Before Sancho becomes governor of the Ínsula[1] Barataria (Chapter 42 of the second part), Don Quixote gives him advice about governing with common sense and justice .
The Advice Don Quixote Gave to Sancho Before He Became Governor
He counsels Sancho to never be guided by arbitrariness in law and not to bring the entire rigor of the law to bear on the offender because, “the reputation of the harsh judge is not better than that of the compassionate one.” [2] Furthermore, if he has to judge the case of one of his enemies, he has to “put [the] injury out of [his] mind and turn [his] thoughts to the truth of the question.” (II, 42; 731) Finally, regarding a culprit who falls under his jurisdiction, he has to “show him compassion and clemency, because although all the attributes of God are equal, in our view mercy is more brilliant and splendid than justice.” (II, 42; 732)
In a letter, Don Quixote advises Sancho not to issue many edits since: “edits that are not carried out are as good as nonexistent.” (II, 51; 793-794)
Sancho Panza has the opportunity to implement much of the advice given by his master and he governs with common sense, prudence, wisdom and justice. He is able to preside over some trials in which his judgments are Solomonic, just, wise and merciful.
Failures and Successes of Don Quixote
In most of the adventures in which, as a man of action (knight errant), Don Quixote tries to achieve justice, he fails. The cause of this is always his lack of prudence [3], since his obsession with knight errantry distorts reality and he is incapable of establishing coherence between principles, means, and ends. Nevertheless, as counselor and wise preacher, he is successful; this is confirmed by Sancho’s wisdom as governor. It is also important to remember, that according to all the characters he encounters, including the narrator, Don Quixote is only mad in areas concerning “chivalry.” In everything else, he shows intelligence, wisdom, depth of knowledge, and goodness. (II, 43; 732)
Something Strange Happens
An attentive and discerning reader like Joseph Ratzinger (Pope Benedict XVI) observes something strange happening: as the novel advances, Cervantes gradually begins to gain affection and love for his foolish knight. He realizes the contrast between his protagonist and the fake Don Quixote that a plagiarist had made into a lowly clown. Thus, he begins to see that his fool has a noble soul: “that the foolishness of consecrating his life to the protection of the weak and the defense of truth and right had its own greatness.” [4] Therefore, thanks to the literary art of Cervantes, the reader begins to see that “behind the foolishness” and the failures in achieving justice, there beats the pure heart of a good man. According to Sancho, he “doesn’t know how to harm anybody, he can only do good to everybody.” (II, 13; 536) Something similar is expressed by Don Quixote himself: “I always direct my intentions to virtuous ends, which are to do good to all and evil to none.” (II, 32; 666)
A Defeated Knight
In Chapter 64 of the second part, Bachelor Sansón Carrasco (a friend of Don Quixote), disguised as Knight of the White Moon, challenged Don Quixote to a duel and defeated him in battle on the beaches of Barcelona. The condition agreed was that the defeated knight had to return to his village and spend a year without practicing his profession as a knight errant.
A Good Man Defeated, Conqueror of Himself, Dies and Achieves Eternal Renown and Everlasting Fame
Don Quixote returned to his village, depressed, dejected and defeated. A fever kept him in bed for six days. His friends (the priest, the barber, and Sancho Panza) called a physician who found him very ill and recommended that he should attend to the health of his soul because he could die at any moment. After sleeping for six hours, he woke up with his judgment restored and attributing his healing to God’s infinite mercy that cannot be curtailed or hindered by the sins of men. To all those present (the barber, the housekeeper, his niece, the priest and Sancho Panza), he remarked: “I was mad, and now I am sane; I was Don Quixote of La Mancha, and now I am, as I said, Alonso Quixano the Good.” (II, 74; 937) The narrator emphasized that even when He was Don Quixote and now that he is Alonso Quixano, he has always been a good person. Before he died, he affirmed that all the books of chivalry are hateful to him. He made his will and he confessed his sins to the priest. Finally, he died, defeated, but with his judgment restored and conqueror of himself. The important thing is that a good man dies, “a man who became mad and committed himself with all his strength to do good to others. The means (to resurrect knight errantry) were wrong and of this he repented, but to the essence of his commitment, to his goodness, he cannot give up. Doing good should not die.” [5]
In conclusion, in spite of his failures in his quest for justice (due to his madness, his defects and sins), the great victory of Don Quixote/Alonso Quixano is to have died conqueror of himself. He achieves eternal renown and everlasting fame as the protagonist of the best known and influential Spanish novel of all times. This masterpiece of honest entertainment, whose language delights and its invention amazes and astounds, in an extraordinary mingling of delight and moral philosophy, truth with humor, teaches while amusing. It is a metaphor of our human search for goodness and justice, a road from which one glimpses, between lights and shadows, the foundation of every goodness and every justice: God.
[1] Ínsula literally means island, but in the novel, it is on dry land.
[2]. Miguel de Cervantes Don Quixote. Edith Grossman Trans. New York: Harper Collins, 2005. (II, 42; 731).
[3] “Prudence is a virtue that is necessary to the highest degree for human life. For to live well consists in acting well (in bene operari). But in order for someone to act well, what is important is not only what he does but also how he does it, viz., that he act in accord with a correct choice (secundum electionem rectam) and not just out of impulse or passion.” Saint Thomas Aquinas. Summa Theologica [I-II, Q.57, A.5]. https://www3.nd.edu/~afreddos/summa-translation/TOC.htm Quoted by Ángel Pérez Martínez en El Quijote y su idea de virtud. Madrid: CSIC, 2012.p.57.
[4] Joseph Ratzinger. Principles of Catholic Theology. San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1987.pp. 392-393.
[5] Jaime Fernández. Invitación al Quijote. Madrid: Lunwerg Editores, 2004.p.22.
