From the reading of chapters seventeen through twenty-five of part two, I conclude than Don Quixote has changed. From the lion incident to his talk of poetry with Don Lorenzo, I believe Don Quixote would have reacted very differently if those scenes were to happen in part one.
The Don Quixote that we knew in part one is not at all like the Don Quixote in part two of the novel. He is wiser, calmer, less gullible and move loving to people he meets. To give an example of how he has changed, I go back to chapter seventeen on page five hundred and sixty-five right after the lion encounter happened. I quote,”Then the lion keeper, in great detail and with many pauses, recounted the outcome of the contest, exaggerating to the best of his ability and skill the valor of Don Quixote, the sight of whom made a coward of the lion, who refused and did not dare to leave his cage, although he had kept the door open for some time; and only because he had told the knight that it was tempting God to provoke the lion and force him to come out, which is what he wanted him to do, and despite the knight’s wishes and against his will, he had allowed the door to be closed again.” Although you an see some of Don Quixote’s old self from this quote, the simple act of not provoking the lion is where I see a change. I think if this happened in part one, Don Quixote would have really tried to aggravate the lion and would end up getting mauled by the ferocious beast. Also to add on to the same scene, when he first saw the mule driver, I was surprised to see Don Quixote not get offended and start a brawl with the mule driver when he insisted on not opening the lion cage. In part one, Don Quixote definitely would have taken offense to the mule driver’s words when he tried to persuade Don Quixote not to confront the lions. The outcome of the scene as a whole is also is different from what you would expect to see if it were to happen in part one. If that were to happen in part one, I would have no doubt in my mind to say that Don Quixote would have ended up getting mauled by those lions simply because so many bad things happened to him in part one.
A great scene from part two that shows how Don Quixote is more loving to people he meets comes in chapter twenty-eight. This is when he meets Don Diego’s son, Don Lorenzo. After Don Lorenzo reads him some of his poetry he instantly loves it and says that it is the best poetry that he has ever heard. I simply could not see this happening in part one. If this were to happen in part one he still might like Don Lorenzo’s poetry but would never go so far as to say it was the best poetry he has ever heard. He would have kept his pride and either not say anything or that it was ok, but he defiantly would not go that far and be that loving Don Lorenzo’s poetry. I just think he is more opened minded and less defensive in part two. In part one he took offense to a lot more things. I am starting to like this Don Quixote more and more as I read along.
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