Don Quixote’s madness has begun to alienate him but towards the end of the reading he shows promise that he is still capable of telling a great story and being aware of his surroundings. To go back to how Don Quixote’s madness is alienating himself, I give the example of how instead of returning to his lover Dulcinea, he decides to sit by himself in the forest which in my mind is completely delirious. Instead of doing what he had wanted to do throughout his whole travels, he decides to do the exact opposite. Although he might think his reasoning for this is acceptable, I don’t. Don Quixote is taking his chivalric knighthood way to seriously and it has started to add to not only his physical pain but his emotional pain also.

To add another example to Don Quixote’s growing madness and how that has affected his communication with others, I say this. When Anselmo was sharing his story with all the other characters, Don Quixote was no where to be seen. His madness and determination to be alone allowed him to miss all of Anselmo’s story which lasted three chapters long! Considering his name is the title of the book, I would assume that he would be in every chapter. He begins to exist almost outside the events of the novel.

As the novel goes on to my surprise and I think to other readers also, he begins to show his real self again. He starts to come back into the real world and know his surroundings more. He begins to realize that people do not believe him anymore. For example when he wakes up and begins to tell Dorthea about how he killed the giants. He stops mid story realizing that Dorthea wouldn’t believe what he was saying and then went on to say,“time, which unveils all mysteries, will reveal this one when we least expect it.” This shows how he is beginning to realize how other people view him. The one scene that get everyone’s attention and makes them actually believe in Don Quixote for a change is when they are at the inn and he gives his speech on the relative merits of scholars and knights. On page 329 there is a quote saying “In this manner, and with these rational arguments, Don Quixote continued his disclosure, and no one listening to him at that moment could think of him as a madam; rather, since most were gentlemen engaged in the practice of arms, they were very pleased to listen, and he went on saying:.” This shows that he still has it in him to be able to grab peoples attention and make them believe in him. Just from this one scene, the reader now knows that Don Quixote has not lost his mind completely but is actually starting to get his mind back.