NOLI ME

TANGERE
 Noli Me Tangere, unlike many works of fictional literature, w
as a true story of Philippine Conditions during the last dec
ades of
 Spanish Rule.

 Places, characters and situations really existed

 “The facts I narrate there are all true and have happened, I
can
 prove them.” – Rizal

 Characters were drawn by Rizal from persons who existed

 CHARACTERSMOF NOLI ME
TANGERE

 Crisostomo Ibarra & Elias- Jose Rizal

 Maria Clara – Leonor Rivera
 Tasio – Paciano (elder brother)
 Padre Salvi – Padre Antonio Piernavieja ( hated Augustinian friar in Cavite
who was killed by the patriots during the revolution)
 Tiago – Capitan Hilario Sunico of San Nicolas
 Doña Victorina – Doña Augustina Medel
 Basilio and Crispin – Crisostomo brothers of Hagonoy
 Padre Damaso – typical, domineering friar (arrogant, anti-Filipino and imm
oral)
 REACTIONS

Having been exposed to numerous knowledge-hungry people,

Rizal surrounded himself with enthusiastic pals.

 Ferdinand Blumentritt –
his congratulating of Rizal
was the most significant.
 Considers Rizal was a ma
n of extraordinary talent.
 Antonio Ma. Regidor – a Filipino
exile in London for his alleged
participation in the 1872 uprising.
 Said that the book is superior
and Rizal’s Noli Me Tangere will
be equal to the novel Don
Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes
of Spain.
SYNOPSIS OF
THE NOLI ME
TANGERE
 It begins with a dinner given in honor of Crisostomo Ibarra by
Capitan Tiago at his house in Calle Anloague on the last day
of October.

 Ibarra is a young and rich Filipino who had just returned after
7 yrs. of study in Europe. He was the only son of Don Rafael
Ibarra, friend of Capitan Tiago, and a fiancé of beautiful Maria
Clara, supposed daughter of Capitan Tiago.

 Ibarra upon his arrival, produced a favorable impression

among the guests except for Padre Damaso who was rude to
him. In accordance with a German custom, he introduced him
self to the ladies.
 During the dinner, other conversation centered Ibarra’s studies and travels
abroad. Padre Damaso was in a bad mood because he had a bony neck
and a hard wing of the chicken tinola. He tried to discredit Ibarra’s
remarks.

 After dinner, Ibarra left Capitan Tiago’s house to return to his hotel. On the
way, the kind Lieutenant Guevara told him the sad story of his father’s dea
th in San Diego.

 On hearing about his father’s sad story, Ibarra thanked the kind Spanish
lieutenant and vowed to find out the truth about his father’s death.

 The following morning, he visited Maria Clara, his childhood sweetheart. A

fter the romantic reunion with her, he went to San Diego to visit his fathe
r’s grave.
 It was All Saint’s Day. At the cemetery, the grave digger told Ibarra that
the corpse of Don Rafael was removed by order of the parish priest to be,
buried in the Chinese cemetery; but the corpse was heavy and it was a
dark and rainy night so that he (the grave-digger) simply threw the corpse
into the lake.

✣ Ibarra was angered by the grave-digger’s story. He left the cemetery. On t

he way, he met Padre Salvi and in a flash, Ibarra pounced on the priest, d
emanding redress for desecrating his father’s mortal remains.

✣ Padre Salvi told him that he had nothing to do with it for Padre Damaso, hi
s predecessor, was the parish priest at that time and was responsible
for it. Convince of Padre Salvi’s innocence, Ibarra went away.
Several interesting people Ibarra met in his Town:
 Tasio the Philosopher- the wise old man whose ideas were too advanced for
his times so that the people who could not understand called him “Tasio the Lu
natic”.

 Spineless Gobernadorcillo- catered the wishes of the Spanish Parish Friar.

 Don Filipo Lino- teniente-Mayor and leader of the liberal faction in the town.

 Don Melchor- Captain of the Cuadrilleros. (town police)

 Don Basilio and Don Valentin- former gobernadorcillo who were prominent cit
izens.
 A most tragic story in the novel is the tale of Sisa, who was formerly a rich
girl but became poor because she married a gambler, and a wastrel at t
hat. She became crazy because she lost her two boys, Basilio and Cri
spin, the joy of her wretched life.

 Capitan Tiago, Maria Clara, and Aunt Isabel arrived in San Diego. Ibarra a
nd his friends give picnic at the lake.

 Among those present in this picnic were Maria Clara and her four girl frien
ds- Siñang, Victorina, Iday, and Neneng; Aunt Isabel, Capitana Tika, An
deng, Albino, and Ibarra and his friends. One of the boatmen was a strong
and silent peasant youth named Elias.
 An incident of the picnic was the saving of Elias’ life by Ibarra.

 Another incident was the rendering of a beautiful song by Maria Clara wh

o had a sweet voice.

 After Maria Clara’s song, they went ashore. The luncheon was served, an
d everybody enjoyed eating.

 After the meal, Ibarra and Capitan Basilio played chess and as Maria Clar
a and her friends were enjoying the game “Wheel of Chance”, Padre Sa
lvi came and tore the book into pieces, saying that it was a sin to play s
uch game.
✣ Shortly thereafter, a sergeant and four soldiers of the Guardia Ci
vil suddenly arrived, looking for Elias, who was hunted for (1) ass
aulting Padre Damaso and (2) throwing the alferez into a
mud hole.

✣ Fortunately Elias had disappeared, and the Guardia Civil went a

way empty-handed.

