The Philippine history is not complete without the masterpieces of the country’s national hero, José Protasio
Rizal Mercado y Alonso Realonda or simply known as, Dr. Jose P. Rizal. The life and legacy of the Filipino
polymath are always included in the education of every student during their elementary, high school, and even
college years. Jose Rizal’s nationalism and urge for independence were the driving force for him to compose his
two famous novels, Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo. Despite the state’s lack of weapons such as cannons
and guns, his works brought inspiration and confidence to initiate revolution and fight the Spaniards.
Unfortunately, triumph was far from reality as Dr. Jose P. Rizal was exiled because his works were evidence of
rebellion. But what’s the story behind Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo and its relevance?
Noli Me Tangere was the first of novel of Jose Rizal. The novel exposed the brutality and oppression to the
Filipinos as the Spaniards governed the country. With Chrisostomo Ibarra as the main character, who went home
to his country to help his fellowmen develop and thrive and his main goal to give an easy access to education. But
his plans were ruined as he learned the dark truths going around. From the death of his father, the false approach of
the priests as the “spread” the good deeds of the church, corruptions and Padre Salvi, who wants Maria Clara, his
lover, the one who almost his caused the death and put him in prison due to false accusations. But Ibarra was
rescued and lead him to his next plan. Rizal’s work was filled with aspiration for change and freedom. The novel
took Rizal to risk as he was filed with extradition cases but gained more people that believed in him which gave
him the courage to write the sequel.
Despite of the heavy criticisms from his first novel as it posed as a threat to the government, Rizal’s love for
country and anger to the state of Filipinos brought El Filibusterismo to life. The prominent change of atmosphere
in the novels can be seen. The delicate Noli Me Tangere was followed by a bitter sequel as Rizal wanted the
readers to open up their eyes because the truth was near. The revolution should be pushed and fight against the
Spaniards. The desperation of freedom was evident in the story as it still exposed the corruption and brutality of
the Spanish government. A lot of dark truths were revealed and deaths were involved in the novel. The story
revolved how Chrisostomo Ibarra returned to his country after many years as a rich jeweler named Simoun. He
became part of the government as he planned a revenge to end the suffering of many. At first, he was quietly doing
his plan of bringing down the Spanish government but everything changed when he heard that Maria Clara died.
He suddenly seek for a violent revenge where he plotted an explosion at a wedding. But his plan did not go well as
the lamp he used was thrown at the river. He was now cornered for his actions. The lesson in this novel was
violence will never be the answer to every problems or even revenge.
The novels served as a mirror of the Filipino society. The long years of colonization, oppression, and even
corruption.He wrote the novels to defend Filipino people from the wrong accusations stating the they lack of
knowledge, to show how the state of every Filipino as they suffer from the abuse of the Spanish government, to
show how religion should be approached and its importance to their everyday lives and to uncover the severity of
the damage that cruelty and corruption brought by the false government which also lead to further failures. The
novels ignited a fire inside every Filipinos to discover their identities and find their confidence to defend the
country in times of hardship, to unite and lastly, not to leave the words of Rizal only in written in books but to live
with it and put it in action.
