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

reception will take place at the former home of the late Captain Tiago, which was now filled with

explosives planted by Simoun. According to Simoun, the lamp will stay lighted for only 20 minutes before

it flickers; if someone attempts to turn the wick, it will explode and kill everyone—important members of

civil society and the Church hierarchy—inside the house. Simoun leaves the reception early and leaves a

note with the words: “Mene Thecel Phares” which means “the future is predetermined” and is generally

implied that a bad event is going to happen. Simoun signed it with his real name “Juan Crisostomo Ibarra”.

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.