One of the aspects that are similar in stories that happened both to Winkle and Brown is that the culmination of events happens concerning them falling asleep. Winkle meets a man who is dressed in old clothes and goes to an amphitheater with him. When the man suggests a drink, he chugs it and falls into a deep sleep, which eventually turned out to last for twenty years. In the journey that happened to Brown, the moment when he falls asleep is not described. He sees that the whole village, including his wife, is in the dark cult and then wakes up in the forest. Therefore, in comparison, these parts of their stories are similar.
Whereas Winkle wakes up to see the changes that happened to his life, Brown wakes up to see that nothing happened. When Winkle comes back to the village, he sees that everything is slightly different, and even the pub where he hung out with his friend in front of has a different name. “The very village was altered: it was larger and more populous” (Washington, n.d.). Unlike him, Brown seemed to expect that everybody from the village is in a dark cult, but when he comes back, he sees no changes, as the residents are engaged in their usual activities and show no signs of being people who assist the devil. These aspects of their journeys are the primary difference between the stories.
Winkle is changed by his journey, mostly in terms of his age, as there are not many changes in his personality after he slept for twenty years. His life seems to become even happier as he retires and does not work at his farm anymore, and is still able to spend time with his friends and family. Brown, on the other hand, was changed by his journey dramatically. He woke up suspecting everybody of assisting the devil and was never happy again after his dream. “A stern, a sad, a darkly meditative, a distrustful, if not a desperate man did he become from the night of that fearful dream” (Hawthorne, n.d.). This contrasts with his living a normal and happy life before this event occurred.
References
Washington, I. (n.d.). Rip Van Winkle. Web.
Hawthorne, N. (n.d.). Young Goodman Brown. Web.