Name: Ariel D.

Berin Subject: Life and Works of Rizal

Course/Year: BSHM 2nd Year

Rival employs personification throughout the poem, giving human qualities to

the idea of education. Referred to as "her" throughout the work, education
becomes like a powerful being capable of changing a person and a nation.
A celebrated Filipino political and social activist, Rival wrote the poem in 1876
at the age of 15, while the Philippines were under rule by the Spanish
government. This was a time of great political unrest in the Philippines, when
national pride was low and the masses often turned to violence in opposition
to perceived oppression. Rival spurned tendency toward violence, and instead
embraced the more pragmatic ideology that education provides the answer to
the problems of the nation.
In "Through Education Our Motherland Receives Light," education is
portrayed as a torch lighting the darkness or the morning sun casting out the
shadows over a land. This is to suggest that those who seek a well-rounded
education, who seek the light of education, are illuminated and empowered,
illuminating and empowering all those who seek her light. In a time where
many felt oppressed, Rival offered that the power or light of education is
endless, that it cannot be taken away.
Education is offered as an answer to unite the people, instill pride in the
people and provide the tools needed to make positive changes in the nation.
Rival explains that all science and art are born of education, that education is
capable of bringing security and peace to lands. His words encourage readers
that through knowledge, even barbarous savages can rise to heroism.