Noli Me Tangere - Chapter 41: "TWO VISITS"

SUMMARY

Late that night, Elias visits Ibarra, who is unable to sleep and is therefore awake and doing experiments
in his study. Elias tells him that Maria Clara has fallen ill and then he explains that he was able to break
up the crowd at the theater by speaking to the two people who were leading the revolt. They were two
brothers whose father was killed by the Civil Guard, two brothers whom Elias happened to save one day
from the same fate. As such, he asked them to calm down the angry crowd that night in the theater, and
they obliged his request.

After Elias departs, Ibarra goes out into the street. He comes upon a man named Lucas with a large scar
on his cheek. Lucas tells Ibarra that he is the yellow man’s brother and asks Ibarra how much he intends
to pay his brother’s family to make up for his unfortunate death. Ibarra has little patience for this and
says that Lucas should visit him the next day, for he is on his way to visit a sick person and can’t stop to
talk about such matters. “Ah,” says Lucas, “and for a sick person you would forget the dead?” Ibarra
ignores him and walks away, leaving him standing in the street, muttering, “I know you’re the grandson
of the man who put my father under the earth. The same blood flows in your veins.”

EXPLAINATIONS

The important event in this chapter is Elias' visit to Ibarra to inform the young man that Maria Clara is ill
and to say goodbye because he is going to their province in Batangas. At that moment Ibarra asked how
Elias had stopped the commotion that had taken place in the Liwasan. Elias replied that he knew the
brothers who were leading the riot. They are angry with the civil guards because they killed their father
with the whip. And because the brothers were indebted to Elias, they could easily have asked for it.
Ibarra did not ask any more questions, so Elias left after saying goodbye.

Elias’s story about how he disbanded the riot builds upon the previously mentioned informal chain of
command. The fact that two rather insignificant characters were able to stop the chaos suggests that
lowly townspeople actually have a certain kind of power that higher officials like Don Filipo or Father
Salvi don’t possess.

Lucas’s assertion that Ibarra is the “grandson of the man who put his father under the earth” is very
strange since Lucas is the “yellow” man’s brother, readers know that his father is the same person as
Ibarra’s grandfather. Ibarra holds the power and influence of an affluent socialite, whereas Lucas
remains disempowered, isolated, and bitter about the ways his family has been wronged. Of course, this
bitterness calls to mind Tasio’s advice that Ibarra set aside his notions of revenge if he wants to succeed.

Noli Me Tangere - Chapter 43: "PLANS"

SUMMARY

Father Damaso goes straight to his goddaughter’s bed and says, “Maria, my child, you cannot die!” with
tearful eyes. Linares then gives Damaso a letter from his brother-in-law, who Linares says is his
godfather. He reads the letter, in which Linares’s godfather asks Damaso to find the young man a job
and wife. Father Damaso says it will be easy to find him a job, but ponders for a moment about where
he might find Linares a wife. As he thinks, Father Salvi watches from afar. “I didn’t think it would be so
difficult,” Damaso says to himself, “but it’s the lesser of two evils.” He then embraces Linares, saying,
“Come here, kid, we’re going to talk to Santiago.”

Having heard this exchange between Father Damaso and Linares, Father Salvi paces back and forth until
a man greets him. It is Lucas, and he tells Salvi that he is the brother of the man who died in the school
trenches during the town’s fiesta. Father Salvi takes one step back, saying, “And?” before Lucas explains
that Ibarra has insulted him by neglecting to pay for his brother’s death. He asks for the priest’s advice,
but Salvi lunges toward him and tells him to get lost. When Captain Tiago, Father Damaso, and Linares
come to see what the commotion is, Salvi tells them that he was only setting right a beggar. He then sets
off for the parish house.

EXPLAINATIONS

When Father Damaso takes Linares to speak with Captain Tiago, he does so primarily out of self-interest.
Given the disputes he’s had with Ibarra and given his general dislike of Ibarra’s family legacy—he’s
motivated to interfere with the young man’s engagement to Maria Clara. In this moment, readers see
how much of an opportunist Damaso is as he manipulates the volatile circumstances surrounding
Ibarra’s reputation in order to ensure that his goddaughter marries Linares instead of the young
philanthropist.

