by C. Elizabeth Grey

Created on: February 16, 2007   Last Updated: January 02, 2012

There are many important elements to a book. One of these key elements is the character, or characters in the story itself. The characters drive the story, react to their surroundings, other characters, circumstances, or challenges along the way. Every character represents a piece of the story, whether it be minor or significant. In Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra's book Don Quixote de La Mancha, there are over forty characters. The usefulness or necessity of some of these characters has been questioned. Because there are so many adventures that Don Quixote seeks out, it is hard to say which characters are necessary for telling us about the old man, or what each encounter between Don Quixote and these characters might mean.

One of the characters that is mentioned is a young lad in the forth chapter of the first book. This lad, whose name is Andres, is the very first "adventure" which Don Quixote sets upon. He has not even left his own region when he comes upon the boy, being whipped by his master. The old gentleman has just been dubbed and has not yet met his noble squire Sancho Panza. He is outraged when he discovers this situation. Don Quixote calls to the farmer to cease his whipping, and let the boy go. He challenges the man to fight him in order to resolve the grievance that he has set on Andres.

The farmer, of course, apologizes and lets the boy go. Andres tells the knight-errant about the pay that the farmer never gave him. Don Quixote takes the farmer at his word that he will pay the young man. The peasant swears on honorable knighthood that he will pay the lad. Quixote is satisfied with this, but threatens to return and avenge Andres, should the peasant break his promise. When the knight rides off, far enough away that they cannot see him, the master sets to beating Andres again, this time within "...an inch of his life..." Andres is released permanently, and goes in search of Don Quixote. He believes that Don Quixote owes him something after having wronged him.1
He does not find Don Quixote until the thirty-first chapter. Sancho and the knight are traveling with, among others, a curate and a barber who are trying to get the old man home. They come across Andres, weeping at the roadside. The lad runs up and demands that the knight remember him. Don Quixote is pleased to see him, and tells the whole party the story of Andres' rescue. He uses the rescue story as an example of the usefulness of knights. Andres agrees that everything the old gentleman has

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