Don Quixote and Self Identity vs. Conformity

Don Quixote is a story that we can closely follow when it comes to the theories of self identity versus conformity. Don Quixote is based around a man who is middle-aged and decides to reinvent himself based off of the many pieces of literature he has read that features the good doings of knights. The feature of Alonzo Quixano deciding to reinvent himself into Don Quixote, and taking on Sancho Panza as his squire is a prime example of self-indentity in this text. Alonzo becomes bored with his own life, and feels it is somewhat plain, taking fate into his own hands to reinvent himself into a brave knight that rights the wrong among the people around him.

Although it seems as though Don Quixote is discovering his own self-identity by changing his identity to the public being that of a knight, like the ones he read about throughout his many books, it seems as though he is conforming to the characteristics that he has read about. while conforming to this new identity he has made along with his new name, he seems to have a warped perception of what knights truly do, and just how chivalrous they could be. “In short, our gentleman became so caught up in reading that he spent his nights reading from dusk till dawn and his days reading from sunrise to sunset, and so with too little sleep and too much reading his brains dried up, causing him to lose his mind.”  (Don Quixote)

The plot seems to show that although Don Quixote was a man obsessed with reinventing himself into a modern knight to do good throughout his travels, that this same man had a diluted idea of what kind of character he truly was due to the amount of stories he had saturated himself in about people of the knight stature. Although some might believe this was just a man trying to chase his dreams of becoming a knight, most believed this was a man driven mad to the point of him deciding to recreate himself in his literature's images. “One man scorned and covered with scars still strove with his last ounce of courage to reach the unreachable stars; and the world will be better for this.” (Don Quixote)

This is a perfect piece of literature to truly examine the ideas of self-identity versus conformity, because although Don Quixote was chasing his own self-identity, he still had some sort of conformity to the ideals that were delivered through the texts he read based on what a knight should be. Some of the people who surrounded him believed he was simply a man chasing a dream and fulfilling it, and others believed this was a man who was driven into madness based on the extreme ordinariness of his own life that he decided to reinvent himself into a conformed version of a knight.

Journey to the West - Redemption

Journey to the West is another story deep in the topic of redemption. Ask I spoke about in my journey entry, I believe that redemption is known as a sacrifice made by one individual such as in my case of the beliefs I was raised with was Jesus sacrificing himself so that those who choose to follow him can  live a peaceful eternal life. Journey to the West, is a book filled with journals and folktales that follows different disciples throughout their journies.

Throughout the chapters we read in Journey to the West, we see many examples of redemption within a character, the Monkey.  The Monkey is seen in several different situations throughout the texts seeking redemption. One of the most memorable parts of how the Monkey seeks redemption, is when Monkey begged on his knees for foregiveness. "When I wrecked the Heavenly Palace," he said, "I put myself in a very dangerous position, and the Buddha crashed me under the Double Boundary Mountain.” (Wu Ch’eng-en, Journey to the West)


Another source of redemption for the Monkey is when he feels guilt and remorse for murdering a young woman for food. He finds himself feeling remorse and asking for forgivesness, “I never will," said Monkey, "never again." He helped his master mount the horse and led the way forward.” (Wu Ch’eng-en, Journey to the West) He promised to never do such a thing again in an act of remorse and the need for redemption. “A team of horses cannot overtake a word that has left the mouth.”  (Wu Ch'eng-en, Journey to the West)

The chapters read throughout this story have shown. Character asking for redemption and forgiveness more than once, much like how we as Christians or religious followers find ourselves constantly falling short of what our religious leaders we follow are. Much like the character we follow throughout his journies we find ourselves giving into temptations that are forbidden by our religions, yet asking for forgiveness in order to still be accepted by the higher power when all is said and done.

Dantes Inferno And Definitions of Hell

Dante's Inferno is a very good relatable source to use when speaking about the definitions of hell. While reading Dante's Inferno, I was reminding of similar themes of why individuals are said to go to hell through my experience in Sunday school as a Roman Catholic. The different levels of hell I feel represent the different definitions of sinning that lands souls in hell to begin with. It seems as though the different levels of hell represent a certain type of punishment for certain types of souls.

Each circle of hell has various different pockets and depths that indentify the appropriate punishment for each type of sinner. Throughout the story we see sinners of different degrees, from blasphemers all the way to the biggest sinners in Lucifer's eyes within the book being those who betrayed Jesus and Julius Ceasar. In the beginning of the journey Dante reads a quote before entering the different levels of hell, "through me you enter the city of woes, through me you enter eternal pain. Through me you enter the population of loss. Abandon all hope those who enter here." (Dante) This was the foreshadowing of what was to come of the disparity these souls felt on each level of hell Dante entered.

Dante's Inferno is a very accurate representation of how the definition of hell is really in the eye of the beholder. Although it interprets the idea of hell based off of a classic definition of what the Roman Catholics and Christians believe hell to be, each level of hell seems to take a form of punishment based of the sin the soul has committed. Much like I discussed in my journal statement, everyone has a different idea of what their hell would be like. In the Ante-inferno, the souls who never committed to good nor evil, and continued to lead a life that they felt best suited themselves. "These are angels who were neither for God nor Satan, but only for themselves." (Dante) these souls were forced to chased a banner around in a circle naked while enduring the pain of the stinging and biting of wasps and hornets. This is my interpretation that sine thee individuals never chose God nor Satan, are now forced to recklessly chase something for all eternity that is not tangible.

Beowulf

Beowulf is an ancient piece of literature that follows the journey of a man named Beowulf, and his many feuds throughout his history. Beowulf is a man with many dudes with his motive behind each and every one being revenge. As I discussed in my journal entry, I always felt that feuds were with people closer to the heart and personal life of the other person involved. Beowulf took to feuds with Grendel based on his own personal beliefs for revenge. One of Beowulf's main reasons for his battle with Grendel was the countless lives that Grendel took as a warrior. "He is delighted when he sees several Geats sleeping in the hall. Beowulf lies awake, watching, as Grendel kills and eats one of the warriors. Then he reaches for his second kill, Beowulf. The Geat champion grabs hold of Grendel's claw with the strength of 30 men and won't let go. Grendel cannot escape, and a vicious match ensues, ending when Beowulf rips Grendel's arm from its shoulder socket." (Anonymous) This gave reason for Beowulf to continue his feud with Grendel.


Grendel was a more tactful warrior, and more rugged when it came to his feuds and kills. Grendel was held to a higher respect than Beofwulf as a warrior, and this could have been the reason for the feud between the two of them. When Grendel was slain by the hands of Beowulf is was said that, "it took for to carry his head." (Anonymous) Beowulf was seen as tactful and had motives for every part of his feud, where Grendel was more respectfed because of how he approached his feuds s a true warrior in their publics eyes.