Don Quixote’s End

The end to Don Quixote both annoyed me and made me happy. The first reason it annoyed me was because after all his adventures and their possible outcomes, don Quixote dies due to a sickness. His death wasn’t heroic or exciting it was boring and went against what don Quixote stood for. The second reason the ending annoyed me was because don Quixote suddenly becomes sane and is able to see reality; one important theme of the novel was that don Quixote was strong because he never let people sway his beliefs (which made him know as a crazy man). Don Quixote’s entire personality was based off of his craziness and hallucinations, he isn’t don Quixote without them. However, the ending made me happy because don Quixote was able to die in his home surrounded by people who cared for him, their wishes came true because he was sane in the end.

Remembering Don Quixote

I will remember Don Quixote after this semester, mostly because of the lessons both the novel and the character were able to teach. The first lesson that the character don Quixote taught me was to stay true to myself. Throughout the novel many characters’ attempt to change don Quixote and try to make him see their way; however, despite all of their schemes don Quixote stands his ground, follows what he sees/believes, and never shies away from being able to prove himself to those around him.

Cervantes taught me to be thankful that copyright now exists. Without copyright my work/ideas could be stolen (like Cervantes characters were with the false Quixote). Another thing that I will take away from the novel is that just because people are rude, say no, or disagree with me or my ideas doesn’t mean I should give up. Don Quixote consistently tried to accomplish his many goals with determination and perseverance. Don Quixote never stopped trying to make Dulcinea (his love) no longer “enchanted”, he kept his promise to the “princess” by not engaging in other activities until he had helped her, and he didn’t give up any fights (unless he physically couldn’t).

The novel taught me about friendship and loyalty. Sancho stayed by don Quixote’s side no matter what happened; whether he was blanketed, lost his donkey, lied to, sent on ridiculous tasks, asked to whip himself, or sent away to govern an island; Sancho stuck with don Quixote to the very end. Sancho finally had everything he wanted (the island), but he eventually gave it up and went right back to don Quixote. Sancho was there with don Quixote when he died, allowing for his friend to be surrounded by “loved ones” when he passed. Sancho was as loyal as a golden retriever and that is the best and strongest loyalty and friendship that anyone could find or ask for. I hope to have friends (or dogs) as amazing Sancho.

“And then, turning to Sancho, he said, ‘Forgive me, my friend, that I led thee to seem as mad as myself, making thee fall into the same error I myself fell into, that there were and still are knights-errant in the world.’ ‘Ah!’ said Sancho weeping, ‘don’t die, master, but take my advice and live many years; for the foolishest thing a man can do in this life is to let himself die without rhyme or reason, without anybody killing him, or any hands but melancholy’s making an end of him… If it be that you are dying of vexation at having been vanquished, lay the blame on me, and say you were overthrown because I had girthed Rocinante badly; besides you must have seen in your books of chivalry that it is a common thing for knights to upset one another, and for him who is conquered to-day to be conqueror tomorrow’” (Chapter LXXIV).

The relationship between don Quixote and Sancho Panza, will stay with me the most. Friends, family, and loyalty are some of the most important things to me, therefore, seeing how strong their friendship was, it made me think about how good of a friend I was. Am I willing to follow my friends anywhere blindly with only the promise of being paid back for it? Would they follow me? I wish that Sancho perspective was used more often in the novel, especially when it came to his feelings about don Quixote and his craziness. The novel made me think about a lot of things, it is creative, intellectual, and gives insight to another time period.