Katherine R.

Dahang
BEED - III
Ms. Kim Jaudian
September 25, 2020

TLA 1: List down all the characters in Noli Me Tangere and write a short background about each
character.

Crisóstomo Ibarra
Also known in his full name as Juan Crisóstomo Ibarra y Magsalin, a Filipino who studied in Europe for 7
years, the love interest of Maria Clara.  Son of the deceased Don Rafael Ibarra; Crisostomo changed his
surname from Eibarramendia to Ibarra, from his ancestor's surname.

María Clara
María Clara de los Santos, Ibarra's sweetheart; the illegitimate daughter of Father Dámaso and Pía Alba.

Elías
Ibarra's mysterious friend, a master boater, also a fugitive.  He was referred to at one point as the pilot.  He
wants to revolutionize his country.  Ibarra's grandfather condemned his grandfather of burning a warehouse,
making Elias the fugitive he is.

Father Dámaso
Also known in his full name as Dámaso Verdolagas, Franciscan friar and María Clara's biological father.

Don Filipo
A close relative of Ibarra, and a Filibuster.

Linares
A distant nephew of Don Tiburcio de Espadana, the would-be fiance of Maria Clara.

Captain General (no specific name)

The most powerful official in the Philippines, a hater of secular priests and corrupt officials, and a friend of
Ibarra.

Captain Pablo
The Leader of the rebels, whose family was destroyed because of the Spanish.

Tarcilo and Bruno

Brothers, whose father was killed by the Spaniards.

Sisa
The mother of Basilio and Crispín, who went insane after losing her sons.

Basilio
The elder son of Sisa.

Crispín
The younger son of Sisa who died from the punishment from the soldiers from the false accusation of stealing
an amount of money.

Padre Sibyla
Hernando de la Sibyla, a Filipino friar.  He is described as short and has fair skin.

Kaptain Tiago
Also known in his fullname as Don Santiago de los Santos the known father of María Clara but not the real
 one; lives in Binondo.

Padri Salví
Also known in his full name as Bernardo Salví, a secret admirer of María Clara.

Pilosopo Tasyo
Also known as Don Anastasio, portrayed in the novel as a pessimist, cynic, and mad by his neighbors.

The Alférez
Chief of the Guardia Civil ; mortal enemy of the priests for the power in San Diego.

Don Tiburcio
Spanish husband of Donya Victorina who is limp and submissive to his wife; he also pretends to be a doctor.

Doña Victorina
Victorina de los Reyes de De Espadaña, a woman who passes herself off as a Peninsular.

Doña Consolación
Wife of the Alférez, another woman who passes herself as a Peninsular; best remembered for her abusive
treatment of Sisa.

Pedro
Abusive husband of Sisa who loves cockfighting.

Old Tasio
An older man who Ibarra seeks advice from. The town thinks him mad, but in actuality he is quite wise.
TLA 2: Cut out/ Print pictures about how women is portrayed in Noli Me Tangere and in Now.

Women portrayed in Noli Me Tangere

Women portrayed today

TLA 3: Enumerate the literary elements found in Noli Me Tangere:”

Plot:

Narrated in the third-person perspective, the story begins in the Philippines. Captain Tiago, a wealthy
socialite, holds a dinner party to welcome Juan Crisostomo Ibarra back to the Philippines. Ibarra, a native
mestizo, has spent the past seven years studying in Europe. During dinner, Ibarra learns his father, Don
Rafael, died recently of unknown causes. Ibarra is berated by Friar Father Damaso for learning abroad what
he could have learned at home. Ibarra holds his tongue and leaves the party to visit his fiancée Maria Clara,
Tiago’s daughter. En route, Ibarra chats with Civil Guard Senor Guevara, who explains that Rafael died in
jail after being imprisoned for accidentally killing a tax collector who was abusing a boy in the street. Ibarra
travels to his hometown, San Diego, accompanied by Clara. A large “All Souls Day” festival is held
commemorating purgatorial souls, which Ibarra finds immoral due to profiting on people’s pain. Ibarra finds
the increased influence of the Catholic Church troubling. Father Salvi is an example of the corruption, using
his religious post to fine people who don’t attend church.

