We are Don Quixote

Mamdouh Adwan

It is no longer necessary to dwell on the image Cervantes created. There is a vast difference between the Don Quixote he wrote to ridicule, or for any other purpose, and the Don Quixote who has become ours, carried in our imaginations, subjected to our perceptions, and free to remake and reshape as we wish. We can say that each of us has his own Don Quixote, whether he has read the novel or not, whether he has relied on the image in the book or not, whether he has relied on his own interpretation of what is in the book or projected what he wanted onto the book. The multiple faces of a character like Don Quixote give us the freedom and courage to express our own vision of him. Thus, each of us is able to talk about the Don Quixote he saw in the book, or the Don Quixote he nurtures in his symbolic and creative imagination. Don Quixote is present everywhere and in each of us. The Quixote vision is one that does not give its owner the opportunity to retreat. There must be a pause that seems suicidal or insane. Retreating to seek a new opportunity means overlooking the collapse of humanity and values. It is as if one is overlooking the deterioration. It is a kind of self-punishment to revive the consciences of others. We can say in general that there must always be a Don Quixote pause so that honor does not die in life itself. For this reason, it occurred to me one day to defend insanity.