Father Salvi's harsh reception of Lucas is strange, since there’s no reason he should react so strongly to
the young man’s story. This overreaction suggests that there’s perhaps something suspicious going on in
Salvi's head, as his outburst seems an overcompensation for something Rizal hasn’t yet revealed. Salvi
uses his authoritative power to silence the man in such a vehement manner that one can only assume
that the scheming priest actually does want to hear what Lucas has to say, but not in Damaso, Maria
Clara, or Tiago’s earshot.

Noli Me Tangere - Chapter 44: "AN EXAMINATION OF CONSCIENCE"

SUMMARY

Maria Clara’s health slowly improves, much to the surprise of Doctor de Espadaña, who has prescribed a
simple marshmallow syrup regimen. Father Salvi attributes this improvement to religion, for he took
Maria Clara’s confession. As he debates with Doña Victorina about the value of religion over science,
Maria Clara’s friends urge her to take one more pill, which they store in a glass tube secretly sent to
them by Ibarra. Aunt Isabel enters the room and tells her to prepare to give another confession. As her
friends leave, she whispers, “Tell him to forget about me” into Sinang’s ear.

Aunt Isabel prepares Maria Clara for confession by reading her the ten commandments. Maria Clara
weeps at first, heaving especially large sobs during the fifth commandment. But her woe falls away for
the last five, which puzzles her aunt. When Father Salvi comes and takes the young woman’s confession,
he looks deeply into her eyes. Upon leaving, he is covered in sweat, looking like he was the one who
“had confessed, and did not deserve absolution.”

EXPLAINATIONS

Father Salvi and Doña Victorina’s argument about religion and science speaks to their desire to portray
their own affiliations as powerful. Salvi, on the one hand, is a priest and therefore wants people to think
that Maria Clara has improved because of his piety. Victorina, on the other hand, wants people to think
her husband’s medical care is superior to Salvi's religious efforts.

The fifth commandment is “Honour thy father and thy mother.” Bearing this in mind, Maria Clara weeps
upon hearing this commandment because she feels pressured by Captain Tiago and perhaps by the
memory of her mother to honor her family by abandoning Ibarra and consenting to marry Linares.

Noli Me Tangere: Chapter 48

Summary Analysis

Ibarra visits María Clara to tell her that his excommunication has been lifted. When he arrives, he finds
her with Linares. Confused, he says he’ll come back another time, noting a strange look of hesitancy on
his lover’s face. He wanders into the street and winds his way to the school, where construction
continues to thrive at a good pace. There, among the workers, he spots Elías, who tells him to meet him
by the lakeside to discuss several important matters.

It’s notable that, despite Ibarra’s excommunication, construction has continued on the school. This is
perhaps thanks to Tasio’s advice that Ibarra gain approval for the project from the town’s priests and
government officials—because they have invested themselves in the endeavor, they don’t stop its
progress during the young man’s excommunication.

41-44
Summary

Later that night, Elías visits Ibarra and tells him that María Clara has become ill, though not seriously so.
He explains that he was able to prevent the riot because he had previously saved the lives of the two
people leading the chaos, and they were indebted to him. Elías leaves, and Ibarra goes outside and runs
into a man named Lucas, who says he’s the yellow man’s brother and wants to know how much Ibarra
will pay his brother’s family. Annoyed, Ibarra responds rudely and walks away.

The festival finally concludes. Doctor de Espadaña and his wife, Doña Victorina, arrive at Captain Tiago’s
house, along with a cousin. The narrator informs the reader of the history of the de Espadañas: Doña
Victorina is Filipina and was loved by many men, including Captain Tiago, but was determined to marry a
Spanish man. She finally married Doctor Espadaña past her prime, and he was poor until she convinced
him to pretend to be a doctor. Accompanying the de Espadañas is their nephew Linares, a Spanish man,
who asks for Father Dámaso. Doña Victorina eagerly introduces him to the sickly María Clara.

Father Dámaso arrives, going straight to María Clara’s bed. He is uncharacteristically emotional, tenderly
speaking to María Clara, but since he is her godfather, no one thinks much of it. Linares introduces
himself to Father Dámaso as his brother-in-law’s godson, and gives him a letter in which Father
Dámaso’s brother-in-law asks him to help Linares find a job and a wife. Lucas arrives and approaches
Father Salví, explaining that he is the brother of the yellow man and recounting his interaction with
Ibarra. Father Salví is strangely rude to him, yelling at him to leave, and Lucas does.

