Reading the Quixote gives you a lot to think about. Every single story told by any of the many verbose characters in Don Quixote is at some point, and sometimes more than once, interrupted. Only then do we find out the truth, Cervantes tells us! Of course every interruption in the Quixote makes you laugh, too. Cardenio tells Quixote not to interrupt him under any circumstances or he won't finish his story. This in itself is almost as funny as the inevitable interruption, which drives Cardenio into a fit and yes, reveals the truth of his madness.
It occurs to me lately that the truth does not emerge without dialogue. Monologues and stories need to be interrupted, which is also to say "interpreted." Think about a lawyer or therapist who asks, "What was that you said about money and your mother? Can we get back to that?" Boom. Truth bombs drop.
That's why we need Drama that has substance and not just sensory immersion, so there can be smart dialogue for us to overhear. The Athenians invented democracy and theatre at the same time. Cervantes invented the novel around the time that people were starting to doubt what they had always believed. Time for interrupted stories, or in other words, dialogue. Without it, the stories take control. Socrates warned us that the stories in the theatre might be too influential, but we only know that because Plato wrote it in his Dialogues.
We need to listen. Cervantes tells us to listen to a lot of different people's stories, especially the ones who don't have a voice in their culture. But we should also interrupt and ask questions. Everyone else's story is a tangent to our own, but also another angle to see ourselves from. Interaction is required for common ground to exist.
As Cervantes tells us, sometimes the search for justice and truth means getting beat up and thrown into the road. But Quixote and Sancho have great dialogue when waking from unconsciousness in pain. It's better than Pozzo and Lucky in Godot. Sancho interrupts Quixote's story to ask, "Exuse me sir knight, but when do you think we will begin to feel our legs again?"
When you interrupt a racist, you may be asking the same question shortly thereafter. But interrupting is necessary for dialogue to occur. As soon as someone says something racist, call them on it. They think political correctness is a thing of the past? They won't know what hit them because it won't be violent conflict, just dialogue. But watch out for the backside of windmills.
