Comparison Paper between Don Quixote from Cervantes and Bouvard and Essay

Comparison Paper between Don Quixote from Cervantes and Bouvard and Pecucher by Flaubert - Essay Example The importance of failure in both books is used to show this human attribute and the beliefs which many have surrounding their own lives and with the failure that is achieved. With this approach by both authors, one is able to create a different understanding of what it means to succeed or fail at different tasks. Structure of the Book The first technique which is used in Don Quixote and Bouvard and Pecucher is the use of failure that is acquired through the structure of the book. Both of the books have a main focus of providing comedy in the book while creating a specific relationship to the book through the continuous quest in which the characters are on. In Don Quixote, the individual quests never amount to anything. Either the character leaves the area, loses the battle or decides not to complete the mission. This is combined with the structure leading to the understanding that the plot line does not exist. These different components show the idea of failure specifically from the viewpoint of the character and with the structure of the book, which continuously diverts from any type of success on the journey. A similar path is taken with Bouvard and Pecucher. The structure focuses on both of the characters not being able to achieve anything throughout the book. ... This creates the understanding of failure based on the actions which they take as well as the perceptions which they hold. The character of Don Quixote shows this with the viewpoints that he holds and the intellectual relationship which he holds to the adventures which he goes on. The failure of the character occurs first through the difficulties with the quests that are never achieved and which don’t reach the end goal. For instance, the knight’s ailments and mishaps continue to remain a theme after dealing with others, such as youth and peasants, during his travels. â€Å"Nor was Don Quixote less so, for what with blows and bruises he could not sit upright on the ass, and from time to time he sent up sighs to heaven, so that once more he drove the peasant to ask what ailed him. And it could have been only the devil himself that put his head tales to match his own adventures† (Cervantes, 53). This passage shows the reality of Don Quixote, specifically which shou ld have the character of a knight who is able to overcome the difficulties and problems with the missions which he has been given. However, he is instead approached with ailments and the inability to win different battles while recognizing that the adventures which he has taken are not realistic to what he has heard. The continuation of failure is one that is also noted in the characters of Bouvard and Pecucher, specifically through their decision to take an intellectual quest to determine their righteousness in different situations. The different situations which they become a part of do not lead to any answers. More important, they always fail at winning the arguments or conversations that are a part of the