María Clara’s health slowly but steadily improves. Father Salví attributes her recovery to the power of
confession, while Doña Victorina credits her husband’s medicine. María Clara’s friends give her one
more pill, which was sent by Ibarra, and María Clara mysteriously tells her friend Sinang to “tell him to
forget about me” before giving another confession. Isabel reads the Commandments to prepare for the
confession, and María Clara cries in response, especially at the fifth commandment (“honor thy father
and thy mother.”)

Analysis

Father Dámaso takes Linares to meet with Captain Tiago not out of the kindness of his heart, but
because he is desperate to provide an alternate husband for María Clara, given both the recent
disgraces Ibarra has suffered and his personal dislike of him. He shows himself to be a clever
opportunist, manipulating others in order to achieve the outcome he desires.

Father Salví’s staunch rejection of Lucas is strange, suggesting that perhaps he has an ulterior motive for
not wanting to hear the man’s story (or at least not wanting to hear it in front of others.) This incident
further suggests that Father Salví may have a role in the plot against Ibarra.
María Clara weeps at the fifth commandment in particular because she feels that she must marry
Linares, who she does not love, and abandon Ibarra, who she does, in order to honor her father and the
memory of her mother.

45-48

Summary

Deep in the forest, Elías meets with an old man named Captain Pablo, who he tries to convince to travel
north with him to live together as makeshift father and son. Pablo refuses, however, and tells his story: a
minister raped his daughter, then framed one of his sons for a robbery and tortured him to death,
fearing that the sons would take revenge on him, while the other son was arrested by the Civil Guard
and harassed until he committed suicide. Pablo explains that he has joined with others who have
suffered similar abuses of power and is planning revenge. Elías tries to dissuade him, fearing what the
church and government will do in response, and tells him about Ibarra, suggesting he can speak to the
Captain General about the issue.

The two brothers whose father was killed by the Civil Guard and who Elías convinced to help stop the
riot, Tarsilo and Bruno, visit a gambling house and speak with Lucas. Lucas offers to pay them in
exchange for them organizing an attack on the barracks and claims that this money is coming from
Ibarra.

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Doña Victorina walks through town dressed in an elaborate outfit alongside her husband. She becomes
angry when the Civil Guard officers don’t tip their hats to her and the ensign doesn’t compliment her
dress. She walks by Doña Consolación and thinks the other woman is staring at her, prompting a loud
fight between the two. Doña Victorina wants her husband to challenge the ensign to a duel to defend
her honor, but he refuses, so she decides Linares will have to take his place. Linares tries to refuse as
well, but Doña Victorina threatens to tell Captain Tiago that Linares’s credentials, much like those of her
husband, are manufactured. The de Espadañas soon leave for Manila, leaving Linares alone.
Later, Ibarra visits María Clara, intending to tell her that his excommunication has been rescinded, but
he finds her with Linares and decides to come back another time. He wanders away, witnessing
construction on the school, and sees Elías, who says he has something important to discuss.

Analysis

Elías has thus far seemed to be the most radical of the characters in terms of his vision for changing
Philippine society. In his meeting with Captain Pablo, however, Elías demonstrates a nuanced worldview
by rejecting the use of violence to achieve his goals, fearing that doing so will only hurt the people he
wants to protect. Instead, he relies on diplomacy, convincing Captain Pablo to allow him to talk Ibarra
into getting involved.

It’s unclear how exactly Lucas obtained the money he suddenly has in the scene with Tarsilo and Bruno
—Ibarra refused to pay him, and Father Salví quickly dismissed him. It’s possible he met with Father Salví
again, but whether or not this is the case isn’t clear.

Doña Consolación and Doña Victorina are both Filipina women married to Spanish men and like to think
of themselves as influential and powerful. They likely recognize these similarities in each other and
resent their resemblance, prompting them to fight to prove that they are not in fact alike. Doña
Victorina’s revelation that Linares’s credentials are fabricated exposes the cruel reality of the effects of
the isolation of the Philippines—it’s easy for Spaniards to exaggerate their qualifications since they’re so
isolated from Spain, but the Filipinos who are native to the country barely have access to education in
the first place.

The fact that construction has continued on the school despite Ibarra’s excommunication and fall from
grace suggests that Tasio’s plan worked: Ibarra has effectively convinced others that the school is their
idea, just as the liberals convinced the conservatives that reducing spending was their idea at the town
hall.

