Thursday 14 April 2016

WK BK PGS 84 TO 86

21.(i) Don Quixote is the name chosen by the character (Alonso Quixano) in the Spanish novel by Cervantes who decides to revive chivalry, undo wrongs and bring justice to the world. The name is associated with a person who has lost touch with the reality of the world and lives in a disillusioned manner.
          The speaker is 'The Man' - the Serbian soldier who was fleeing from the Bulgarian army and people and who had sought refuge in Raina's room. He was actually a Swiss mercenary, fighting for the Serbs. Later we learn that his name is Bluntschli. He is referring to the leader of the Bulgarian cavalry regiment who led his regiment in their charge against the Serbian artillery regiment at the battle at Slivnitza. He is referring to Sergius Saranoff.
          'The Man' calls Sergius, Don Quixote as he considers, Sergius' action of leading his cavalry regiment against an artillery regiment suicidal and mad, as the odds in the cavalry regiment succeeding in their attack were absolutely zero.

(ii) : The so-called Don Quixote had in a rush of patriotic zeal and national pride risked his won life and life of his entire regiment in the attack against the Serbian artillery regiment. The risk and daring paid off and the Serbian guns did not fire and the Serbian positions were overcome, their army routed and the Bulgarians won the battle and the war. Thus, the Don Quixote thought he had done the cleverest thing in the world because his foolhardy act surprisingly paid off.
        The action tells us that either the leader who is called Don Quixote was actually very daring and patriotic or he was a fool or a madman.

(iii) : The speaker thinks that the leader of the Bulgarian cavalry regiment which attacked the Serbian artillery regiment should be court-martialled because he had risked the certain death of his entire regiment in an attack which normally should have resulted in all their deaths. An army commander is not expected in normal situations to lead his troops in a suicidal mission.
          The speaker calls the leader of the Bulgarian cavalry regiment the maddest because it was nonsensical to pit a cavalry regiment against an artillery regiment as the artillery regiment would blast them to pieces before they had came any where near to being able to harm the members of the artillery regiment.

(iv) : 'he' and his regiment had defied the orders of their superiors, the leader had led his regiment himself into the charge against an artillery regiment which would certainly kill them much befoe they reached the artillery enemy positions. Thus, as death was certain for them it is called a suicidal mission.
         No actual pistol missed fire. The man who is narrating the events means to say that the Serbian artillery regiment couldn't, as expected, against the advancing cavalry regiment as they had the wrong ammunition for their guns. Thus they could not fire their guns.

(v) : Later on in the play Sergius, the so-called Don Quixote, says that he defeated the Serbs the wrong way, that is not according to military etiquette, when his army commanders were losing the battle by using all the right tactics of war.

(vi): The speaker seems to be a person with the traditional military person's mind. He does not understand that patriotism and daring can win the day. The so-called Don Quixote was daring and patriotic and lucky but if the artillery had fired his regiment would have been wiped out and he would have been proved to be the very maddest person ever set into battle.



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