✣ During the picnic also, Ibarra received a telegram from the Spani
sh authorities notifying him the approval of his donation of a scho
olhouse for the children of San Diego.
✣ The next day Ibarra visited old Tasio to consult him on his pet p
roject about the schoolhouse. Tasio was pessimistic about the
project of Ibarra. However, the construction of the schoolho
use continued under the supervision of the architect ca
lled Ñor Juan.

✣ Meanwhile San Diego was merrily preparing for its annual fiest
a, in honor of its patron saint San Diego de Alcala.

✣ In the morning of the fiesta there was a high mass in the church,
Padre Damaso gave the long sermon, in which he expatiated o
n the evils of the times that were caused by certain men, who h
aving tasted some education spread pernicious ideas amon
g the people.
✣ After Padre Damaso’s sermon, the mass was continued
by Padre Salvi. Elias quietly moved to Ibarra, who wa
s kneeling and praying by Maria Clara’s side, and warn
ed him to be careful during the ceremony of the laying o
f the cornerstone of the schoolhouse because there
was a plot to kill him.

✣ Elias suspected that the yellowish man, who built the d

errick, was a paid stooge of Ibarra’s enemies.
✣ True to his suspicion, later in the day, when Ibarra, in the prese
nce of a big crowd, went down into the trench to cement the cor
nerstone, the derrick collapsed.

✣ Elias, quick as a flash, pushed him aside, thereby saving his lif
e. The yellowish man was the one crushed to death by the
shattered derrick.

✣ At the sumptuous dinner that night, a sad incident occurred. Th

e arrogant Padre Damaso, speaking in the presence of ma
ny guests, insulted the memory of Ibarra’s father.
✣ She introduced to Capitan Tiago’s young Spaniards, Don Alfon
so Linares de Espadaña, cousin of Don Tiburcio de Espa
daña and godson of Padre Damaso’s brother in law.

✣ Linares was a penniless and jobless, fortune hunter who came

to the Philippines in search of a rich Filipino heiress. Both Doña
Victorina and Padre Damaso sponsored his wooing of M
aria Clara, but the latter did not respond because she loved Iba
rra.
✣ The story of Elias like that of Sisa, was a tale of pathos and tragedy. He
related it to Ibarra.

✣ Elias roamed from place to place, looking for his sister. He heard later t
hat a girl answering to his sister’s description, was found dead on the b
each of San Diego. Since then, Elias lived a vagabond life, wandering fr
om province to province – until he met Ibarra.

✣ Elias, learning of Ibarra’s arrest, burned all the papers that might incrimi
nate his friend and set Ibarra’s house on fire. Then he went to prison an
d helped Ibarra escape.
✣ He and Ibarra jumped into a banca loaded with sacate (grass). Ibarra
stopped at the house of Capitan Tiago to say goodbye to Maria Clar
a.

✣ In the tearful last scene between the two lovers, Ibarra forgave Maria
Clara for giving up his letter to her to the Spanish authorities who u
tilized them as evidence against him.

✣ On her part, Maria Clara revealed that those letters were exchanged
with a letter from her late mother, Pia Alba, which Padre Salvi gave h
er. From his letter, she learned that her real father was Padre Da
maso.
✣ After bidding Maria Clara farewell, Ibarra returned to the banca.
He and Elias paddled up the PasigRiver toward Laguna de
Bay. A police boat, with the Guardia Civil on board, pursued the
m as their banca reached the lake. Elias told Ibarra to hide und
er the zacate.

✣ As the police boat was overtaking the banca, Elias jumped into
the water and swam swiftly toward the shore. In this way, he
diverted the attention of the soldiers on his person, thereby
giving Ibarra a chance to escape.
✣ The soldier fired at the swimming Elias, who was hit and sank.
The water turned red because of his blood. The soldiers, think
ing that they had killed the fleeing Ibarra returned to Manila. Th
us Ibarra was able to escape.

✣ Elias seriously wounded, reached the shore and staggered into

the forest. He met a boy, Basilio, who was weeping over his
mother’s dead body.
✣ He told Basilio to make a pyre on which their bodies (his and Si
sa) were to be burned to ashes.

✣ It was Christmas eve, and the moon gleamed softly in the sky.
Basilio prepared the funeral pyre.

✣ As life’s breath slowly left his body. Elias looked toward the eas
t and murmured: “I die without seeing the dawn brighten over m
y native land.” You, who have it to see, welcome it! And forget
not those who have fallen during the night.
The novel has an epilogue which recounts what happened to the other c
haracters.

✣ Maria Clara, out of her loyalty to the memory of Ibarra, the man
she truly loved, entered the Santa Clara nunnery.

✣ Padre Salvi left the parish of San Diego and became a chaplain
of the nunnery.

✣ Padre Damaso was transferred to a remote province, but the n

ext morning he was found dead in his bedroom.
✣ Capitan Tiago the former genial host and generous patron of the ch
urch became an opium addict and a human wreck.

✣ Doña Victorina, still henpecking poor Don Tiburcio, had taken to we

aring eye-glasses because of weakening eyesight.

✣ Linares, who failed to win Maria Clara’s affection, died of dysentery

and was buried in Paco cemetery.
✣ The alferez, who successfully repulsed the abortive attack on th
e barracks, was promoted major. He returned to Spain, leaving
behind his shabby mistress, Doña Consolacion.

✣ The novel ends with Maria Clara, an unhappy nun in Santa Clar
a nunnery – forever lost to the world.