Ibarra learns from a schoolmaster of Father Damaso’s curricular meddling. Damaso insists on teachers
beating children as discipline, and bans teaching Spanish in favor of the native Philippine language, Tagalog.
As alternative, Ibarra plans to build a secular school like the one Rafael always wished for. Ibarra consults
with church and government officials, fully intending to ignore their influence once the school’s built. Ibarra
visits the Catholic cemetery and learns Damaso had Rafael’s body exhumed, which has since been dumped in
a lake. During the fiesta, Ibarra and local officials celebrate the opening of the new school. As Damaso
blesses the building with a sermon, the mysterious Elias arrives. Ibarra once saved Elias’s life during a
fishing expedition. Elias informs Ibarra that the others plan to kill Ibarra during the school’s christening.
Ibarra disbelieves, but when a large boulder comes rolling at him as Elias suggested, Elias shoves the man
responsible in the way. The man dies, saving Ibarra’s life. The festival continues, but Ibarra is now aware of
his foes. At a dinner celebration held by Ibarra that night, Damaso arrives uninvited and begins insulting the
new school, spouting racial insults to Filipinos as “indios,” and besmirches Rafael’s death. The latter remark
prompts Ibarra to attack Damaso, raise a knife to him and tell everyone Damaso exhumed Rafael’s corpse.
Ibarra nearly kills Damaso but Clara stops the blade before it stabs him. Afterwards, Ibarra is
excommunicated. Tiago cancels the wedding of Ibarra and Clara, and betroths his daughter to the Spaniard
Linares. The Captain General visits San Diego from Spain, and is begged to punish Ibarra. Since the General
supports Ibarra’s school project, he refuses punishment and lifts the excommunication. Father Salvi hires
Lucas, brother of the deceased man who meant to kill Ibarra with the boulder, to frame Ibarra. Salvi is in love
with Clara, and orchestrates an attack on the military barracks that he blames on Ibarra. Salvi intends to take
credit for saving the town from the attack he secretly started.

Following the siege, Ibarra is arrested as planned. He’s jailed and found guilty based on a vague letter he
wrote to Clara. Elias returns and busts Ibarra out of prison and they escape on a boat. Before fleeing town,
Ibarra climbs onto Clara’s patio and bids adieu. Clara explains the she was blackmailed into releasing the
letter which led to Ibarra’s imprisonment. A man told Clara that her real father is Damaso, not Tiago. Clara
relinquished the letter in order to keep this a secret from Tiago and to honor her deceased mother. Clara
expresses deep regret for her betrayal and reinforces her undying love for Ibarra. Ibarra and Elias bid
farewell and begin rowing into the night. As they travel, the debate the merits of revolution and whether a
change within this system is better than outright overthrowing it. During their discussion, the men are
attacked by another boat. As a distraction, Elias decides to leap off the boat while Ibarra continues rowing.
Elias tells Ibarra to meet him on Christmas Eve in San Diego, where Ibarra’s grandfather is buried with his
family fortune. Elias dives into the water and is chased by the boat until the attackers spot blood in the water
and assume Elias is dead.

In San Diego, Clara tells Damaso she cannot marry Linares because she’s not in love with him. Clara cites a
newspaper falsely claiming Ibarra’s death as the reason she no longer wishes to live, and joins a convent as a
result. On Christmas Eve, Elias appears in the woods to meet Ibarra, who never shows up. Elias is wounded
and tells the young Basilio that he is about to die. Elias asks Basilio to burn his corpse along with Basilio’s
mother’s, Sisa’s, on a pyre. As Elias looks up to the sky dying, he utters: “I die without seeing dawn’s light
shining on my country…You, who will see it, welcome it for me…don’t forget those who fell during the
nighttime.” Ibarra’s fate remains a mystery.

