Written by Miguel de Cervantes, Don Quixote revolves around the adventures of a noble from La Mancha, who reads so many chivalric romances that he loses his mind and decides to become a knight to revive chivalry and serve its nation. Don Quixote does many ludicrous like fighting a windmill and freeing the criminals in the belief that chivalry would be restored to its old glory; however, after defeated by his neighbor in a chivalric fight, he loathes the idea of chivalry and, till death, he finds what he has done stupid.
In Spain, it could be considered as significant as those pieces of work by Shakespeare. Not only did it get the whole of Europe crazy at that time, but it also remains to be an important piece pf humanist work in Western literature. A very good analogy to explain the craze of Don Quixote is Deadpool versus other superhero movies. The theater is stuffed with all sorts of mediocre superhero movies by DC and Marvel for decades, and the emergence of an anti-superhero movie would undoubtedly spark the interest of the mass. On the other hand, it celebrates individuality by giving realistic portrayals of humanity. While humanism puts man in the center of attention, emphasizing the morality of human beings individually and collectively, the book of Don Quixote realistically discusses the topic, with both its negative and positive aspects.
Unlike other masterpieces, Don Quixote usually attracts greater sentiments from the more experienced and thus conservative generations. Everyone has had been at that stage in life where they want to do many things to achieve their goals, to name a few, playing music sacrificing their time to study, or investing all their deposit into something they find worth it. However, most of these people wind up giving up on their dreams, crippled by how realistic the world treats them.
Don Quixote is never truly defeated by anyone. He is defeated by his realization of how ludicrous it is to maintain his aspirations.
Is Don Quixote a naive person? Indeed.
However, he does do everything for the fundamental sake of justice. Bravely has he gone against the world once. Meanwhile, people around him are forever slaves of the world.
Most of the elder generations have already given up on their dreams to live an easier life. No matter where they are, they would always hold nothing but unlimited appreciation for this one person who insists on being himself albeit in the whole world’s disdain.
