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Deal With It, Don Quixote

What we can learn from Cervantes' masterpiece

Jared Starr

Apr 05, 2016

University of Texas at Dallas

cinemas-online.co.uk

When you read Miguel de Cervantes' Don Quixote, you start to feel like the book takes over your life and gets into your head, just like all of the chivalric fantasies that drive the titular character mad. Now I'm seeing Quixote in everything and everywhere and I just can't escape him. Plus, I still have a paper to write about the book. It sounds like I'm complaining, but I really did enjoy it. It's a singular work that has inspired so many authors over the centuries since the publication of Don Quixote Part Two in 1615.

I'll never forget you, Big Red

Cervantes had a lot to say about how stories are written and shared, as well as the effect they have on us, but he also had a few things to tell us about the human condition. One lesson in particular has affected me personally, and it's something everyone should take to heart: we have a tendency of allowing our personal desires to cloud our perceptions of reality. That tendency is at the center of all of the (mis)adventures of Don Quixote and his squire Sancho Panza. He wants to believe the world adheres to the rules of chivalric novels, so he sees inns as castles, prostitutes as noble ladies, and windmills as giants in part one. On a side note, it's interesting that Don Quixote tilting at windmills is the image everyone associates with the book when this particular episode barely even lasts two pages out of the nearly 1000 total pages.

Sancho wants to believe Quixote can make him the governor of an "insula", never mind the fact Sancho has no idea how to rule or even really understand what an insula is. He has his doubts, but chooses to suspend his disbelief for most of the book, until he finally gets the chance to play governor. I get it. I've had my share of desires that don't match with reality. I want to be loved (who doesn't?), but sometimes I end up seeking it from the wrong people or see it where it doesn't exist and maybe can't exist. I've had to learn oftentimes friendship is enough, even if it's not exactly what I (think I) want. I want to believe I'm better, smarter, nicer, and more charming than the next guy, but sometimes I leave something to be desired (again, who doesn't?). But, perfection would come with a lot more responsibility than I care to deal with. In other words, when life disappoints you by not living up to your self-deceptive fantasies, just lower your expectations to realistic levels. Sancho would have a pile of proverbs to further accentuate my point, and some of them would actually be applicable, but this is 2016, so a meme will do the trick:

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This article has not been reviewed by Odyssey HQ and solely reflects the ideas and opinions of the creator.

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Deal With It, Don Quixote

What we can learn from Cervantes' masterpiece

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You are fun, but firm.

"Getting drunk with your best friends is an experience in and of itself. It takes us on wild and ridiculous adventures with the people we trust with our lives."

The Mother Hen

The Instigator

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The Philosopher

The Reluctant Homebody

The MMA Fighter

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The Horny Toad

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It's so rude that we have finals.

1. When you look at your finals schedule and become immediately overwhelmed:

2. When your professor says that the final is only going to be short answer questions:

3. When you text your parents to tell them that you're going to have a mental breakdown and drop out of college and they're just like:

4. When you're trying to study with friends, but then you realize that you haven't gotten anything done:

5. Then you just end up going on your phone.

6. When you're two weeks away from finals and your professor tells you that you should probably start studying now:

7. When you sit down to take your final and the first question hits you like:

8. When you start the practice problems and you're just like:

9. When you're in your final and find a question that you actually know the answer to:

10. When that one annoying kid in your class says that the final was super easy and they aced it:

11. When you come back from your 7:30 a.m. final and crash:

12. When your professor tries to teach you new material a week before the final:

13. When you decide to eat away the pain that is finals week by ordering massive amounts of food:

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15. When it's right before your first final and you're just like:

16. When your professor tells that you the final is cumulative:

17. When the kid next to you keeps looking over at your test:

18. Looking back on the outfits that you wore during finals week like:

19. When it's been two hours and you've only gotten through five notecards:

20. When you finally make it to the end of the week:

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