Are we all merely fighting windmills, or is Don Quixote the only one truly awake in a world of sleepwalkers?

In this illuminating literary study, Mamdouh Adwan reclaims the iconic figure of Don Quixote, peeling away the layers of satire left by Cervantes to reveal a symbol that belongs to the collective modern imagination. Adwan argues that each of us carries a private Don Quixote—a internal refusal to retreat in the face of moral collapse and societal decay. To take a "Quixotic" stance, according to Adwan, is not a sign of delusion, but a necessary, albeit seemingly suicidal, act of courage intended to shock the conscience of others and revive the human spirit. By defending this creative madness, Adwan asserts that such uncompromising honor is the only thing standing between humanity and the total erasure of its most sacred values.