Reaction Paper

As a child, José Protacio Rizal Mercado y Alonso Realonda has been my hero. I look up
to him very much because I admire his heroism for the country. They way how he uses brains
rather than brawns proof that bravery is not purely traditional characteristics. When people ask
me who my favorite hero is I would tell him. I memorized his full name hence proof my
admiration during my childhood years. But as I grew older, I see this person in a different way.
The glimmer you have has a child fades and opens your mind to another perspective. Let’s be
realistic, Rizal was not poor during the colonization of the Philippines in fact he was quite
wealthy. His family can afford to let him study that most Filipinos cannot afford that time. He also
studied abroad where he met other Filipino heroes who are like him too. You understand more
why people oppose Rizal as national hero unlike the underdog Andres Bonifacio who
experienced poverty. But upon realizing it, his academia became his driven tool on why he
started to write La Solidaridad with Marcelo, Luna and other Filipino scholars. It takes on
importance his quote, “Ang kabataan ang pag-asa ng bayan”, since education can always be a
tool to overcome problems and create a better world that they also did. His work settled on a
theme of nationalism and rebellion. I interpreted rebellion as a form of meaning to his
propaganda since he is rebelling against the Spaniards from the abuse he feels as well as his
fellow countrymen. The way he feels as a human being is patronized by others hence following
his path of rebellion. Others would do the same thing as using wit to overcome the tyranny of
the Spaniards while others would choose violence. No judgement with violence, its just a
realistic application of the saying, “An eye for an eye”, since the treatment for lower class
Filipinos were not human like. His death maybe tragic but it is the dawn of the rebellion of
Filipinos from their oppressors. The subterranean meaning it has for the freedom people have
today. The influence Rizal has is a defying trait for modern Filipinos as being outspoken can
change the failed system. Many youth leaders today mirror these attributes which becomes
more meaningful even though that Rizal may not have offspring but his legacy lives on more
centuries.

The subject sound very interesting for me because we get to another level of
understanding with Rizal’s writings. All of the books that were required to be read during high
school was the ice berg’s peak but there are more to it. I see the requirement as a better way to
learn on nationalism in a more historical way since you will get to know more this very intelligent
person who has same blood as I am. The subject is also not about Jose Rizal’s life and the
focus introduces theories of nationalism and more remarkable authors of the 20th century like
Nick Joaquin. Rizal’s works are used as basis on a more detailed knowledge about the Filipino
Civil Rights movement. It gives self-awareness to students on the existence of it since not
everything is taught in their history classes in their younger years of academics. The importance
of learning from this gives out a reason to appreciate Filipino authors and their symbolism to
society.