Surigao State College of Technology

Surigao City

Book Report

On

Noli Me Tangere

and

El Filibusterismo

In Fulfillment of the Requirements in

Life and Works of Rizal

Submitted by:

Tubis, April Jean A.

Submitted to:

Mr. Judel C. Paredes

Instructor

October 10, 2019

A. TITLE

Noli Me Tangere

B. AUTHOR

Born on June 19, 1861, José Rizal was from an upper-class Filipino family. His mother,

Teodora Alonso, a highly educated woman, exerted a powerful influence on his intellectual

development. He would grow up to be a brilliant polymath, doctor, fencer, essayist, and

novelist, among other things.

By the late nineteenth century, the Spanish empire was in irreversible decline. Spain

had ruled the islands since 1565, except for a brief hiatus when the British occupied the islands

in 1762. The colonial government was unresponsive and often cruel, with the religious

establishment wielding as much power as the state. Clerical abuses, European ideas of

liberalism, and growing international trade fueled a burgeoning national consciousness. For

Rizal and his generation, the 1872 Cavite Mutiny, in which three native priests were accused

of treason and publicly executed, provided both inspiration and a cautionary tale.

Educated at the Jesuit-run Ateneo de Manila and the Dominican University of Santo

Tomas in Manila, Rizal left for Spain in 1882, where he studied medicine and the liberal arts,

with further studies in Paris and Heidelberg. The charismatic Rizal quickly became a leading

light of the Propaganda Movement—Filipino expatriates advocating, through its

newspaper, La Solidaridad, various reforms such as the integration of the Philippines as a

province of Spain, representation in the Cortes (the Spanish parliament), the Filipinization of

the clergy, and equality of Filipinos and Spaniards before the law. To Rizal, the main

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impediment to reform lay not so much with the civil government but with the reactionary and

powerful Franciscan, Augustinian, and Dominican friars, who constituted a state within a state.

C. PUBLICATION DETAILS

The Novel was finished in December of 1886. Due to financial constraints, Rizal

thought the Novel might not be printed and it would remain unread. A financial aid came

however, from Rizal’s friend, Maximo Viola, who helped him print his book in Berlin name

Berliner Buchdruckerei-Aktiengesellschaft. Viola insisted on lending Rizal Php300 to cover

for 2,000 Copies. The printing was finished earlier that the estimated time of five months.

D. BRIEF OVERVIEW OF PLOT

The plot revolves around Crisostomo Ibarra, mixed-race heir of a wealthy clan,

returning home after seven years in Europe and filled with ideas on how to better the lot of his

countrymen. Striving for reforms, he is confronted by an abusive ecclesiastical hierarchy and

a Spanish civil administration by turns indifferent and cruel. The novel suggests, through plot

developments, that meaningful change in this context is exceedingly difficult, if not

impossible.

The title means ‘Touch Me Not’ in Latin. Early titles given to this novel were ‘An

Eagle Flight’ and ‘The Social Cancer’. French writer D. Blumenstihl also notes that ‘Noli Me

Tangere’ was a term used by ophthalmologists for cancer of the eyelids.

E. BOOK’S POPULARITY AND CIRCULATION

In 1992, After reading the novel, American writer Harold Augenbraum translated the novel

having been acquainted to translating other Spanish Literary works.

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 A 480-page then-latest English version of Noli Me Tángere was then released to major

Australian book stores on August 21, 2007. The Australian edition of the novel was published

by Penguin Books Classics, to represent the publication's "commitment to publish the major

literary classics of the world.

For Numerous times, Noli Me Tangere was also adapted for film, theater and television

and at the start of the 20th Century, Noli Me Tangere has been translated to some languages

locally and internationally.

II. SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

The young and idealistic Juan Crisostomo Ibarra returns home after seven years in

Europe. The wealthy meztizo, like his father Don Rafael endeavors for reform primarily in

the area of education in order to eliminate poverty and improve the lives of his countrymen.

Upon learning about his father’s demise and the denial of a Catholic burial for his father

Ibarra was provoked to hit Padre Damaso which eventually lead to his excommunication.

The excommunication was later rescinded upon the intervention of the Governor General.