Noli Me Tangere: Summary and Analysis of Chapter 41 (Two Visits)

Summary:

While Ibarra passes time in his laboratory, Elias arrives with the news of Maria Clara's illness. The lady
had apparently caught fever. Ibarra asks Elias how the latter was able to stop the riot the night before.
Shortly after Elias leaves, Ibarra heads toward Captain Tiago's house to visit Maria Clara. Along the way
he comes across Lucas, the brother of the yellowish man who had attempted to kill Ibarra, who asks him
for money for his grieving family. Ibarra, aggravated, tells the man to return in the afternoon.

Points of Note:

Elias becomes like a slave who bids farewell to his master, Ibarra, by disguising his intentions behind
questions asking whether Crisostomo had other things he wanted him to do because Elias was actually
taking a trip to Batangas. From the day Ibarra saved him from the crocodile, Elias had dedicated his life
in service fully to the youth.

Frequently Asked Questions:

Question: Why does Ibarra tell Lucas to return in the afternoon?

Answer: In order to settle the amount he was going to pay Lucas's family? No. Ibarra simply does not
want to be bothered. He is completely enraged by this man; Ibarra knows that Lucas's brother planned
to kill him.

Question: Why does Lucas grin despite his anger?

Answer: He had formulated a plan against Ibarra.

Question: What kind of man is Lucas?

Answer: He is a dissolute man, lacking in moral restraint. He is ready to exchange is principles with the
price of money.

Chapter 41: Two Visits

Elias visits Ibarra the day after the commotion at the plaza. He informs him that Maria Clara is ill.

Downstairs, Lucas, the brother of the man killed at the school site awaits Ibarra and asks him for
compensation for his brother’s death. Disgusted, Ibarra tells him to return later.
Chapter 42: The Espadañas

Doctor Don Tiburcio de Espadaña and Doctora Doña Victorina de los Reyes de De Espadaña[1] come to
check the ailing Maria Clara. With them is Don Alfonso Linares de Espedaña, their cousin, and the
godson of a relative of Padre Damaso. Later, Padre Salvi and a melancholy Padre Damaso also drop by to
see Maria Clara.

While there, we are regaled with the history of the Espadañas. Doña Victorina, now 42, is an ageing shell
of her former beauty. She had wasted her youth waiting in vain for a Spanish suitor. Don Tiburcio was a
dismissed customs petty official with an injured leg, who, out of necessity, roamed the provinces
pretending to be a doctor. The two settled on each other because neither one of them had other
prospects.

Having married a Spaniard, Doña Victorina began putting on airs, wearing European clothes and frizzes.
She was the richer of the two, and retained the upper hand in their relationship, forcing Don Tiburcio to
attach an extra ‘de’ to their surname for added distinction, and bullying him into fully passing himself off
as a doctor.

Chapter 43: Plans

In a rare show of tenderness, Padre Damaso weeps despairingly over the sick Maria Clara. He
momentarily forgets his sadness when he is introduced to Linares, his brother-in-law’s godson. Linares
presents a letter from his father, who requests Damaso to find employment and a wife for Linares.

Nearby, Padre Salvi is accosted by Lucas who narrates how he had been brushed off by Ibarra and given
just 500 pesos. Padre Salvi drives him away in disgust.

Chapter 44: An Examination of Conscience

Maria Clara suffers a relapse after confessing, but her fever eventually abates some days later. Doña
Victorina credits this to her husband’s medical skills, but Padre Salvi believes it was the confession that
saved Maria’s life.

Padre Salvi tells Capitan Tiago that Maria Clara must take communion the next day to complete her
recovery. He instructs Aunt Isabel to prepare Maria for another confession.
Chapter 45: The Hunted

Elias finds his way into a cave in the forest to meet Pablo, a man who had previously sheltered Elias in
his time of need. Pablo is holed up with a number of armed men and vows to soon descend upon the
lowlands to exact his revenge for the injustices done to his family. His daughter had been dishonored by
a priest. His sons, falsely accused of crimes, had died after having been persecuted.

Elias, fearing reprisals against innocent people for Pablo’s actions, convinces him to delay his plans. He
asks to be given the chance to appeal to Ibarra who he hopes will speak to the Captain-General and to
others in power on behalf of the downtrodden and abused. He promises to join Pablo’s cause if he fails.
Pablo consents.

