From the perspectives of Benjamin Franklin in “The Way to Wealth” and Thomas Paine in “Common Sense,” Rip Van Winkle emerges as a character who embodies a mix of both approval and disapproval. Franklin, with his emphasis on industriousness and the virtue of hard work, would likely disapprove of Rip’s apparent laziness and lack of ambition. In “The Way to Wealth,” Franklin famously states, “Diligence is the mother of good luck,”


