The Revolution According to Raymundo Mata

By: Gina Apostol [ Excerpt ]

It was a bolt – a thunder bolt. A rain of bricks, a lightning zap. A pummeling of mountains,
a heaving violent storm at sea – a whiplash. A typhoon. An earthquake. The end of the world.
And I was in ruins. It struck me dumb. It changed my life and the world was new when I was
done. And when I raised myself from bed two days later, I thought: It’s only a novel. If I ever met
him, what would my life be? I lay back in bed. But what a novel! And I cursed him, the writer –
what was his name – for doing what I hadn’t done, for putting my worlds into words before I
even had the sense to know what the world was. That was his triumph – he’d laid out a trail, and
all we had to do is follow his wake. Even then, I already felt the bitter envy, the acid retch of a
latecomer artist, the one who will always be under the influence, by mere chronology always
slightly suspect, a borrower, never lender be. After him, all Filipinos are tardy ingrates. What is
the definition of art? Art is reproach to those who receive it. That was his curse upon all of us. I
was weak, as if drugged. I realized: I hadn’t eaten in two days. Then I got out of bed and boiled
barako for me. Later it was all the rage in the coffee shops, in the bazaars of Binondo. People did
not even hide it – crowds of men, and not just students, not just boys, some women even, with
their violent fans – gesticulating in public, throwing up their hands, putting up fists in debate. Put
your knuckle where your mouth is. We were loud, obstreperous, heedless. We were literary
critics. We were cantankerous: rude raving. And no matter which side you were, with the crown
or with the infidels, Spain or spolarium, all of us, each one, seemed revitalized by spleen, hatched
by the woods of long, venomous silence. And yes, suddenly the world opened up to me, after the
novel, to which before I had been blind.

Still I rushed into other debates, for instance with Benigno and Agapito, who had now
moved into my rooms. Remembering Father Gaspar’s cryptic injunction - “throw it away to someone
else,” so that in this manner the book traveled rapidly in those dark days of its printing, now so
nostalgically glorious, though then I had no clue that these were historic acts, the act of reading, or
that the book would be such a collector’s item, or otherwise I would have wrapped it in
parchment and sealed it for the highest bidder, what the hell, I only knew holding the book could
very likely constitute a glorious crime – in short, I lent it to Benigno.

Questions: The Revolution According to Raymundo Mata

1. Why did Noli Me Tangere have such a big impression on the narrator? Could you relate to the feelings of the
narrator’s experience of reading? Why or why not? Elucidate.
2. Have you ever felt the same about a book that you have read? What book was it? Why did it leave such a
huge impression to you? Elucidate your answer.
3. What does the line, “Art is reproach to those who receive it” mean? Should art be a reproach? Should we
relate art to society? Explain your views.
4. When you read about how so many people were affected by the novel Noli Me Tangere, what was your
reaction? Do you think a book can ever elicit such a strong response in the Philippines? Explain.
5. When the narrator says the act of reading is a historic act, what did he mean? Do you think a book can ever
elicit such a strong response in the Philippines? Explain.
6. During those times, do you think you would have been moved to fight against the government after reading
the novel? Explain.
7. They say that the act of reading gives people more empathy and makes them more critical and reflective. Do
you think this is true? Support your answer with facts.
8. Given this excerpt, what do you think is the importance of literature to society? Is this still applicable today?
9. Why is the Noli Me Tangere, a book that was banned in the past, now a required reading in Philippine schools?
Why did the Catholic Church go against making Noli a requirement? Explain.
10. Do you think there should be ever a time when certain books should be banned? Why or why not? Elucidate.