THE CONTRIBUTION
OF THE NOLI AND Fi, TO THE
NATIONAL CONSCIOUSNESS
Learning Outcomes:
1. Explain the similarities and differences of the Noli Me Tengere ¢
of the Noli langere and El Filibuste
2. Discuss how both novels contributed to the national consousrest andro
Philippine Revolution
THE NOLI AND FILI COMPARED
Rizal's novels were works of fiction. All the characters and places are fictional, There
are no historical personalities such as Padre Damaso, Fr. Salvi Fr. Sibyla or Fr. Camorra, Nor was al
there an Ibarra, Simoun, Elias or even a Maria Clara ora Sisa. Both novels however have powerful
Messages: that there is oppression of the Filipino people not only by the Spanish colonizers but
also by fellow Filipinos who subordinated themselves to the Spaniards; thatthe Catholic Church
especially the friars were a party to this oppression. The Spanish friars, who were supposed to be
Suardians of morality and exemplars of virtue, were abusing their positions and were arrogant in
the use of their power. Religion is being used by the Church in the Philippines to perpetuate their
influence on the political, economic and social life of the Philippines; that religion was being used
to promote superstition and fear rather than understanding and a love for knowledge
The novels warn of a worsening and social decay in the stands. There were those who
have chosen to become instruments of oppression by the Spaniards. These include the friar
Administrator ofthe agricultural estate and the native members ofthe Guardia ivi, Thee were
also Filipinos who became blind and fanatical followers ofthe friars. Aside from these Filpines
there were a growing number of their country men who rejected their own hentage and identity
‘nd slavishly adopted the ways, beliefs and the way of thinking of the colonizers
The novels had different effects on those who had read them: as coe ae
Caused rage and anger among the conservative elements such as the friars222
‘loved and for his country.
fi names and fresiess: even has a sor
veomposed by Rizal himself and sang inthe
ce Maria
bby Maria Clara,
1 and it warns of a comin
Piibustersm hand was a political novel :
second reveals a cynicism and
author. The Noli shows a witty and romantic Rizal whlle the seco
seer saetonctneweboe Wite the Nol showed Rizal's charm and wit the Fi was darkand
full of pain and sorrow.
In the making of the novels Rizal spent more effort in writing his second novel. It was
‘emotionally taxing because his family was evicted from their lands in Calamba. He practically
had no support from his family inthe Philippines and he broke away from the ranks of Filipino
propagandists in Spain. He also lost Leonor Rivera to her marriage to Charles Kipping and almost
‘went toa duel with his close friend, Antonio Luna, over a Nelly Boustead.
‘The writing and printing ofthe novels were times that tested Rizal's resolve to see these
to completion. In both novels Rizal was practically broke and not in good health. The conditions
uring the writing of the Fili were worse as he was practically starving, emotionally drained
from the hardships with the Filipinos in Madrid, the eviction of his family from Calamba, the
deportation of his brother and in-laws plus his personal misfortunes in the area of love. In both
cases he was tempted to burn both manuscripts. He questioned himself why he was putting
himself in all the trouble of exposing the ils ofthe Philippines, the thankless task of working in
the reform and propaganda movement when he could just live a more normal and comfortable
life. tshould be remembered wien Rizal was working on the El Filibusterismo he already had his
Ncentiate certificate to practice medicine. Yet he worked until E Fi
ibusterismo was completed
ee oe hee ‘the facsimiles of the drafts of both novels he can discern Rizal's state of
wells his financial condition, Inthe facsimile ofthe Noli Me ‘Tangere, Rizal's handwriting
Ce and erasures. in most of the pages of
was uniformly black throughout the aed er ofthe page blank. The ink he was using
lowe
tons hon eaae eenbee e ha
the pager and ot pager thee nee eu SR ee eT of
s EE 6 ‘on pages that should have been discarded, Th, Reeser the mares
FIN RTPES were erased and Rial would just yee the bash Met Whole pages in which the
bustersmo the nk he was using turmed fe black te af the page for is writing, In
Purple. He must have been diluting hison A 0%
ae ee Rae ne
1S A SEQUEL TO THE FILI2
~ Itisworthnoting thatall the main charactersin th
ecially Simoun, Ibarra, Maria Clara, Elias,
1e Noli Me Tangere and El Flibusterismo
Padre Damaso had died, This
deft
continue the story. However many elements from the startof the first novel stil Se
pert pee es a ee Camorra, Fr Sibyla and Fr, Fernandez, Don Tiburcio and Dofia
Victorina and the characters from El Filibusterismo like Don Custodio, Ben-Zayb an
were basically untouched. >, Ben-Zayb and Seftor Pasta
This situation is symbolic because the youth will stil be there to symbolize the continuing
struggle of the Filipinos and the evils of the past such as friar domination represented by Fr. Salvi
and the others; a society afflicted by colonial mentality represented by the spouses Espadafia and
hypocritical, corrupt and selfish Filipinos like Pasta, Ben-Zayb and Custodio, will stil be there in
the future,
The youth like the other characters in the two novels, are not perfect beings. All ofthe
personalities will have flaws and at the same time some steering characters that would probably
be the hope of the motherland. Otherwise the story would have ended there. It remains for some
artist, novelist or story teller to continue Rizal's story.
