Donald T. Tran
Mr. Brown
English II
5/16/14
What makes a hero?
Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King Jr, and Gandhi, everybody recognizes these names because they encourage the world to be positive, fearless, and lasting. They represent the righteousness of society and are the heroes of their time. But what makes them heroes? A hero is the person who stand and fight for the rights, for what they believe. A hero like Don Quixote, who is determined to save the world through chivalry as knights served humanity during medieval times. Heroes who are different are left to be amusement. People do not recognize Don Quixote as a hero because such honesty, courage, and bravery are no longer respected in the same way. It's the society hides the true goodness of humanity.
When he first set out as knight-errant, Don Quixote wanted to revive the past glories of chivalry by imitating the deeds of famous knights (especially Amadís of Gaul), and thereby earn eternal fame. The trouble is that Don Quixote was following an impossible vision because knights-errant were youthful super humans from distant times and places, and he was a contemporary 50 year-old, low-born noble from a small un-known village of La Mancha in Spain. Setting for an adventure, he cleans his ancestors' armors, makes a helmet, and so renames himself and his old horse, which was nothing but bone and skin. He also picks a girl to be his "maiden" and though he never tells her, he remain devoted to her. His preparations do make us laugh. His adventures even more hillarious, a crazy guy chasing windmills. As a result, his “chivalric” adventures are a parody of those encountered in romances of chivalry. Don Quixote become famous, but for all the wrong reasons: for his misadventures rather than his heroic deeds.
The author really makes Don Quixote a hero. For every "hero" they have sidekicks. In this story, Don Quixote's "pair" is Sanch Panza. Sacho Panza