Themes:

Religion
Religion takes many forms in Noli Me Tángere. Most obviously, Catholicism is visible in the organized system
of the church and its hierarchy. Yet even the clergy often do not truly believe in their religious ideals—Father
Salví, for example, is lustful despite being a priest, and he seems to care about his position only because of the
power it gives him. Similarly, the seemingly devout Captain Tiago actually cares little about religion except as
a means of obtaining power, and he creates the image of being devout by paying others to pray for him. 

Power
Struggles for power and abuses of power comprise the majority of the conflicts in Noli Me Tángere. Father
Salví and the ensign each use the power that they have to try to eclipse the other’s authority—for example, the
ensign creates a curfew so Father Salví can’t have mass at night. It is the ordinary townspeople, however, who
are harmed in this fight for power—the utterly powerless young sextons are caught between the church’s
demands that they stay at work late and the government’s demands that they not stay out past a certain hour at
night. 

Education
In Noli Me Tángere, education is portrayed as an important means of fighting oppression. Despite his mestizo
heritage, Ibarra is able to become a prominent, respected member of the community because of the education
he obtains in Europe, which allows him to create new opportunities for the next generation of Filipino youth by
creating a school for them. Yet the power of education has limits. For example, the church prevents Filipinos
from learning Spanish in school, which essentially prevents them from obtaining the most prestigious jobs in
the colonial society.

Family and honor

Family is extremely important in Noli Me Tángere. After his father’s death, Ibarra must decide how best to
honor his legacy, setting out to build a school that his father would have loved. When Ibarra is
excommunicated, the Captain General advocates for him in part because he admires Ibarra’s desire to honor the
memory of his father. Ibarra’s own family history is also closely intertwined with the history of San Diego
more broadly. In addition, María Clara’s life is also shaped by her attempts to honor her parents, Captain Tiago
and her late mother.

Sacrifice
Early in the novel, Ibarra declares that every country’s prosperity, or lack thereof, is proportionate to its
freedoms and the sacrifices of its ancestors, an idea that Father Dámaso dismisses as obvious. Yet
throughout Noli Me Tángere, Ibarra learns how to make such sacrifices so that the Philippines will one day be
great and free. 

Privilege
Throughout Noli Me Tángere, Ibarra’s allies, such as Elías and Tasio, point to his relative privilege as a
wealthy man with Spanish (as well as Filipino) heritage in the colonial Philippines as an obstacle to him truly
understanding the pain of the Filipino people. 

Revenge
Over the course of the novel, Rizal shows revenge to be a deeply flawed source of motivation, though it can be
an understandable one. Ibarra is frequently tempted to exercise revenge against Father Dámaso, who
dishonored and indirectly killed his father, but he ultimately decides to redirect this energy towards fighting for
his community, as his father would have wanted. 

Symbols:

School
Ibarra’s effort to build a school in the town of San Diego is the most tangible manifestation of his political
views. The school is a symbol of empowerment, since education is a way to avoid succumbing to the country’s
domineering friarocracy. Children like Crispín and Basilio are perfect examples of Filipinos who stand to
benefit from a secular education, since their hardship is the direct result of having committed themselves to
becoming sextons. If they had been offered the opportunity to attend school instead, they wouldn’t find
themselves mired in the harmful lies and accusations of the church. 

Night and dawn

In his final words, Elías likens the dark time before freedom and equality come to the Philippines to the night.
Some people, including himself, will die before they can see the dawn—the utopian time of liberation. Night
symbolizes the time of corruption, chaos, and confusion, while dawn represents a new, happier time. Just as
dawn begins a new day, Elías hopes that a new era will dawn on the Philippines.

