José Protasio Rizal Mercado y Alonso Realondais the national hero of the Philippines and the first Asian nationalist. He was born in Calamba, Laguna, on June 19, 1861, to a well-to-do family. He studied at the Jesuit Ateneo Municipal in Manila and won many literary honors and prizes. He obtained a bachelor of arts degree with highest honors in 1877. For a time, he studied at the University of Santo Tomas, and in 1882 he left for Spain to enter the Central University of Madrid, where he completed his medical and humanistic studies. He was a Filipino polymath, nationalist and the most prominent advocate for reforms in the Philippines during the Spanish colonial era. He is considered the Philippines’ national hero and the anniversary of Rizal’s death is commemorated as a Philippine holiday called Rizal Day. Rizal’s 1896 military trial and execution made him a martyr of the Philippine Revolution.
In Spain, Rizal started the composition of Noli Me Tangere, he reflected the sufferings of his countrymen under Spanish feudal despotism and their rebellion. One of the reasons, why he made this book was because of his mother, she has been a victim of gross injustice at the hands of a vindictive Spanish official of the guardia civil. While in Germany, Rizal wrote the second half of Noli me Tangere from time-to-time starting from February 21, 1887. Another factor that influenced him in writing the book was when he read the novel “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” by Harriet Beecher Stowe, he had an inspiration to write his own novel with the same topic, to expose Spanish colonial abuse in print. Beecher Stowe’s novel describes black slavery abuse done by white men. Rizal suggested to his fellow Filipino friends in Europe, through writing, to have a meeting and plan for writing a novel similar to that of Beecher Stowe’s. At this moment, Rizal planned not to write the novel himself, but through collective efforts done by other Filipinos who shared ideals with him. In 1884, Rizal and his friends including the Paterno brothers– Pedro, Maximo, and Antonio; Graciano López-Jaena, Evaristo Aguirre, Eduardo de Lete, Melecio Figueroa, Valentín Ventura and Julio Llorento; decided to meet at the Paternos’ house in Madrid. Each of them agreed to write a unified novel. Suddenly, when the writing began, most of them wanted to change the topic from Spanish abuse to somehow related to women. Rizal walked-out of the hall and decided to write the novel himself.
Rizal’s primary intention in his books, Noli Me Tangere & El Filibusterismo is expressed in a letter to a friend, although this specifically refers to the first book: “I have endeavored to answer the calumnies which for centuries had been heaped on us and our country; I have described the social condition, the life, our beliefs, our hopes, our desires, our grievances, our griefs; I have unmasked hypocrisy which, under the guise of religion, came to impoverish and to brutalize us….”
The history of the Philippines from 1521 to 1898, also known as the Spanish Colonial Era, begins with the arrival in 1521 of European explorer Ferdinand Magellan sailing for Spain, which heralded the period when the Philippines was a colony of the Spanish Empire It was an age where the intellectuals were inspired to be critical in their motherland and the abuses they are experiencing under the Spanish government. Dr. Jose Rizal’s Noli Me Tangere was published in 1887 in Europe.
Noli Me Tangere is important to the Filipinos for many reasons. First is that it was written by our National hero, Rizal was not just a hero but a brave martyr and inspiration for all youths. His book was the catalyst to start the impending power of the Filipinos to want freedom and independence. His work was an instrument that unified the Filipino national identity and consciousness. Rizal’s book made a lot of noise, Noli Me Tangere and its sequel El Filibusterismo, has gone down to history. In 1956, Congress passed Republic Act 1425, more popularly known as the Rizal Law, which requires all levels in Philippine schools to teach the novel as part of their curriculum. Noli me Tangere is being taught to third year secondary school students, while its sequel El Filibusterismo is being taught for fourth year secondary school students.
The book, Noli Me Tangere is a fictional-historical novel. It centers around the era of the Spanish regime, which was a hundred years ago, it was fictional because the main characters are only made up but the situation, sufferings and experiences of these characters were not false during the Spanish colonization. There were codes and conventions that helped identify the genre of the book, an example of a notable code that can be seen in the book is the symbolic code, which is the clothing of the people at that time, Rizal has portrayed an atmosphere that depicts the old or traditional clothing of individuals during the Spanish period. An example of a convention present in the book was that, it was real-life, as usually, historical genres takes form from real life events or occurrences, the protagonist and the other characters was met with real dilemma, conflict and abuse. It was a message for the people in disguise as a novel, the use of real-life obstacles made it intriguing and moving for the Filipinos. Also, as a sub-genre it had romance, a convention of it is about Ibarra and Maria Clara as they portrayed the image of a star-crossed lovers, their love was tested against the friars and other mishaps, and lastly, both were separated, as their love for each other was doomed to fail.
The book, Noli MeTangere which was written by Dr. Jose Rizal, contains historical and sentimental elementsthat greatly affected the nation. It opened our minds and eyes to the true villains of our country. Its main target as an audience was the Filipino citizens, while also conveying a message to other nations as well. We were given a chance to really understand and learn a lot from this book. The book did not only show how the Spaniards slowly took our rights and our stand as Filipinos, but they slowly turned our fellow-men to their side as well. Some of our Filipino leaders were eaten by the glory, money and power which blinded them. One concrete example from the book was Doña Victorina; how she disowned her country and chose to be “one of them”. It simply means that Filipinos before was unaware and not knowledgeable enough on how blessed they were in different aspects. However, in our time today, the audience or the readers might understand some of the things written in the book that it’s just about how corrupt and abusive the Spaniards are.For some people, especially those who really sympathized and appreciated the book, will say that it has a big contribution and influence in our society, or maybe the historians or people who are a big fan of history, will say that Noli Me Tangere is a very important historical evidence on how the Filipinos has evolve and preserved some of their traditions and culture. When the book came out it was consideredscandalous, because it alarmed the Spaniards of the content that the book conveys, while the Filipinos were intrigued and they sympathize with the characters of the book.