Chapter 48:

The Enigma

(The Summary of “Noli Me Tangere”)

Ibarra wishes to inform Maria Clara that his excommunication is lifted, but upon arriving at her house,
he sees Maria Clara with Linares. He is invited to come into the house, but he visits instead the site of
the school building, asking the supervisor, Ñor Juan about its progress.

Noli Me Tangere: Summary and Analysis of Chapter 48 (The Enigma)

Summary:

The archbishop grants pardon to Ibarra and removes the penalty of excommunication. Crisostomo feels
a pang of jealousy when he sees Maria Clara with Linares. He proceeds to visit his schoolhouse, which is
still under construction. The architect updates him on the recent progress of the building. Ibarra spots
Elias helping out in the construction, and requests to see the full list of workers. The architect leaves,
and Ibarra approaches Elias. Elias asks if he could speak with him later in the afternoon by the river, and
Ibarra agrees. Elias walks away, and Nol Juan approaches Ibarra, handing over to him the list of workers.
Elias's name is not there.

Points of Note:

The term "taguling" refers to a narrow canal where water flows through land.
Frequently Asked Questions:

Question: Why does Elias want to speak to Ibarra?

Answer: He wants to talk to Ibarra regarding Captain Pablo and the rest of the prosecuted men.

Noli Me Tangere: Summary and Analysis of Chapter 44 (An Examination of Conscience)

Summary:

Friar Salvi is alone with Maria Clara for the latter's confession. The girl begins to feel well after a few
hours, and according to Dona Victorina, it was all because of Don Tiburcio's skill and expertise. Friar
Salvi, on the other hand, says that it was because of her confession. When the friar leaves Maria Clara's
room, he appears rather pale and is covered in perspiration.

Points of Note:

Maria Clara did not have the chance to know her mother because the latter died right after giving birth
to her.

Despite the many guesses as to what truly accounted for Maria Clara's fast recovery, it was in fact the
medicine that Ibarra sent her through Sinang that did the trick.

Rizal describes a number of Catholic traditions in this chapter.

Frequently Asked Questions:

Question: Why does Friar Salvi glance over Captain Tiago when the latter remarks that after Friar
Damaso was transferred to Tayabas, Maria Clara missed the priest as she loved him like a father?

Answer: Friar Salvi knows that Damaso is Maria Clara's real father.

Question: What does Rizal say about confession?

Answer: First, it is a belief of the friars back in those days that confession is more effective than medicine
in curing the sick. Second, Rizal seems to go into a tirade about having the sick undergo confession.
Rizal claims, through the statements of Linares, that it seems as though the patient is already dying and
has no hope of recovery whatsoever since she is already being prepped for the afterlife.

Question: Why does Friar Salvi look pale and sweaty upon exiting Maria Clara's room after confession?

Answer: Friar Salvi is naturally pale. He becomes even paler, because it is during this time that he
reveals to Maria Clara the true story of her birth, and the identity of her real father (Damaso).

Noli Me Tangere: Summary and Analysis of Chapter 42 (The Espadañas)

Summary:

Maria Clara is ill. Dona Victorina and her husband arrive at Capitan Tiago's house. Don Tiburcio de
Espadana is there on account of the girl, whom he had agreed to treat after Tiago requested for his
services (Tiburcio is a Spaniard, who pretends to be a doctor). Together with the couple is a young
Spanish gentleman, Linares.

Points of Note:

This chapter recounts how Victorina came to marry her husband, how the latter got into the pretense of
being a man of medicine, and a brief and amusing account of his woes.

Here Rizal clearly depicts the true character of Dona Victorina.

Captain Tiago's sycophancy is also shown in this chapter when he nearly kisses the hand of Linares, a
man considered to be merely dust in Spain that has been cast away into the Philippine islands.

Frequently Asked Questions:

Question: How old is Dona Victorina?

Answer: She is forty years old. She claims, however, that she is 32. She was born in August, but she says
it was April.

Question: Why did Victorina grow to be a spinster?

Answer: She turned down all the men who courted her -- including Captain Tiago -- because she wanted
a foreign man for a husband.

Question: Who is Don Tiburcio de Espadana?

Answer: He is a Spanish marine who ended up in the Philippines after being unable to continue his
duties due to an accident that rendered him a cripple.

