Famous Novel [Noli Me Tangere]

            This part includes information about one of Rizal's famous novels, Noli Me Tangere. We searched and compiled in this part some useful information about Noli Me Tangere. Hope that the information below will help you understand further Noli Me Tangere.

            At the age of three, Rizal already learned the alphabet with the help of his mother; at five, while learning to read and write, he already showed potentials to become an artist. And at the age of eight, he already wrote his first poem entitled, "Sa aking mga kabata". The potentials he showed at such a young age made his excellency in writing less of a surprise.

          Rizal had written many outstanding novels. But the two of his well-known novels are Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo.

Original cover of Noli Me Tangere

Noli Me Tangere - (Touch Me Not)
Dedicated to: My Fatherland

Place of Publication: Berlin, Germany

*Symbols found in the cover of Noli Me Tangere and its meaning:

• Cross: Sufferings
• Pomelo Blossoms and Laurel Leaves: Honor and Fidelity
• Silhouette of a Filipina: Maria Clara
• Burning Torch: Rage and Passion
• Sunflowers: Enlightenment especially the youth
• Bamboo stalks that were cut down but grew back: Resilience
• A man in a cassock with hairy feet: Priests using religion in a dirty way
• Chains: Slavery
• Whip: Cruelty
• Helmet of Guardia Civil: Arrogance of those in authority

Major characters:

• Juan Crisóstomo Ibarra y Magsalin - commonly referred to the novel as Ibarra or Crisóstomo, is the protagonist in the story. Son of a Filipino businessman, Don Rafael Ibarra, he studied in Europe for seven years.
• María Clara de los Santos y Alba - commonly referred to as María Clara, is Ibarra's fiancée. She was raised by Capitán Tiago, San Diego's cabeza de barangay and is the most beautiful and widely celebrated girl in San Diego.
• Don Santiago de los Santos - known by his nickname Tiago and political title Capitán Tiago is a Filipino businessman and the cabeza de barangay or head of barangay of the town of San Diego. He is also the known father of María Clara.
• Doña Victorina de los Reyes de Espadaña - commonly known as Doña Victorina, is an ambitious Filipina who classifies herself as a Spanish and mimics Spanish ladies by putting on heavy make-up. The novel narrates Doña Victorina's younger days: she had lots of admirers, but she did not choose any of them because nobody was a Spaniard. Later on, she met and married Don Tiburcio de Espadaña, an official of the customs bureau who is about ten years her junior.
• Dámaso Verdolagas - or Padre Dámaso is a Franciscan friar and the former parish curate of San Diego. He is best known as a notorious character who speaks with harsh words and has been a cruel priest during his stay in the town. He is the real father of María Clara and an enemy of Crisóstomo's father, Rafael Ibarra.
• Pilosopo Tasyo - is another major character in the story. Seeking for reforms from the government, he expresses his ideals in paper written in a cryptographic alphabet similar from hieroglyphs and Coptic figures hoping "that the future generations may be able to decipher it" and realized the abuse and oppression done by the conquerors.
• Sisa - is the deranged mother of Basilio and Crispín. Described as beautiful and young, although she loves her children very much, she can not protect them from the beatings of her husband, Pedro.
• Crispín - is Sisa's 7-year-old son. An altar boy, he was unjustly accused of stealing money from the church. After failing to force Crispín to return the money he allegedly stole, Father Salví and the head sacristan killed him. It is not directly stated that he was killed, but the dream of Basilio suggests that Crispín died during his encounter with Padre Salvi and his minion.
• Basilio - is Sisa's 10-year-old son. An acolyte tasked to ring the church bells for the Angelus, he faced the dread of losing his younger brother and the descent of his mother into insanity. At the end of the novel, Elías wished Basilio to bury him by burning in exchange of chest of gold located on his death ground.

Summary:

   Having completed his studies in Europe, young Juan Crisóstomo Ibarra y Magsalin comes back to the Philippines after a 7-year absence. In his honor, Don Santiago de los Santos "Captain Tiago," a family friend, threw a get-together party, which was attended by friars and other prominent figures. One of the guests, former San Diego curate Fray Dámaso Vardolagas belittled and slandered Ibarra. Ibarra brushed off the insults and took no offense; he instead politely excused himself and left the party because of an allegedly important task.

   The next day, Ibarra visits María Clara, his betrothed, the beautiful daughter of Captain Tiago and affluent resident of Binondo. Their long-standing love was clearly manifested in this meeting, and María Clara cannot help but reread the letters her sweetheart had written her before he went to Europe. Before Ibarra left for San Diego, Lieutenant Guevara, a Civil Guard, reveals to him the incidents preceding the death of his father, Don Rafael Ibarra, a rich hacendero of the town.

    According to Guevara, Don Rafael was unjustly accused of being a heretic, in addition to being a subversive — an allegation brought forth by Dámaso because of Don Rafael's non-participation in the Sacraments, such as Confession and Mass. Dámaso's animosity against Ibarra's father is aggravated by another incident when Don Rafael helped out on a fight between a tax collector and a child fighting, and the former's death was blamed on him, although it was not deliberate. Suddenly, all of those who thought ill of him surfaced with additional complaints. He was imprisoned, and just when the matter was almost settled, he died of sickness in jail. Still not content with what he had done, Dámaso arranged for Don Rafael's corpse to be dug up from the Catholic Church and brought to a Chinese cemetery, because he thought it inappropriate to allow a heretic a Catholic burial ground. Unfortunately, it was raining and because of the bothersome weight of the body, the undertakers decide to throw the corpse into a nearby lake.[1]

    Revenge was not in Ibarra's plans, instead he carried through his father's plan of putting up a school, since he believed that education would pave the way to his country's progress (all over the novel the author refers to both Spain and the Philippines as two different countries as part of a same nation or family, with Spain 

seen as the mother and the Philippines as the daughter).

    In the epilogue, it was explained that Tiago became addicted to opium and was seen to frequent the opium house in Binondo to satiate his addiction. María Clara became a nun where Salví, who has lusted after her from the beginning of the novel, regularly used her to fulfill his lust. One stormy evening, a beautiful crazy woman was seen at the top of the convent crying and cursing the heavens for the fate it has handed her. While the woman was never identified, it is insinuated that the said woman was María Clara.

Source: Wikipedia