Noli Mi Tangere isn’t just about a book or a piece made by Dr. Rizal. It wasn’t made or written just for the Filipino citizens to see, but to showcase the other nation as well. Rizal depicted nationality by emphasizing the positive qualities of Filipinos, the devotion of a Filipina and her influence on a man’s life, the deep sense of gratitude, and the solid common sense of the Filipinos under the Spanish regime. Filipinos becomesmore knowledgeable about what had happened in the past by reading or appreciating the book. It made us realize that the pastand the presenthad some kind of similarities. The past government was corrupt and abusive, therefore the views of the people about the system of our government nowadays changed, because they learned the issues and possible forms of corruption present from the book, it alsotaught us that the Spaniards were not our only enemies before, but also our fellow Filipino leaders who disowned our country.
Andres Bonifacio best exemplifies a person influenced by Noli MeTangere. As we all know, he is one of the Filipinos who fought for our pride and for our country. The book indirectly influenced the Philippine Revolution of independence from Spain which was also the plan of Andres Bonifacio that time, along with Rizal, they advocated direct representation to the Spanish government and an overall larger role for the Philippines within Spain’s political affairs. Andres Bonifacio created the group KKK because they want to fight for our nation. Rizal and Bonifacio’s purpose was to target the Spanish government, although they both differ in ways on how to fight against the Spaniards because Bonifacio believes in “Revolution” while Rizal sides with “Reformation”. At first, Rizal advocated reforms but when the plea for reforms failed, he advocated independence, even if it’s through revolution. This is evident in his novel “Noli Me Tangere,” which emphasized reforms, and its sequel, “El Filibusterismo,” which preached revolution. Rizal planted the seed, while Bonifacio watered it.
Noli Me Tangere centers around the protagonist Juan Crisostomo Magsalin Ibarra. Upon his return to the Philippines from abroad. He is first surrounded by good friends, a beautiful fiancée and a supportive upper class, but a priest with a vendetta against Ibarra’s late father torments him. Ibarra learns the tragic circ*mstances of his father’s death and the history behind the animosity held against him by the Friar Dámaso Vardolagas. Still, Ibarra chooses the higher road, avoiding revenge, only to be harassed by Damaso at every turn. Damaso sabotages Ibarra’s wedding and humiliates him constantly. Another religious figure by the name of Padre Salvi becomes Ibarra’s enemy. Salvi attempts to kill him, lusts after his former fiancée and stages an uprising in which Ibarra is implicated. Ibarra is imprisoned, loses his friends and reputation and is nearly killed, all through the relentless hatred of two religious figures. At the end of the novel he is deflated, disillusioned and weak. The bright future he envisioned for his town was shattered and he finds himself surrounded by corruption and loss.
The novel offers a straightforward analysis of Philippine society under Spanish rule. The book indirectly hits the most dirty and unseen sufferings that most Filipinos experienced during the Spanish regime.
One famous line from the book was found at the end, it was from Elias as he stated these words to Basilio:
“I shall die without seeing the dawn break upon my homeland. You, who shall see it, salute it! Do not forget those who have fallen during the night.”
These words are a message not only for Basilio, but for all of us who lived an era of freedom and independency. It was a statement that tells us not to forget the sacrifices, the lives and the deaths that many Filipinos offered for this present freedom that we have. It reminds us of our obligation and responsibility as the new generation, to persevere and fight for our country just like those who have died before us. We, as Filipinos should be proud of what our country has achieved and we shall continue to nurture its growth towards a better future.
For us, the book, “Noli Me Tangere” was created for power, power to fuel the people’s desire for change and liberation. The book itself is a fictional story, but it contains the hidden truth about the corruption and abuse by the colonial government and the Catholic Church. In Rizal’s book, he expressed the growing national consciousness of many Filipinos who opposed Spanish colonial tyranny and aspired to attain democratic rights. It also, perfectly showed the ugly truth on how we, Filipinos has long endured the slavery, corruption and abuse of the Spaniards. It indirectly started the flames of revolution, it was a wake-up call for all Filipinos to break away from their trance of a so-called “harmonious and peaceful” relationship with the Spaniards. Noli Me Tangere gave us power, it was the seed that gave us the idea to stop being ignorant and it aroused our need for independency and freedom. Rizal’s writing was created to fuel the growing nationalism that will help the Filipinos break free from the shackles of abuse.
SOURCES:
Alegado, B. A. (1993). The Age of Discovery: Impact on Philippine Culture & Society (Second Edition). Hawaii Correctional Industries.
Almario, M. F. (2012, December 31). Newsinfo. Inquirer. Retrieved from http://newsinfo.inquirer.net: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/332557/rizal-planted-seed-of-revolution-bonifacio-watered-it
Cebu- Philippines. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.cebu-philippines.net: http://www.cebu-philippines.net/noli-me-tangere.html
Goodreads. Inc. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.goodreads.com: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/186192.Jos_Rizal
Photos Sources:
http://www.filipiknow.net/facts-about-andres-bonifacio/
https://www.pinterest.com/giullana/filipiniana/
http://reynthology.blogspot.com/2013/11/andres-bonifacio-at-150-celebrating.html
https://www.tumblr.com/search/para-sa-mga-pilipino
http://squeegool.tumblr.com/post/102598004989/aking-taimis-jose-rizal-and-leonor-riveras
