Introduction
Don Quixote is a novel by Miguel de Cervantes and revolves around a young man whose disillusioned view of the world leads home into many adventures. The main character Don, has read several books based on heroes. He becomes fixated with the possibility of becoming a hero much like those in his famed books of literature. He takes up the responsibility of feeding and caring for the helpless and poor. Unfortunately, he has neither the talent nor the ability to be a true hero and ends up becoming a laughing stock. The adventures of Quixote are beside an elderly laborer known as Sancho who is more disillusioned perhaps even more disillusioned than Sancho himself.
The story of Don Quixote and his works includes a variety of experiences brought on by new friends and people that he meets. The story focuses on Don’s view of the experiences of the individuals. From his view it seems that everything and everyone has a purpose. Even when looked down upon with much disdain, he still manages to find crude and weird ways of becoming even more outlandish. For example, he steals the barber’s basin convinced that it is the long lose Helmet of Mambrino.
Thesis statement: Miguel Cervantes, creates a character in Don Quixote whose determination, courage and faith illustrate a colorful perception of the world.
AUTHOR’ ROLE
Defining Don Quixote’s world
When he develops the idea of becoming a true hero, a knight of the day, Don opens a whole new world for himself. Together with Sancho, they embark on several adventures. The reader is able to view their actions through the author’s quick judgment. In essence, Don imagines himself as a hero and all through the novel he is involved in what he considers to be heroic acts. In truth, the reader can see what foolishness his actions are. Even when judged harshly by compatriots and fellow citizens, he is far from discouraged from what he considers his own heroic journey. It is natural to imagine that when confronted with several possibilities that his journey is indeed made out of foolishness, he would become discouraged and perhaps abandon the adventure altogether. However, the opposite is proven to be true. The novel includes one stupid idea after another and each ends with Don imagining his own triumph and success. Even when according to (Cervantes 1911: 1.1 43) he leaves a young boy in the care of an evil farmer, he is convinced that it is the best option.
Explaining the perceptions of Don Quixote
Don’s world is nothing as the world that we see. His imagination helps him to create a world that is unique and which in turn makes the real world bearable. In his time, the world was filled with poverty, conflict, division of social classes and a lot of suffering. Escape from the real world seemed futile, everywhere one went, they were followed by the stench of depression and the ugliness of the real world. This is pf course unless you are Don who has learnt the simple ways of escaping the real world. During the start of his journey, he stops at an inn where he convinces himself he has entered a beautiful castle with many servants and fellow knights. In another passage, he meets Dulcinea, a beautiful peasant woman who soon becomes the love of his life. In truth, Dulcinea is a wench known as Aldonza and is far from being beautiful let alone the love described by Don. This does not stop him from fighting for her love, wooing her in strange ways and embarking on several misdeeds to prove himself worthy of her love. For Don Life is all about castles, true adventures and the love of a woman.
Defining the character of Don Quixote
This view is used by the author to show the true character of Don. Whereas, readers may feel sorry for him, the author shows his lack of realistic sense and his inability to cope with the real world. Sancho who is perhaps more saner than Don often suffers the punishments for their misdeeds. His unreasonableness is seen clearly when he imagines that windmills are giants. Sancho embarks on proving to his master than indeed the windmills are just that windmills, but he is not to be persuaded. He is convinced that the windmills are realistic giants.
Judging the action of Don Quixote
Cervantes plays a crucial role in helping the reader see through the eyes of Don. He takes the time to clarify points, often interrupting the story and plot to make corrections in assumptions and explain the actions of his character. He claims not to have created Don Quixote for the purpose of his story but rather defines Don as a character in history, whom he has encountered. Through his story telling, the author becomes not just the writer of the story but actually a character in his own book.
Cervantes continually establishes that his character, though based on history is something of a mockery. It is through his words that readers make judgments on Don’s character many of which are less than friendly. He shows the failure of his character to live up to the standard of society. However, he uses the same mockery to explain to the reader that the state of heroism and chivalry is in complete disarray. In the entire story, nobody not even the woman who is the object of his affection understands the actions of Don. Only Sancho shows some semblance of understanding.
