white beard when he awakens 20 years later; the dwarfs are nowhere to be seen. When Rip returns to town, he discovers that everything has changed: his wife has died, his children have grown up, and King George III's painting has been replaced by George Washington's. The townsfolk are entertained by the old man's tales of the past, including his meeting with the small men in the mountains.

Rip is a "friendly neighbour" “lazy person” and a "simple, good-natured fellow." '' We know he's popular with the women in the community since he's described as a "big favourite."
Rip interacts with the local youngsters, who "shout with delight whenever he approaches." Rip Van Winkle is a slacker as well.

Note: Rip Van Winkle is a throwback to a bygone era. He depicts the Catskill Mountains world that existed previous to the Revolutionary War's start but has now altered beyond recognition in the twenty years that Rip has been sleeping.