Question

Read the excerpt below and answer the question. “ . . . but observe, even shouldst thou see me in the greatest danger in the world, thou must not put a hand to thy sword in my defence, unless indeed thou perceivest that those who assail me are rabble or base folk; for in that case thou mayest very properly aid me; but if they be knights it is on no account permitted or allowed thee by the laws of knighthood to help me until thou hast been dubbed a knight." —Don Quixote In an essay of at least 150 words, explain why Don Quixote as a character symbolizes the conflict of tradition vs. change.

Answer 1

Don Quixote as a character symbolizes the conflict of tradition vs. change as he is reluctant to change; he is a character moved by traditional values and a cosmovision or a conception of the world long past its time, no longer valid or active. Don Quixote refuses to acknowledge the different context, the context where he is living and thus, he clings, he escapes to an imaginary plane where the values of knights and a world still motivated by a feudal system are in force. It's a form of escapism from a reality that he doesn´t want to recognize and that supposes a transformation of certain, traditional values.