(331 words) Don Quixote, the central character of Miguel Cervantes’s novel “The Cunning Hidalgo Don Quixote of La Mancha”, not only became entrenched in world culture as an archetypal image, eternal, but has actually become a household name. What is so attractive about him? Why is Don Quixote eternal?
The plot of Cervantes' novel is quite simple: a certain hidalgo Alonso Kikhan, overly carried away by chivalric novels, decided to become a wandering knight himself, called himself Don Quixote, found himself a squire (Sancho Panza) and went in search of adventure. On the way, our hero is met only by disappointments in the world of chivalry and trouble: he is either mistaken for a madman, beaten half to death, or simply laughed at. Don Quixote sees everything in a distorted light (the inn takes for a magnificent castle, a flock of sheep - for an enemy army, the rude peasant woman Aldonsa Lorenzo - for the beautiful Dulcinea of Tobos), because of which he cannot understand why everyone treats him inappropriately .
At first glance, Don Quixote seems completely insane. His worldview is distorted, he does stupid things and gets a corresponding reaction to them. However, this hero is a completely pure and sincere person with a very strong moral core within. Perhaps it can be compared with a child: the ingenious hidalgo is naive, stubborn and childishly simply distinguishes between “bad” and “good”. Don Quixote has such a strong faith in the justice and beauty of the world that even sometimes comes to fanaticism. He firmly knows what good is and what evil is, that the offended and deprived need help, that the villain must be punished. That is why the hero is so worried when the boy whom Don Quixote saved from beating is angry with him. It is also interesting that only morally pure heroes, who share his views on the structure of the world (for example, young Dorothea), do not scoff at and get rid of hidalgo.
So, Don Quixote is the true knight of the Sad Image. This is a monolithic and integral character, possessing a solid understanding of the nature of good and evil. This is a hero who sincerely tries to make the world brighter and better, but the hero is crazy. This is what people around him see. All talk of Don Quixote about justice and honor is perceived in the modern world as something abnormal and incomprehensible. This contradiction is the tragedy of the hidalgo, which has become eternal.
