CHAPTER 8

NOLI ME TANGERE, 1887

 “Noli Me Tangere . . . signify ‘do not touch me.’
The book contains things of which no one among
ourselves has spoken up to the present; they are so
delicate that they cannot be touched by anybody. 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 . . . The facts I narrate are all true and they
actually happened; I can prove them.
- Jose Rizal
Rizal’s FIRST NOVEL

By the flickering light of his petroleum lamp, he

wrote on page by page. Through the opaque window
panes, he saw the snow flakes getting thicker and
thicker. The howling winter wind, sweeping the
snowbound city, jarred his windows and come
hooting down the chimney. He wrote on, and on, until
the early hours of dawn. At long last, he finished
the novel on FEBRUARY 21, 1887. It was the NOLI
ME TANGERE, his first novel.
Idea of Writing a Novel on
Philippines
Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher
Stowe
In the house of the Paternos in Madrid on
January 2, 1884
Paternos (Pedro. Maximino, and Antonio),
Graciano Lopez Jaena, Evaristo Aguirre,
Eduardo de Lete, Julio Llorente, and
Valentin Ventura
THE WRITING OF THE “NOLI”
 Toward the end of 1884, Rizal began writing the novel in
Madrid and finished about one-half of it.
 When he went to Paris, in 1885, after, completing his
studied in the Universidad Central de Madrid, he
continued writing the novel, finishing one-half of the
second half. He wrote the last fourth of the novel in
Germany.
 During the dark days of December; 1886, while his spirit
was at its lowest ebb, he almost threw the manuscript into
the fire. The novel was almost finished then.
Barcelona
Germany

Universidad Centra de
Madrid
 In mid-December, a telegram from Barcelona arrived. It
was sent by Dr. Maximo Viola, informing Rizal of his coming
visit to Berlin.
 His friend Viola, a scion of a rich family of San Miguel,
Bulacan, would surely lend him the money for the
publication of the novel.

THE MAN WHO SAVED THE “NOLI”

Viola, loaded with money, came to Berline to invite Rizal join
him on a tour of Europe. When he learned Rizal’s
predicament. He kindly agreed to postponed the tour and,
instead, advanced some money so that the novel could be
printed.
The first edition of the Noli was printed in Berlin
1887. The cost of printing was 300 pesos
(advanced by Viola) for 2,000 copies.
Rizal gave to Viola the galley proof of the Noli
carefully rolled around the pen that he used in
writing the novel and the first copy to come off
the press with a dedicatory autograph as follows:
“To my Friend, Maximino Viola, the first to read
and appreciate my work ; --- Jose Rizal, March
29,1887, Berlin”
MARCH 29,1887- was the date when the Noli Me
Tangere came off the press
THE TITLE OF THE NOVEL
Noli Me Tangere
• is a Latin phrase which means “Touch Me Not”
• Taken from the Bible
“Noli Me Tangere, words taken from the Gospel of Saint Luke,
signify ‘do not touch me.’ ” Rizal’s writing to Felix R. Hidalgo in
French in March,1887.
• In citing the Biblical source, Rizal made a mistake. It should be the
Gospel of St. John (Chapter 20, Verses 13 to 17)
“Touch me not; I am not yet ascende to my Father, but go to
my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and
your Father, and to my God and your God.
St. John (Chapter 20, Verses 13
to 17)
THE AUTHOR’S DEDICATION
 Rizal dedicated the Noli Me Tangere to the Philippines –
”To My Country.”

Sypnosis of Noli Me Tangere

THE “NOLI” BASED ON TRUTH

The Noli Me Tangere, is a true story of Philippine
conditions during the last decades of Spanish rule. “ The
place, the characters, and the situations really existed.
“The fact I narrate there,” said Rizal, “are all true and have
happened; I can prove them.”
 CHARACTERS IN NOLI ME TANGERE

 Maria Clara was

Leonor Rivera,
although in real life
she became
unfaithful, unlike the
heroine of the novel,
and married an
Englishman.
 Ibarra and Elias
represented Rizal
himself.

Tasio the sage

was his elder
brother, Paciano
 Padre Salvi was identified by
Rizalists as Padre Antonio
Piernavieja, the hated Augustinian
friar in Cavite who was killed by
our patriots during the revolution

Capitan Tiago was

Capitan Hilario Sunico
of San Nicolas
 Dona Victorina was
Dona Augustina
Medel

 Padre Damaso was

typical of a
domineering friar Basilio and Crispin
during the days of were the
Rizal, who was Crisostomo
aarrogant, brothers of
supercilious, and anti-
Filipino.
Hagonoy.
RIZAL’S FRIENDS PRAISED THE “NOLI”

The Friends of Rizal hailed the novel, praising it in

glowing colors. As to be expected, Rizal’s
enemies condemned it. Rizal anticipated the
vitriolic attacks of his enemies, who were sore to
be told the truth of their evil ways.
“The government and the friars will probably
attack the work, refurting my statements, but I trust
in the God of Truth and in the person who have
actually seen our sufferings.”
 Copies of the Noli were sent by Rizal to Blumentritt, Regidor, Hidalgo,
Mariano Ponce, Graciano Lopez Jaena, Aguirre, and other friends.
More copies were created and sent to Barcelona, Madrid and
Hongkong to be smuggled in to the Philippines.

“First of all, accept my cordial congratulations for your beautiful

novel about customs which interests me extraordinarily. Your work, as
we Germans say, has been written with the blood of the heart, and so
the heart also speaks. I continue reading it with match interest, and I
shall beg to ask you now ang then for an explanation when I find
words unkwon to me; for instance, the word filibuster must have
certain meaning in the Philippines that I do not find in the Spanish of
the Penisulars nor in that Spanish people of America.”
“I know already the you were a man of extraordinary talent; but in
spite of this, your work has exceeded my hopes and I consider myself
happy to have been honored with your friendship.”
1. When did Rizal finished his first novel?
2. Where did Rizal get the idea on writing Noli Me
Tangere?
3. Where is the reunion of the Filipinos took place?
4. When did the reunion happen?
5. Noli Me Tangere signifies
___________________?
6. During the dark days of
____________________, while his spirit was
at its lowest ebb, he almost threw the
manuscript into the fire. The novel was almost
finished then.
7. The man who saved the Noli is ____________?
8. What was the cst of printing of Noli in Berlin?
9. When din the Noli came off the press?
10. Maria Clara was ______________?
11. Who was typical of a domineering friar during the days
of Rizal, who was aarrogant, supercilious, and anti-
Filipino.
12. Who was Ibarra and Elias in the story of Noli?
13. “Touch me not; I am not yet ascende to my Father, but go
to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my
Father, and your Father, and to my God and your God. Is
came from what chapter and verse
14. Rizal sent a copies to his friends, give two (two) of
them.