Cervantes take the time to show exactly how reality and realism is reacting to Don’s actions. Other characters in the book fail to see through the intentions of Don and therefore judge him harshly. Only the reader can see his true intention though his actions are somewhat misdirected. Those characters who disapprove openly of Don Quixote’s actions are soon disrupted by his perceptions on life
ROLE OF THE READER
The role of the reader in the book is much easier. The reader has an exclusive view into the world and perceptions of Don Quixote. It is therefore much easier for the reader to understand the actions of Don Quixote. The character illuminates various feelings and emotions from the reader. The reader’s role in the book can be summarized as understanding the various perceptions of Don Quixote.
Don Quixote the insane character
The author takes time to explain the various classes involved in the story. Don Quixote is determined to have has a Genteel upbringing. At the beginning the reader is shown that Quixote’s apparent madness does not come from his upbringing or from a lack of resources. Don is said to be a young man of genteel upbringing with enough money to never work again. The reader is therefore drawn to the conclusion that Don’s madness and perception arise from idleness rather than any other matter. His idleness leads him to read books on knights and heroes, in turn convincing himself that he is indeed a knight. The reader is privy to some of the arguments that Don Quixote puts forth explaining his actions. In addition, the reader can see the frustration of the other characters as they attempt to convince him that he is on the wrong path. Surprisingly, his explanations when confronted by other “saner” individuals are far from crazy. To the reader there seems to be a methodological approach to Don’s craziness. He is not just crazy, in some cases the reader is forced to support the logic of his actions however crazy they are.
When confronted by the priest, Don Quixote outs forth some pretty logical explanations for his actions and perception of the world that he surprises his own executioner. The priest has come to rid Don of his mad spirits but even he is surprised at how sane he sounds ( Cervantes 1911: 1.4. 23). The reader gets an incredible view of his perceptions of the world, where only what agrees with this perception is let in and the rest is thrown out.
Quixote: the learned fellow
Only the reader can describe Don Quixote as anything but mad. Through the eyes of the reader, Quixote becomes something more than a mad person on a rampage; he becomes a scholar and learned individual. Even Sancho marvels at the level of knowledge that his master shows. He is not just knowledgeable in works of fiction as would be expected, but also has exemplary knowledge of religion and literature (Cervantes 1911: 2.1 58). Whereas each of the characters thinks of him as crazy, the reader as the unique ability to actually see what they think. The duke and duchess for example are convinced that he is beyond help, yet they admire the knowledge with which he has penned advice to Sancho who at the time is acting as a governor (Cervantes 1911: 2.1 44). For the reader, he is not just a character who is crazy and beyond help as many of the characters in the book agrees, he is indeed an interesting character who shows us a unique perspective of the world that we live in.
Quixote: an accomplished lover
Perhaps the biggest contribution of the reader is the understanding of Don Quixote as a lover. From the reader’s perspective, the wench transforms into the beautiful Dulcinea, a woman worth fighting for. And fight for her, he does; for example when he runs into a group of travelers who have no clue who Dulcinea is, he fights them for their ignorance and what he considers a lack of respect (Cervantes 1911: 1.1 4). To every other person, Dulcinea is just a figment of his imagination. But throughout the story the reader is able to understand his affections for her as well as his loyalty to the woman. When his love is put to the test by the beautiful Altisidora who writes him continuous love songs. The reader is the only one who understands and admires his loyalty and faithfulness to Dulcinea. He says, she is the only one who can mould by manly temper and mould me as she pleases; (Cervantes 1911: 2.1 44). To the reader, this is a testimony of true love in the weird world of Don Quixote.
CONCLUSION
The role of the author can be seen and described very simply, as, an attempt to describe and provide a visual for Don quixotic perceptions of the world. Through his penmanship, the author brings the characters to life and indeed assists the reader to form an opinion of them. The author attempts to make the actions of Don Quixote humorous as opposed to flat out idiotic. On the other hand, the reader is forced to act as some sort of devil’s advocate. The reader is the only one with two perspectives; that is, he sees the actions for what they are but also sees the reasons behind the action. The reader sees the complex nature of a character who has already been judged as completely insane.
REFERENCES
Cervantes, Saavedra M. Don Quixote. Dodd, 1911. Print.
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