Padre Salvi, Ibarra’s mortal enemy accused Ibarra of insurrection. Ibarra’s letter to his

beloved Maria Clara was used against him. Later in the story, Maria Clara will tell Ibarra

that she did not conspire to indict him. She was compelled to give Ibarra’s letter in

exchange for the letters of her mother before she was born. Maria Clara found out that the

letters of her mother were addressed to Padre Damaso about their unborn child which

means that she is the biological daughter of the priest and not of her father, Capitan Tiago.

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 Meanwhile, Ibarra was able to escape the prison with Elias, who also experienced injustice

with the authorities. Ibarra was able to speak with Maria Clara about the letters and

thereafter forgave her. Ibarra and Elias flee to the lake and were chased by the Guardia

Civil. One was shot and the other survives. Upon hearing the news, Maria Clara believed

that Ibarra was dead; she entered the nunnery instead of marrying Alfonso Linares.

The fatally wounded Elias found the child Basilio and his dead mother Sisa. The latter was

driven to insanity when she learned that her children were implicated for theft by the

sacristan mayor. Elias instructed Basilio to dig for his and Sisa’s graves and there is a

buried treasure which he can use for his education.

Noli Me Tangere brilliantly described Philippine society with its memorable characters.

The melancholic fate of Maria Clara and the insanity of Sisa characterized the country’s

pitiful state, which was once beautiful, turned miserable. Reading Noli Me Tangere will

open one’s mind about oppression and tyranny.

III. TEXTUAL ANALYSIS

A. THEME

Noli Me Tangere (Touch Me Not) is not merely an attack on the Spanish colonial regime. It is

a charter nationalism. It calls on the Filipino to recover his self-confidence, to appreciate his own

worth, to return to the heritage of his ancestors, to assert himself as the equal of the Spaniard. It is

a romantic novel, book of feeling, work of the heart, and contains freshness, color, humor, lightness

and wit despite that it depicts the sufferings of the Filipino people under the Spanish rule.

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 B. SYMBOLS ANALOGIES AND EXTERIOR REFERENCES

In the book, a lot of characters were presented directly or indirectly represent a real person in

Rizal’s time. Crisostomo Ibarra, represents Rizal. They both have the same ideals of uplifting the

Philippines and attaining freedom as a country through means other than revolting through

physical combat. Also, both of them studied in Europe.

Maria Clara on the other hand was based on Rizal’s childhood sweetheart Leonor Rivera.

Sisa, Basilio and Crispin symbolize a Filipino family whose fate has fallen tragically in the

hands of the Spanish authorities. They were persecuted for being the lowly citizens and evidently

their rights have been deprived from them.

IV. REACTIONS

The boldness of Rizal in exposing the sad truth that was happening in the country during his

time is extraordinary. He knows the consequences of his actions for exposing the ills of the society

brought about the by Spanish Catholic priests and government officials, yet he was able to take a

stand to bring his message and open the eyes of the people to what is happening. Indeed Noli Me

Tangere is like a mirror for the Philippine’s situation during the Spanish Colonial era and even up

to this day. Although I might find some events in the novel exaggerated as characters were placed

in situations that are very dramatically tragic, however, it still reflects the truth that happens in

reality. Sadly, the truth is not as acceptable as injustices are so predominant especially on the part

of the Filipino people.

Spaniards have been so evidently using religion to achieve their personal desires and to also

rise to power. It was a reflection of the unfortunate events that had been present in Rizal’s time

brought about by the abuse of power by the Spaniards.

V. SUMMARY OF POINTS

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 The Noli Me Tangere (Touch Me Not). It is a romantic novel that is a work from the heart. A

book of feeling in which describes of freshness, color, humor, lightness and wit embodied it. The

characters, specifically Maria Clara and Crisostomo Ibarra have delineating a Filipino man and

woman’s attitude and values. It also describes the way of living before, encountering and how they

had able to adopt and overcome hardships that leads to their desires for each other against the

bitterness and cruelty of the leaders before. It shows their determination and willingness to fight

for their love and to our fatherland no matter what consequences may happen to them. It traced the

delicate social and political problems of confronting the society.

VI. CONCLUSION

All in all, "Noli Me Tangere" shall forever remain as one of the most powerful tools the

Philippines has ever had to spread awareness on the “social cancer" and to fight for independence.

As Jose Rizal used various themes to spread the word regarding the battle against abusive power,

injustice, false religious claims and other inappropriate dealings with innocent people, the cause

Rizal started more than a hundred years ago shall endure.