THE EFFECTS OF NOLI ME TANGERE AND EL FILIBUSTERISMO
TO THE NATIONAL CONSCIOUSNESS
When both novels were finished and have arrived in the Philippines their contents spread
like wildfire. The prohibition by the friars made the public more curious and they wanted to know
more about the novels. When asked for a preference, Rizal said he preferred the Noli Me Tangere
0 Filibusterismo, as did Marcelo H. del Pilar. More people however preferred Bee
because it contained more profound ideas and sublime thoughts. Despite thelr a aaa
agreed that both novels served Rizal's motives: they awakened the Fili = atk ee
Under Spanish rule and that they need to work as one for their freedom and sal
il jation and the rule
ovels also commented on the state of Philippine Dee Sera raiieic racy
by the friarshad a strong gripon the county ais mentality the will neglect of
to other Filipinos. It also made fun and lamba: omit called on te Filipinos to mend
their own identity and their slavish submission to the eas ‘opse before society in order to
‘heir ways, reclaim their honor as a people, undertake
Prepare the Philippines for eventual freedom.
223224
a ewan id and mitted
‘}eombinaion ofall ated friars who demanded "57°"
‘was abusive and feared. In NE 11872 when a pious woman from a prominent
historical basis andit was inspired by DART)” oficial of the Franciscan Order. Kapitan
family in Manila was repeatedly raped allegedly bY 2 Oo Aupustina Medel, owner of
i via Victor
Pe ete ea as ees were the Crisostomo brothers of Hagonoy,
the Zorrilla Theater. The brothers Cris
Bulacan.
1 the friars called itimpious, heretical and unpatriotic,
i ‘was vilified because of the book, In
‘When the Spaniards read the novel
Rizal later wrote that after his visit to the Philippines he
‘writing to Dr. Blumentritt, Rizal wrote:
“My book made a lot of noise: everywhere Iam asked about it. They wanted to
‘anathemize me (ie. excommunicate me) because of it. | am considered a German
spy, an agent of Bismarck; they say 1am a Protestant, a free mason, a sorcerer, a
damned soul and evil. It is whispered that I want of draws plans (so Germany can
invade the Philippines), that Ihave a foreign passport and that I wander through
the streets at night.”
4s for El Filibusterismo, Simoun was Rizal. Most of the friars in the novel this time:
were the Dominicans. This was the order that expelled his family from their lands in Calamba
‘The Dominican friars were Fr Sibyla who was Vice Rector of the pontifical and royal University
of Santo Tomas. The character alludes to Fr. Bernardino Nozaleda who was Vice Rector of the
university when Rizal
niversiy when Rizal wasa student there. Later Fr Nozaleda would become the Archbishop of
actual professor in Physics was Fr Jenaro Bui
itrago de la Re
did not threaten or verbally abuse the students in his caacuracy but only in the remote parts of the islands, Rizal put the: ‘setting of Fr, Florentino’s parish
onthe easter side of Luzon which was sparsely populated. In reality eastern Luzon would be the
realm of the Franciscans from the Aurora area to the Bicol region, The northeastern part of the
island is handled by the Dominicans.
The family of Cabesang Tales alludes to the peasant families of Calamba who were
evicted by the Dominicans. But a closer comparison would be the farmers who were victims
of land-grabbing by the friar orders. Already mentioned were the farmers from Lian, Batangas
whose lands were grabbed by the Augustinian Recollects and the fishermen from the same towns
whose access to the sea was blocked by the religious order: In eastern Cavite, the Dominicans
extended their hacienda from the Silang, Cavite to the west to San Pedro Tunasan in Laguna to
the east. In the process, the families living between these two towns suddenly found themselves
landless and they have become tenants who had to pay rent or else leave. Since these farmers
lived far away from the towns they become victims from the law and the lawless. Administrators
from the friar estate would come and collect the ever-increasing rent while the bandits would
come to extort money. Some of these bandits were themselves former victims of either the law
or the lawless. The most notorious of these bandits was Laong who terrorized the towns east of
Manila. Laong was later tapped by the Katipuneros to fight the Spaniards in 1896.
The killing of Tandang Selo by Civil Guards was inspired by an incident in the Mariana
Islands in the 1870 when a group of Guardia Civil was hunting a band of escaped prisoners. One
of those prisoners who was shot and killed was an old man who was waving a spear
Rizal painted the University of Santo Tomas asa melting pot of students and professors
from different backgrounds. It was the breeding ground of conservatives and reactionaries oot 3
Nozaleda; reformists like Marcelo H. del Pilarand Rizal ‘himselfand rebels like eines oo
Were rich and poor Filipinos in the university. In one scene in the University was the 1g
‘who founded the University in 1611 Rizal himself may have contributed some tv ed
‘hich was not erected when he wasastudentthere. The projec needed ee asin font of
Were raised. It was cast in bronze in Paris and it was erected at the Pe cctein feeiary 945
‘he original university buldingin 1891, The statue survived he Dao ws
and was moved to the Sulucan campus of the university In }940 TT i csecutor of
then:
"ot totally fictional as Fr. Baltasar was actually i Baltasar Fore
225prea heretical conte
The of lies and half-truths in the novels as well as its
ee ears cnr igarosl opposes pessese of the Rizal Bll
Today, the two novels are very much rememberedby the Filipino people. A monumentin
act bears the words Noli Me Tangere, E Fibusterismo and Morga referring to Rizal's two:
‘and the author of the book which Rizal annotated. Streets and a plaza in Manila were named after
the novels as well asa whole complex of streets. The individual characters too are remembered;
‘nowadays whenever a priest or member of the clergy does something wrong or interferes with
the social life of the people, he is called a modern padre Damaso. Sisa is remembered as the
‘woman of weak character driven into madness by her husband and a cruel society; Maria Clarais
seen as a model of meekness and the character of a Filipina, The words of Rizal either speaking
as Ibarra and Simoun are remembered by millions of Filipinos who at least saw a movie about the
novels or actually read the books.