Book Report

On

Noli Me Tangere

Life and Works of Rizal

Submitted by:

Princess Lhai B. Garcia

Submitted to:

Mr. Raymond Danico

September 28, 2018

I. INTRODUCTION

A. TITLE

Noli Me Tangere

B. AUTHOR

José Protacio Rizal Mercado y Alonso Realonda, more so known as Dr. Jose Rizal was

born on June 19, 1861. He was born to a wealthy family based in Calamba, Laguna and was

7th of the 11 children in their family.

He earned a Bachiller en Artes diploma in Ateneo Municipal de Manila and studied

Medicine at the University of Sto. Tomas. To further his studies in Medicine and finish his

first Novel, he traveled to Europe and studied at Universidad Central de Madrid, in Madrid,

Spain,which earned him a degree of Licentiate in Medicine, and later moved to Paris and

Heidelberg, Germany to continue his studies.

He became a prominent reformist in his time during the Spanish Colonial Era. He was

chosen to be the leader of the Katipunan even without his knowledge and consent, which led

to his execution on December 30,1896. He is considered the National hero of the Philippines,

and today he is remembered in the celebration of the Rizal day every December 30.

He was known a poet, essayist and novelist and 2 of his most famous works were

Noli me Tangere and El Filibusterismo. He was also a polymath, being an artist who is gifted

in painting, sculpting, sketching and woodcarving. He was also a polyglot, being able to

speak and communicate in twenty-two languages.

He was the founder of the civic organization called La Liga Filipina which later led to

the formation of the KKK led by Andres Bonifacio, which started the Philippine Revolution

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against Spain. Rizal’s standpoint in achieving Philippine liberation is by means of restoring

the dignity of its people through equality.

It was believed that Rizal’s execution at Bagumbayan sparked the beginning of the

Philippine Revolution.

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

Noli Me Tangere is a Novel written by Dr. Jose Rizal during the Spanish Colonial Era to

expose the inequities of Spanish Catholic Priests and also the Government that ruled the

Philippines during that same time. 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.

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

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 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

Noli Me Tangere presents the ills in the Philippine society as well as ironies and

injustices that had been happening at that time. Juan Crisostomo Ibarra, having just arrived from

Europe, was welcomed with a get-together party thrown by a family friend, Kapitan Tiago,

whose daughter is Ibarra’s sweetheart, Maria Clara. One of the guests in the party was Padre

Damaso, who belittled and insulted Ibarra.

The next day, the two lovers, Ibarra and Maria Clara meet, their long-standing love

manifested clearly. Before Ibarra left for San Diego, Liutenant Guevarra reveals to him the

incidents that preceded the death of his father, Don Rafael Ibarra. He told him that Don Rafael

was unjustly accused of being a heretic and a subversive, as was brought up by Padre Damaso

for not participating in the Church’s Sacraments, such as the mass and the confession. The

aversion of Damaso on Don Rafael was further aggravated when he tried to help out a kid

fighting with a tax collector, of whom the death of the latter was blamed on him although the

events that happened was not done on purpose. Because of this, Ibarra’s father was then

imprisoned and later died because of sickness.

Having heard the account on his father’s death, Ibarra still did not aim for revenge. He

instead chose to carry on with his father’s plan of putting up a school, since he believed that

education is the key to the nation’s progress. During the school’s inauguration, Ibarra would

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have been killed, had not Elias, a mysterious man who warned Ibarra of the plot to assassinate

him, saved him. After the inauguration, Ibarra hosted a lunch, wherein Damaso gate-crashed and

insulted him there again. Ibarra ignored the priest at first but when he slandered Ibarra’s father’s

death, Ibarra no longer was able to restrain himself and launch in preparation to stab the

impudent priest.

As a consequence, Damaso ex-communicated Ibarra and took the opportunity to persuade

Kapitan Tiago to forbid his daughter from marrying Ibarra, but instead to marry the peninsular,

Linares, who just arrived from Spain.

Later on however, Ibarra’s ex-comminication was nullified with the help of the

Governor-General and was accepted as member of the church again.

Meanwhile, while at a party at Kapitan Tiago was held to announce the engagement of

Maria Clara and Linares, with the help of Elias, Ibarra, took the opportunity to escape prison.

Ibarra also spoke with Maria Clara, accusing her that she betrayed him to the jury, which

the latter explained that she was only forced to give Padre Salvi the letters Ibarra wrote to her in

exchange of the letters written by her mother when she was born.

Thinking that Ibarra was killed at a shooting incident, Maria Clara was overcome with

grief and so she asked Damaso to comfine her into a nunnery. Reluctant as he is, Damaso agreed

to her when she threatened to take her life if she will not be accepted to be a nun, not knowing

that Ibarra was able to escape and it was Elias who took the shots that were meant for Ibarra.