Question: Is Don Tiburcio a real doctor?

Answer: No. He had only worked shortly as a janitor in a hospital in Spain.

Question: What does Dona Victorina always use to threaten her husband whenever they come into a
disagreement?

Answer: She threatens to take away his dentures.

Question: How is Linares related to Don Tiburcio?

Answer: He is the latter's nephew, a law student.

Noli Me Tangere: Summary and Analysis of Chapter 43 (Plans)

Summary:

After Don Tiburcio de Espadana checks on Maria Clara and gives her a prescription, Friar Damaso arrives
and talks with her. The priest is introduced to Linares, and conjures up a plan to arrange the youth's
marriage to Maria Clara. Meanwhile, Lucas is formulating a plan to harm Ibarra. Friar Salvi also has
plans of his own.
Points of Note:

The scene where Friar Damaso tears up after seeing Maria Clara in such poor condition shows that still,
he has a heart -- a father's heart.

Frequently Asked Questions:

Question: When Friar Damaso breaks down in tears, Friar Salvi observes him silently without saying
anything. Explain.

Answer: Salvi hints that Damaso is Maria Clara's biological father.

Question: Although Friar Damaso is severely saddened over the ill condition of Maria Clara, he is
suddenly in high spirits after seeing Linares. Why is this so?

Answer: This is a common behavior among foreigners who meet each other in a different land. They
greet each other warmly despite disagreements in their home country.

Question: Why does Friar Damaso find it a positive trait of Linares to be effeminate?

Answer: He despises rebellious young men.

Dr. Jose P. Rizal (1861-1896), the national hero of the Philippines, was a multi-faceted genius. He was a
humanist, a politico-religious activist of his time, and the earliest exponent of nationalism in Asia. Rizal
was eventually executed for his writings and beliefs. Dr. Ramon G. Lopez, a descendant of General
Paciano Mercado Rizal, brother of Dr. Jose P. Rizal, presents fascinating insights into Dr. Rizal’s dreams
and aspirations for the Philippines. Lopez recollects the ideals expressed by Dr. Rizal during his lifetime
and discusses their relevance to the present and future.

Dr. Jose Rizal, the foremost and greatest Filipino national hero, had a dream. His dream began when he
was a little child, just beginning to read. Throughout his life, he would pursue his dream, set the
conditions for its achievement, lived his life to accomplish it, and finally achieved it even after his
death.Rizal’s dream was inspired by an insect. As he himself later related in his diary, one night, while his
mother was teaching him to read in a Spain reader, his attention was diverted to the cheerful flame
fueled by coconut oil in a curved tube of tin that dimly lit the room. About the flame were some little
months circling. Noticing little Jose’s lack of interest in hearing the Spanish sounds of the book being
read to him, his mother decided to tell him a story, the fable of the young month and the old one. The
story being read was in the old Spanish book, but Rizal’s mother would translate it in Tagalog a little at a
time.

Young Jose’s attention was focused on the light and the months circling around it. As Rizal described it:
“… it is a curious thing that the light seemed to me more beautiful, the flame more attractive. I really
envied the fortune of the insects. They frolicked so joyously in its enchanting splendor that the ones
which had fallen and been drowned in the oil did not cause me any dread.” The fate of the insects
became a great event for him. “I watched it with my whole soul. It had died a martyr to its illusions… I
knew why the moths circled the flame.”

Light and Freedom

Like the insect’s, Rizal’s quest was for light – and everything that came with it. He pursued light all his
life: the light of knowledge, wisdom and understanding, the light of truth and reason, justice and equity
– the light that would lead to freedom. This was his dream for his beloved country, which then was a
colony of a despotic Spanish regime.

Rizal manifested his dream, both indirectly and directly. Indirectly, he spoke through his main character
Crisostomo Ibarra, in his f first great novel, Noli Me Tangere (Noli) . in Chapter 38 (of “The Lost Eden,”
Noli’s English translation by Leon Ma. Guerrero), when asking the latter, “Can I be of use to you in
anything? Do you have anything to ask? ” Ibarra’s answer was:

”Sir , my greatest desire is the happiness of my country, a happiness which I would wish to be due to the
Motherland and to the efforts of my fellow citizens, one united to the others with eternal lies of
common ideals and common interests. What I ask can only be given by the Government after many
years of continuous work and the correct measures of reform.”

