Noli Me Tangere Summary

The young and idealistic Juan Crisostomo Ibarra returns home after seven years in Europe. The wealthy
meztizo, like his father Don Rafael endeavors for reform primarily in the area of education in order to
eliminate poverty and improve the lives of his countrymen. Upon learning about his father’s demise and the
denial of a Catholic burial for his father Ibarra was provoked to hit Padre Damaso which eventually lead to
his excommunication. The excommunication was later rescinded upon the intervention of the Governor
General.

Padre Salvi, Ibarra’s mortal enemy accused Ibarra of insurrection. Ibarra’s letter to his beloved Maria Clara
was used against him. Later in the story, Maria Clara will tell Ibarra that she did not conspire to indict him.
She was compelled to give Ibarra’s letter in exchange for the letters of her mother before she was born.
Maria Clara found out that the letters of her mother were addressed to Padre Damaso about their unborn
child which means that she is the biological daughter of the priest and not of her father, Capitan Tiago.

Meanwhile, Ibarra was able to escape the prison with Elias, who also experienced injustice with the
authorities. Ibarra was able to speak with Maria Clara about the letters and thereafter forgave her. Ibarra
and Elias flee to the lake and were chased by the Guardia Civil. One was shot and the other survives. Upon
hearing the news, Maria Clara believed that Ibarra was dead; she entered the nunnery instead of marrying
Alfonso Linares.

The fatally wounded Elias found the child Basilio and his dead mother Sisa. The latter was driven to
insanity when she learned that her children were implicated for theft by the sacristan mayor. Elias
instructed Basilio to dig for his and Sisa’s graves and there is a buried treasure which he can use for his
education.

Noli Me Tangere brilliantly described Philippine society with its memorable characters. The melancholic fate
of Maria Clara and the insanity of Sisa characterized the country’s pitiful state, which was once beautiful,
turned miserable. Reading Noli Me Tangere will open one’s mind about oppression and tyranny.

Reaction

The title of this novel "Noli Me Tangere" is a Latin words meaning in tagalong “Huwag Mo Akong Salingin”.
Jose Rizal, our national hero is the writer of this novel, where in, this novel was written during his time,
where in, the exact year was 1884, he was in Madrid taking up medicine when he write this novel. This
novel was written to remind us the bad things that Jose Rizal experienced during his time by the Spanish.
From the very start of this novel, the first plan of our national hero is, to write this novel with the help of his
countryman that is also suffering to the hands of the Spanish, but suddenly he failed to do it with the help of
his countryman, because his countryman lost their hope in fulfilling their dreams to have freedom in the
hands of the Spanish colonies. As I look more deeply into the story line and plotting of the novel, this work
is precisely a social and political satire. The novel clearly depicts the current socio-political setting in the
Philippines before and during his time.
El Filibusterismo Summary

Crisostomo Ibarra is back and as Simoun. During the period in between the story line of Noli Me Tangere
and El Filibusterismo which is 13 years, Ibarra left the Philippines and became a wealthy jeweler. He came
back to the Philippines as Senor Simoun, disguised with a beard. He seems to have long abandoned his
once vision of ending the despotism of Spain with words and peace. He becomes hungry for vengeance for
all the misfortune our country has suffered under the tyranny of the Spaniards . And near the end of the
novel, when he discovers that his lover, Maria Clara, died in the convent, he becomes all the more furious.
Simoun is a confidant of the Captain-General. He encourages the government to make bad decisions and
to abuse their power so that it would spark a revolution among the masses. Basilio, now all grown up, is at
first reluctant to join in on Simoun’s idea but ends up being part of the plan. Simoun started planning
uprisings and stashed guns in the shop of an ally. At the wedding reception of newlyweds (the bride being
the ex-girlfriend of one of the friends of Basillo—Isagani), Simoun tells Basilio that his plan was to conceal
an explosive which contains nitroglycerin inside a pomegranate-styled Kerosene lamp that Simoun will give
to the newlyweds as a gift during the wedding reception.. The people at the reception were shocked
because Ibarra is supposedly dead. One of the priests who knew Ibarra before the ending of Noli Me
Tangere confirmed to the people that it was the writing of Ibarra. The lamp started to dim… Outside the
house, Basilio was about to walk away because he knew the lamp was going to explode anytime soon
when he saw Isagani, the still heart-broken ex-boyfriend of the bride whose reception was still going on in
the house of Capitan Tiago. Isagani said that he just wanted to congratulate the newly-weds. Basilio who
then feared for the safety of his friend told him about the plan of Simoun. Isagani ran to the house. A priest
was about to fix the lamp but once Isagani got in, he found the lamp and threw it out the window into the
river outside the residence. Since the guards were chasing Isagani, he himself jumped out of the window
into the river as well. There was an uprising planned by Simoun during the time of the reception. The band
got caught and confessed that Simoun lead them. Ibarra was now wanted both as himself and as Simoun.
Days passed and a good priest found Simoun walking along the shore, wounded and weak. The noble
priest tended to Simoun while the latter explained that he is Ibarra and that he was greatly saddened and
angry due to the failure of the revolution and that he was questioning God as to why he was the one who is
suffering and not the ones who have forsaken the people of the Philippines. The priest explains that all
punishments will come in due time. Ibarra died as he weakly held the hand of the priest. The latter blessed
the former and threw away all the remaining jewels of Ibarra in the hopes that they may always be used for
good.

Reflection

El Filibusterismo is far more dark and brutal. This novel can really make me a better person because the
novel’s message is violence is never the answer. The novel’s plot shows that. At first, Simoun is planning to
rescue Maria Clara by all means necessary. That means even if he has to use force, he will do it just to
achieve his goal, contrary to what Ibarra believed in. At the end, Jose Rizal showed that violence is never
the answer in Simoun’s death and Father Florentino’s lamentations. The final event really showed that
violence is never the answer to anything. It is just a way to create and replace the old problem with a new
one.
Comparison between Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo
Noli Me Tangere (Touch Me Not) is not merely an attack on the Spanish colonial regime. It is charter
nationalism. It calls on the Filipino to recover his self-confidence, to appreciate his own worth, to return to
the heritage of his ancestors, to assert himself as the equal of the Spaniard. It is a romantic novel, book of
feeling, work of the heart, and contains freshness, color, humor, lightness and wit despite that it depicts the
sufferings of the Filipino people under the Spanish rule.

El Filibusterismo (The Reign of Greed) was written in dedication of the three martyred priests namely
Mariano Gomez, Jose Burgos and Jacinto Zamora popularly known as GOMBURZA, whose tragic
execution left unforgettable imprint in his mind. It is a political novel, book of the thought, work of the head
and comprises bitterness, hatred, pain, sorrow and violence. Like Noli Me Tangere, El Fili aims at
enlightening the society, and at bringing the Filipinos closer to the truth. In this novel, the society is urged to
open its eyes to reality and rebel against the Spanish government for its oppression and abuse.
These two novels helped awaken the Filipinos to fought for their freedom and stand with their right. It had
made me realized that war does not necessarily have to end through means of violence, it could always be
ended peacefully, through words and maybe even forgiveness. Words are far stronger than any gun.
Vengeance is not ours, it’s God. Evilness is at every corner but thou shall not fear because good will
always prevail.