Don Quixote's 'Vencidos'

"Vencidos" by León Felipe reveals as the title suggests, a defeated/conquered Don Quixote roaming the lands of La Mancha “now useless and battered” (Felipe 3). The image offered by Felipe in "Vencidos" draws the comparison between himself and many other readers like him that have been beaten and battered by misadventure and injustice. I agree with you, Kelsey that as you read Don Quixote you see the traits of him as a character who has a different, albeit selectively skewed, view of the world. Don Quixote is a character made to represent the pursuit of righting wrongs and a chivalric code of duty that have been thrown by the wayside in recent times. Felipe writes to Don Quixote and pleads that Don take him with him because he is likewise,
The image I had of Don Quixote based on the book written by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra was one of a middle-aged man who is an avid reader of fantasy novels and could have been just about anyone. Of course, he makes an imposing figure at first as evidenced by the women at the inn running away in fear from him. However, as soon as he takes off his cardboard visor and “reveal[s] his dry and dusty face”, the women laugh and quickly realize their mistake (Damrosch et al. 369). In my mind, Don Quixote is the embodiment of readers who dream of adventure but never have the spirit to act on them. Although Don Quixote does leave his town for adventure and seems to find contentment with what he perceives to be adventurous quests and battles, he never leaves Spain and, as the textbook mentions, “can only dream of meaningful military action” (361). The Don Quixote of my mind looks a bit ridiculous with his cardboard visor and suit of armor held together by green ribbons. Don Quixote imagines he is living out his own knightly story and although I can see him as he sees himself, a fierce chivalric knight who is always prepared for battle, I couldn’t help but see him as a semi-ordinary hidalgo who has gone just a bit