The scene might as well be seen as Rizal addressing Spain, represented by the Governor General.

Directly, Rizal expressed his dream in a beautiful poem, Mi Ultimo Adios (My Last Farewell). As
translated to English by Charles Derbyshire, the poem’s fourth and fifth stanzas run as follows:

My dreams, when life first opened to me,

My dreams, when the hopes of youth beat high,

Were to see thy lov’d face, O gem of the Orient sea,

From gloom and grief, from care and sorrow free,

No blush in thy brow, no tear in thine eye.

Dream of my life, my living and burning desire,

All hail! Cries the soul that is now to take flight,

All hail! And sweet it is for thee to expire,

To die for thy sake, that thou mayst aspire,

And sleep in thy bosom eternity’s long might.

In straightforward language, Rizal expressed his dreams (made plural in number) as to see his beloved
country, the Philippines, which he called “gen of the Orient sea” (or “pearl of the Orient sea” in the first
stanza), free from gloom and grief and care and sorrow – in short, free and happy – without shame,
sadness or suffering. This is the desired end of his dream. The means to achieve it is expressed yet as
another dream, his living and burning desire: to die for his country’s sake.

Eyes Wide Not Shut: Developing Love of Fellowmen at a Young Age

To have the Rizalian heart is to be aware of the injustices around us. His initial encounter with injustice
happened in 1871, when his mother was unjustly taken away by the authorities and jailed for two years.
He was eleven years old. She and her half-brother, Jose Alberto, was accused of poisoning her sister-in-
law. The friars and friends, who they thought were close to them, left in this time of need. Teodora
Alonso was only released by the governor-general after petitioning for two years.

Another was when Rizal won a prize for his play The Council of the Gods. Spaniards refused to clap for a
brown boy. The only sound heard was of mockery. Then one night, while walking in his hometown,
Calamba, he passed by the lieutenant of the guardia civil. When he was unable to salute, Rizal was
whipped. He tried petitioning at the office of the governer -general, but to no avail. These personal
experiences, alongside the suffering of others, instigated his novels, Noli Me Tangere and El
Filibusterismo, which were cited by Penguin Classics as the first major artistic manifestations of Asian
resistance against European colonialism.

Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo

Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo

He also joined the propaganda movement in Spain, which lobbied for the colonized Philippines to be
considered as Spanish citizens. This meant having representation in the Spanish parliament or the
Cortes, and also the power to expel the friars from Philippine lands. They were young students in a
foreign land, yet they were not afraid to think big. Spain did not listen to their proposals, but the noise
that they produced resonated all the way home. From this, Rizal teaches us that it’s okay to leave the
country in order to get the appropriate intellectual capital, but only in order to be able to come back and
return the favor to one’s motherland. Though he was just one person, his determination and passion for
his country drove him to greatness.
Jose Rizal is everywhere yet many think he is not relevant anymore. His monuments, built as reminders
of his heroism, stand distant and unreachable on his pedestal, as if deliberately exaggerating our
insignificance. It even comes to a point that one may say “I can’t be like him.”

The western construct of a hero was named after the Greek war goddess Hera. It points to a strong-
willed and supernatural character who consciously directs his abilities for the good of the people. More
often than not reduced to titles and merits, a hero’s humanity may end being forgotten. The Filipino
term bayani , on the other hand, depicts the same values but is attributed to someone more grounded.
Coming from the Visayan term for warrior or bagani, one immediately finds a totally different
perspective. This time, the persona serves others without expecting in return, despite being ordinary.

Historian Zeus Salazar classifies Rizal as a heróe, shaped by Western sensibilities and consciousness, as
he was, in many ways, separate from the people. The mythic proportions of his character made it
impossible for people to relate to him. He became a symbol, and more often than not, the only hero, of
the revolution.

Nothing new about Rizal is going to be introduced in this paper. Instead of adding another academic
treatise to the Rizal industry, I aim to give my take on his story by drawing simple life lessons to what
many see as an extraordinary life. It is high time that we search our humanity in Rizal, and in turn, find
Rizal in ourselves.

finally, Rizal’s matuwid na daan was never the straight and narrow, it was always the straight and wide.
Rizal was nothing if not a man of breathtaking vision and imagination. He saw more than his
contemporaries. He did more than his contemporaries. Like George Bernard Shaw (he is the original
author of the line, not JFK), Rizal might very well have said, “Some men see things as they are and say
why, I dream of things that never were and say why not.”