Fatally wounded, Elias woke up in the forest as it is where he would meet Ibarra, but

instead, he found Basilio and his already-dead mother, Sisa. Elias then instructs Basilio to build a

funeral and burn his and his mother’s body to ashes and if no one reaches the place, to come

back later and dig the place for he will find gold. He then urged Basilio to go to school and

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 continue with his life and dream about the freedom in the country. In the epilogue of the novel, it

was noted that Kapitan Tiago became addicted to Opium and Maria Clara became a nun where

Salvi, who has lusted after her since then, regularly used her for his pleasure. Also, one stormy

evening, a beautiful, crazy woman was found at the top of the convent cursing about her ill-fate

and though she was not identifie, it was hinted that the said woman was Maria Clara.

III. TEXTUAL ANALYSIS

Noli me Tangere can be considered a historical novel as the fictional characters such as

father Burgos, lived in actual places within a social system that was then typical in a colonized

land. Rizal exaggerated a bit, as in his portrayal of characters like the friars Damaso, Salvi, and

Sibyla. The two women who were preoccupied with prayers and novenas and the espadanas but,

on the whole, the novel follows the basic rules or realism.

A. THEME

.The theme of NOLI ME TANGERE was taken from the gospel of John. John tells that when

Jesus showed Himself after the resurrection, it was first to Mary Magdalene. NOLI ME

TANGERE or TOUCH ME NOT symbolizes one’s need for distance.

The NOLI ME TANGERE also has a similar theme of longing and fulfillment. He exposes

corruption and brutality of the civil guards which drive good men to crime and banditry. He

focuses on administration crawling with self-seekers, out to make their fortune at the expense of

Filipinos, so that the few officials who are honest and sincere are unable to overcome the

treacherous workings of the system, and their efforts to help the country often end up in

frustration or in self-ruin.

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 The NOLI is Rizal's expose of corrupt friars who have made the catholic region an

instrument of enriching and perpetuating themselves in power by seeking to mire ignorant

Filipinos in fanaticism and superstition. According to Rizal, instead of teaching Filipinos true

Catholicism, they control the government by opposing all progress and persecuting members of

the illustrado unless they make themselves their sevile flatterers.

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

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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.

This novel was written to remind us the bad things that Jose Rizal experienced during his

time by the Spanish. From the very start of this novel, the first plan of our national hero is, to

write this novel with the help of his countryman that is also suffering to the hands of the Spanish,

but suddenly he failed to do it with the help of his countryman, because his countryman lose their

hope in fulfilling their dreams to have freedom in the hands of the Spanish colonies. Jose Rizal

did not give up, because he continue write this novel without the help of his countryman, and he

decided to write it by himself only. The first chapter of this novel was entitled the paging,

wherein, in this chapter stated the lifestyle of Don Santiago de los Santos also known as Kapitan

Tiago, he was from Binondo and he was the step father of Maria Clara according to this chapter.

In this chapter, the other characters was Padre sibyla, Padre Damaso, and Tenyente Guevarra.

According to this chapter, Capitan Tiago invited the said characters to go to his house and have a

simple gathering, but suddenly it came to a fight between Padre Damaso and Tenyente Guevarra

because of the ereheng namatay. Padre Sibyla stops the rivalry between the two. The second

chapter was entitled Ang binatang si Crisostomo. Where in in, this chapter, Kapitan Tiago

present Don Crisostomo Ibarrato the priest, the son of his deceased friend named Don Rafael

Ibarra.

I can say that I learned much about being a Filipino patriot but he sized abroad and the

progress or growth of the independence of our country and how basically ignored the lack of

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 dominance in our country. Noli me Tangere shows the love of the mother to child, the love of

men to women and the love of country. Here I also learned that government was blinded by

money.

This shows the significance of love between Maria Clara and Crisostomo the true romance

wasn’t lost. You can also learn how to value the love of the mother to child like Crispin and

Basilio, a mother is willing to do sacrifice everything for the sake of her children. Truly powerful

love, it can add colors to people who have miserable lives.

I also read here that money circulating in our Society then, if you have no money you’re

treated as reject and from then until now money can cover your sins, and if you are poor you do

not serve your society like you have a life dead means you're still alive but if you have no money

you think your dead already.

V. SUMMARY OF POINTS

First point we would like to stress based on our reactions on the Novel is that Rizal has

created the novel to serve as a reflection of the ills in the society brought about by the unjust

governance of the Spanish authorities and clergy. They have been using religion to their own

advantage and abusing their power and authority to discriminate the lowly Filipino citizens who

will always be at the losing end.

Another point is that money and social status are very powerful things at that time and even

up to this day. With money, one can bend the truth and a high social status would make one

influential.

VI. CONCLUSION

Noli Me Tangere is a direct reflection of the Philippine Society. Its timeless message is still

applicable in today’s time although this has been written for over a hundred years now. The issue

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of equality is something that we are yet to achieve. Although some may claim that we are in a

democratic country and everyone has equal rights, some people still emerge superior among

others and usually it’s still the rich and powerful individuals who are given more significant

ideals and decisions in today society.