Ignorance is Danger, not Bliss

Don Quixote, being a satire, pretends to take itself seriously while at the same time flaunting its blatant disregard for portraying the truth and exploring the resulting consequences. At the beginning of the novel, Miguel de Cervantes poses the question of to what extent is ignoring reality admissible. While both the author’s and the main character’s carefree attitude towards the truth seems comical and lighthearted, Don Quixote quickly exposes the danger of being too out of touch with reality.

In the telling of the narrative and the description of Don Quixote, the attitude towards the truth is lackadaisical. For starters, the setting is vague, and Miguel de Cervantes writes as if he does not care to put much effort into the background. The exact location and date of the story are left out: “Somewhere in La Mancha, in a place whose name I do not care to remember, a gentleman lived not long ago” (pg. 65). This sentence implies that although the story is meant to take place at a certain point in history, that is not important to recount. The intentionality behind leaving the setting unclear sets the tone for the rest of the novel. Similarly, Miguel de Cervantes gives a piece of hearsay about Don Quixote’s true family name, not bothering to investigate whether it is Quixada, Quexada, or Quexana and explicitly stating that the truth in this case does not matter (pg. 65). This has the effect of making the novel seem like a carelessly written history account.

Miguel de Cervantes’s apparent disinterest in understanding and divulging the full truth is similar to the sentiment that the title character shares. Over time, Don Quixote enjoys the tales of fantasy that he reads so much that he comes to value his enjoyment and love of knighthood over reality: “he became so convinced in his imagination of the truth of all the countless grandiloquent and false inventions he read that for him no history in the world was truer” (pg. 67). This becomes the driving factor in Don Quixote’s behavior, and although it is clear that he descends into madness because of this, it also seems that it was the result of a conscious suspension of belief at least when he first began reading such novels. The use of the phrase “became so convinced” indicates that he made the decision himself to accept these tales as true. This is not the only example of Don Quixote intentionally turning away from reality. When he prepares to set out on his knightly adventures, he exposes just how strong of a hold on him his imagination has. When his first attempt to make a helmet fails, he patches it up but refuses to test its durability; he believes his scraggly nag to be superior to Alexander’s Bucephalus and El Cid’s Babieca (pg. 68). His refusal to test the claims about his armor and horse means he is somewhat able to recognize reality but simply has no interest in doing so. To continue in his delusion allows him to pursue his fancies and pretend that he is a knight, and this is much more attractive to him than the reality of his situation. Don Quixote does not value the truth, but drama and adventure.

Don Quixote’s madness at first is harmless. He imagines himself as a knight, he talks constantly about his favorite characters and their virtues, and he cobbles together a fragile suit of armor. So far, his behavior does not affect the well-being of others. He sets out to seek adventure and lets his imagination give him a rose-colored lens of the world: “He rode toward the inn that he thought was a castle, and when he was a short distance away he reined in Rocinante and waited for a dwarf to appear on the parapets to signal with his trumpet that a knight was approaching the castle” (pg. 72). This version of Don Quixote is goofy and adorable; he is like a child pretending that a playset is a castle. His initial interaction with the innkeeper and the ladies is also bizarre but comical, and they are not immediately threatened by him. However, his obliviousness to reality is quickly revealed as a danger if left unchecked. He knocks out two muledrivers who he believes have come to steal his armor, though really they just want to use the trough that his suit leans against (pg. 79). Thus the true nature of Don Quixote’s madness comes to light. Seeing the world as a fairytale may seem cute, but paired with this is impaired judgement that threatens the safety of others. Don Quixote’s inability to distinguish between friend, foe, and disinterested parties leads him to misread situations and attack innocent people.

Though light and cheery on the surface, Don Quixote has much darker undertones running throughout the plot. Don Quixote’s silly and goofy adventures as a make-believe knight errant are tainted with the violence that his madness induces. Miguel de Cervantes manages to pair comedy with horror in this thrilling exploration into the importance of the distinguishability between fact and fiction.

Resources

Miguel de Cervantes. Don Quixote. Translated by Edith Grossman. Harper-Collins.