Rip Van Winkle tells the story of a man who, while trekking in the Kaatskill Mountains, mysteriously spends twenty years of his life during the Revolutionary War. When he returns home, he discovers that things have changed radically; King George no longer has control over the colonies, and many of his friends have died or left town. At this point, the story reaches its climax, when Van Winkle realizes that his life may have changed forever. Up to this point, Rip Van Winkle has only had to deal with the change around him. Having no doubts about his personal character, his fears remain singular only for a short time, for when the crowd points to a man they call Rip Van Winkle, he too begins to question his existence. "I'm not myself, I'm someone else, it's me over there, no, it's someone else, I put myself in my shoes..." At this point frustration sets in, as our hero Rip is unable to explain the events that happened to him. Overnight, his world has changed drastically and no logical explanation can be found. The biggest problem, however, is the identity crisis that Van Winkle is suffering. After a detailed analysis of this culminating section, two dominant themes are found: confusion and the question of personal identity. There are constant references to these ideas throughout the selection. That Van Winkle is confused seems obvious and is quite understandable, but this confusion extends beyond the bizarre sequence of events encountered. When Rip notices the person the township refers to as Rip Van Winkle, it is as if he is looking at himself in the mirror, because this person portrays a "precise counterpoint of himself." Although Rip visually sees this other person, his examination becomes a personal reflection… at the center of the paper… concerns about which groups might provide leadership to the masses and how those masses should be represented. Men like Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin, who had provided great leadership to this nascent nation, were leaving America's fate in new hands. Pessimists expressed their opinions, but there was a great feeling of optimism as the Industrial Revolution began to show its effects throughout the United States and around the world. The question of identity seemed a pertinent question at the time. In this story, Rip Van Winkle's search for identity provides, perhaps, the most challenging aspect of the story. In the selected passage, we see his character go through huge emotional changes. In just one paragraph, we watch his life unfold as he searches for the inner truth he had denied. In one paragraph we saw a man find himself.