“Conditions in the 19th Century related to the Noli me Tangere”

José Protasio Rizal Mercado y Alonso Realonda is the national hero of the Philippines and the
first Asian nationalist. 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 relate 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 grief’s; 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 on 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 Me Tangere which was written by Dr. Jose Rizal, contains historical and sentimental
elements that 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 considered scandalous, 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 becomes more knowledgeable about what had happened in the past by reading or appreciating
the book. It made us realize that the past and the present had 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 also taught 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 Me Tangere. 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
circumstances 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.