Cervantes’ Don Quixote and St. Augustine’s Confessions...

Cervantes’ Don Quixote and St. Augustine’s Confessions Christianity teaches that in order to be able to truly serve God, one must give up worldly pleasures, which are deemed selfish. Throughout literature, many authors touch on this subject, some in very direct manners. Such is the case in Cervantes’ Don Quixote and St. Augustine’s Confessions. In excerpts from each, the narrator describes how he had undergone a change from relishing in worldly and selfish activities to renouncing such immoral pleasures in order to follow the moral path to God. As each passage progresses, the narrator tells of his past and his new thinking in the present, and ends by praising God for His mercy. Throughout the passages, several dichotomies exist†¦show more content†¦Also, as he describes the emotions he felt while watching shows, Augustine uses the past tense: â€Å"felt,† â€Å"had,† â€Å"became,† â€Å"gave.† In this manner, there is a clear emphasis on the fact that the feelings he mentions are not w hat he feels now, which is important because he feels his past beliefs were immoral. Throughout both of the passages, the word â€Å"now† is repeated many times to show the contrast between each man’s past and present. â€Å"Now† also serves as a tool for Don Quixote and Augustine to express the negative feelings behind objects from their pasts. Don Quixote states that he is â€Å"now...the enemy of Amadis of Gaul,† a well-known novel of chivalry that he had revered. By calling himself the â€Å"enemy,† Don Quixote emphasizes that he no longer believes in the stories he once loved. In fact, those stories are described as â€Å"profane† as Don Quixote tells his friends that such novels are â€Å"odious to me now.† Continuously, the word â€Å"now† reappears, showing that Don Quixote has abandoned his former ways and wants to prove that he is different in the present. Augustine also describes his new feelings with the words â€Å"but now,† which show an obvious shift in opinion. What Augustine once found pleasurable is now â€Å"pernicious,† and his former source of joy he now views as â€Å"vile.† These two words are extremely strong, and express to what a great extent Augustine has altered his beliefs. In both passages, the narrator employs a great deal of negative words to illustrate