Alonso Quijano the Good is indeed dying, and is indeed in his right mind. Cervantes communicates to humanity that creative imagination is a source of life

Abstract

We study the last chapter of the second part of the Quijote, which has been a controversial episode. We analyse the theme of love, death, honour, sanity and insanity. We conclude that, although there is an explicit condemnation of gender of chivalry, the implicit author reinforces the value of imagined tales («cuentos» in Don Quijote’s words), which are need not only to settle the modern novel —and his author’s fame—, but to live.

En estas líneas estudiamos el último capítulo de la II parte del Quijote, que ha sido un episodio controvertido. Analizamos el tema del amor, la muerte, el honor, la cordura y la locura. Concluimos que, aunque hay una condena explícita al género de la caballería, el autor implícito refuerza el valor de las historias imaginadas («cuentos» en palabras de don Quijote), que son no solo necesarias para configurar la novela moderna —y la fama de su autor—, sino para vivir.