In the writings of Jose Rizal, his own personalities were being portrayed by the different characters in the Noli

Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo. In Noli Me Tangere, one of the main characters was Crisostomo Ibarra. The beginning of the novel, Ibarra had just gotten back from studying abroad. His intentions were very simple because he wanted to stick to the status quo, and not to get on anyones bad side. He came back mainly to marry the love of his life, Maria Clara and to find the remains of his late father and truth about what happened to him. He then sees the lack of progress in this town, so he decided to build a school, which nearly got him killed. When Ibarra met Elias, they were able to talk about the struggles of the town and their own self. Ibarras method at first was to have a reform movement and to educate the people, to free the mind from darkness. Elias wanted to have a revolution because it was the only way to make a change and to free themselves from their colonizers. Ibarra wanted them to wait for when they are truly prepared before they strike. Elias told him that he is not for the revolution because he is rich, he does not know what it is like for important things that matter to him be taken away from him. He does not know what kind of torture and evils are inflicted upon them. After that conversation, they met again in the chase on the lake. However this time, they switched sides. Elias was for the reform movement while, Ibarra was for the revolution. Ibarra switched sides because a lot of important things were taken away from him. Namely his love, Maria Clara, he was betrayed and his money was taken away as well. His reasons for wanting to start a revolution were personal. When his eyes were opened to the reality of the evils of the Spaniards, he decided to rebel against them. Elias then was opened to the reality that the people are not ready to go into war against their oppressors, they only wanted change and a little freedom. But they did not want to separate from the mother country. At the end of

their conversation, the guardia civil were able to catch up with them and killed Elias, thinking he was Ibarra. Rizal killed Elias in the novel because he was against the idea of a revolution. If you notice the pattern of how Elias and Ibarra kept switching from reform to revolution, it mirrors the mind set of Rizal where he is indecisive about how freedom was going to be attained. He killed Elias because he did not think that a revolution was the right thing to do at that time. He wanted for the Philippines to become a province of Spain and to have equality with them for the welfare of the Filipino people. In El Filibusterismo, the main character was Simoun who was actually Crisostomo Ibarra in disguise. In the beginning of the novel, Simoun is conversing with Basilio regarding the situation of the Filipinos. Basilio, like Ibarra earlier, was hoping that one day, the Spaniards will unite with the Philippines. He wanted equal rights with the mother country. Simoun tells him that the people will lose their identity, instead of freeing themselves, they make themselves slaves. Simoun asks for Basilios help because he has the influence among the youth but Basilio tells him that he cannot do what he is asking for. Towards the end of the novel, Simoun is dying, confessing to Father Florentino, who tells him that the glory of saving a country is not for him who has contributed to its ruin. Simoun fought a revolution without heroic and noble reasons, his reasons were personal. It was for revenge, for the death of Maria Clara and for the fortune of his family. Florentino tells him that the people will not be worthy of freedom if they are not educated. This was also what Ibarra wanted earlier in the first novel. Florentinos mind set mirrors that of Ibarras, when he was still for the reform movement. The two novels show how Rizal was against the revolution and was against the masses because they were not educated. The failure of the revolution was because, there was no

preparation, there was no real purpose but selfish reasons and his intentions were not noble and pure. Rizal was not totally against the revolution, he was against it only because they were not prepared to fight a lost cause.