In the end, Rizal didn’t just invent stories, he invented a people. Before him there were only indios, after
Rizal there were Filipinos.

So it was then, so it is now. Or ought to be. Rizal’s heroism was about dreaming things that never were,
doing things that hadn’t been done before. It was about striding boldly to build new worlds, not
practicing abstemiousness and self-abnegation as hewing to the straight and narrow suggests. It’s a
virtual command for a government that doesn’t just labor under Rizal’s shadow but under the shadow of
the “impossible dream,” the dream dreamt by P-Noy’s own parents.

BAGUIO CITY, Philippines—If there is one thing that Dr. Jose Rizal, the national hero, had contributed to
the consciousness of the Filipino youth, his passion in fighting social ills in the country would stand out.

High-school and college students who gathered in this city recently for a leadership training agreed that
Rizal’s life would guide young Filipinos in improving their society.
“What do high-school and college students remember from ‘Noli Me Tangere’ and ‘El Filibusterismo?’
The deranged Sisa? Or the tragic love story of Maria Clara and Crisostomo Ibarra? Much more important
than these trivialities, though, is the ‘social cancer’ that Jose Rizal wanted to expose in his writings,” said
Marvin Boñaga, 21, a nursing student who joined an oratorical contest during the 48th National Youth
Leadership Institute Conference (NRYLI) at Teachers’ Camp here.

“Yesterday, the perpetrators were the robbers in robes, abusive ‘guardia civil’ and corrupt town officials.
Today, the cancer has spread and is fed by dishonest government officials and people who are too
indifferent to care about the [affairs of the] state,” he said.

Beyond textbooks

Boñaga challenged the 400 participants in the annual leadership conference to go beyond their
textbooks and follow Rizal’s lead to stand up against wrongdoing.

Another conference participant, Ynnab-Raine Manginsay, 20, said knowing Rizal through classroom
discussions and studying his life was not enough.

“Rizal has always been a very good role model and inspiration. We are encouraged to be the new Rizals
to create change by being good leaders in our community. For us, corruption is still the main problem in
the country. We should [stop] it,” said Manginsay, a student of Universidad de Sta. Isabel in Naga City.

Organized by the Order of the Knights of Rizal (KR), the conference exposed youth leaders to Rizal’s life.

For this year’s meet, participants were given lectures on Rizal’s works so they could reflect on his life as
thinker, leader and hero. The students participated in oratorical, extemporaneous speaking, essay
writing, poster making contests and a history quiz.

They also visited the Rizal Park here and offered a wreath and cleaned the area on December 18.

‘Elias’

The conference’s highlight was the launching of the Emerging Leaders Innovating Across Sectors (Elias),
a program that aims to inspire the youth to be agents of change through Rizal’s example.

The program, named after a character in Rizal’s “Noli Me Tangere,” will run through the 150th birth
anniversary of the national hero next year.

“Though tested and restrained by the unjust social structures at the time, Elias kept his idealism and
purity of intention to liberate the Filipino from the tyranny of Spain. In future writings, Rizal regretted
having killed Elias in ‘Noli’ because the Elias character embodied the qualities of a leader possessing
‘kalinisan ng loob (pure intention),’” the program profile said.

Reghis Romero II, Knights of Rizal deputy supreme commander, said the program Elias reflects on Rizal’s
leadership while he lived in exile in Dapitan.
“Dapitan became Rizal’s new society. There, he worked like a [personnel] from a nongovernment
organization and government who transformed a community. It was there where he practiced farming;
it was there where he put up a hospital and a school,” Romero said.

Community worker

Dr. Emmanuel Calairo, College of Liberal Arts dean at De La Salle University-Dasmariñas, said Rizal
became a leader and community worker in Dapitan.

Calairo described Rizal as a “champion of the community” because of the projects he initiated in Dapitan
like installing street lights and irrigation system, landscaping and development of the Dapitan plaza.

“These were only some of the manifestations that Rizal was an effective leader,” he said.

Carlos Arnaldo, KR supreme archivist, said young Filipinos lamented the fact that corruption is pervasive
in society. “They wanted to [change] the values system. They also asked why corruption in government
is being tolerated,” he said.

“Rizalism is a way of life, it enhances the Filipino values on honesty and love for the country,” Romero
said.