Cemeteries and burials

Cemeteries and burials appear often in the novel, most prominently in the form of Don Rafael Ibarra's lack of a
proper final resting place, which is considered so disgraceful that it pushes Ibarra to begin to reconsider his
easy relationship with the authorities of the Philippines. At the end of the novel, Sisa and Elías die in a
cemetery, and Elías emphasizes the importance of building a proper funeral pyre to honor them to young
Basilio.

María Clara
Ibarra directly likens María Clara to his nation, the Philippines, as a whole, and she can be interpreted as an
embodiment of the country. Like the Philippine people in general at the time, she is typically passive and
reluctant to rebel against the society she was raised in, despite clearly seeing its flaws. Yet by the end of the
novel, María Clara has found the courage to stand up for herself and resist the plans to marry her off to a man
she doesn't love.
 Assessment
Reflection Paper:
Guide question:

Write an essay consisting of 150-300 words with this topic: “ What is Nationalism to you? How much
do you love your country?

For me nationalism means supporting our country in good times or bad; to never lose faith in our country;

flying the flag to show respect and devotion to our country; and honoring those who have served in the defense

of this nation, both living and dead, retired or active. It is actually people’s feelings for their nation as superior to

all other nations. What is the best the thing I have done for my country? I actually don’t know because at my

age, it is impossible to do something big. Then I realized it isn’t important on how big it is. I think the best

thing I’ve done for my country is to be proud that I am a Filipino. Being proud that I am a Filipino is not quite

easy. Sometimes, I even doubt it because of our government. The people have to rally on the streets to get what

they want. I feel like it is telling me that we have to go to war first before we can gain peace. When I was in

Grade 7, we studied Philippine history. I then appreciated peace. It was not just about the Filipinos fighting the

Spanish but how we fought for our independence. Now, if someone will ask me what is the best thing that I

have done for our country, I will tell him or her that I am proud to be a Filipino.

Even if I can’t die for my country like Andres Bonifacio and Dr. Jose Rizal, here are best things that I have

done for my country and I will continue to do for my country: In our house, we separate biodegradable,

degradable and recyclable trash. For that, I contribute to saving our environment. I also use “po” and

“opo” because it is one of our Filipino traits well-known by people around the world. It doesn’t matter if what

you’ve done for your country is big or small. Small things can become big things. You don’t have to die for

your country; you can simply do small things that will help the future of the Philippines.
 Assignment
1: Create a letter addressing to her (Philippines). You are supposed to be Rizal, what could be
you message to your country.

Philippines has changed dramatically and many people wants to strive more for the freedom specially the
teenagers. Just like what our national hero said ang “Kabataan ang Pag-asa ng Bayan” but what is happening to
our youth? Our actions and habits are disturbing. How can we be the hope of the people? We are now ignorant,
helpless in our country. We must act and unite for the future so that we will not regret it. Many young people
are now astray. There are reports of young people stealing, raping, killing, being imprisoned for drugs, and so
on. And not only that, there are also addicts who are addicted to vices such as drinking and gambling. Instead
of studying, there are those who get married early. Can the town still hope for that? If Rizal was alive, he would
have forgiven us. But despite these, there are still young people who value our town. Young people who are
kind and knowledgeable.

I believe in our youth, that we will develop our country. I hope we work together for the good of our
society. Let us prove that we are still the hope of the People. So in the end, we can still be the hero of our
country. Sometimes, we hide in the shadow of our problem and we will miss the whole picture "We are better".
Sometimes we know that we have great, but we were too competitive, so we just wanted to glorify them all, be
brave and proud, opportunity for others It will not give. This sentence or sentence applies only to not only to
the world, especially to the country, but also to other countries. Perhaps it is that we should only focus our
attention on the world's attention, the future of our country. If we just eliminated all the barriers of racial
discrimination, homosexuality, pessimism and self-centered, we will make the world a better place to maximize
our potential to make a better place, You can do good. So, do not talk anymore, and now act now!