Life and Works of Rizal

In this paper, we will discuss Rizal's life and works, including his difficulties,
intellectual progress, and protest against Spanish colonialism. Dr. Jose RIzal's
biography, written by Leon Ma Guerrero, will serve as the basis for this paper. On how I
comprehend it and what I felt about it will be discussed here.

Leon Maria Ignacio Agapito Guerrero y Francisco was born on March 24, 1915,
in the district of Ermita, Manila. His father is named Dr. Alfredo Leon Guerrero and his
mother is Filomena Francisco. Leon’s name was from his grandfather who was a
distinguished botanist and a delegate to the Malolo Congress as well as a member of
the first Philippine Assembly. Leon graduated as a cum laude in Bachelor of arts. His
uncles are also a genius and made a name just like Fernando Maria Guerrero who was
a revolutionary poet and a journalist and the other was Manuel Severino Guerrero who
discovered the tiki-tiki, cure for beri-beri or scurvy.

Leon was told about Rizal and he only remained as a name for him. His parents
were afraid to let Leon read novels written by Rizal because he might lose his faith,
that's why he secretly read some of his novels. He translated some of Rizal’s works as a
practice in literary exercise and when he was assigned in London to translate the two
Rizal’s works he thought of reading some background information about Rizal to provide
a brief introduction about Rizal’s life. By then, he knew that “the way Rizal died is not
that important as the way he lived.” Leon finished his Law study as a cum laude.

Leon is such a genius person for me. Aside from finishing his studies as a cum
laude, the way he has the most knowledge of Rizal among his friends, the way he
studied Rizal’s life to give a brief introduction in his translations, to provide true and
complete information. He worked hard in everything. He always gives his best on what
he does.
 Jose Rizal is the seventh child of eleven children of Don Francisco and Doña
Teodora and he was born on June 19, 1861. Rizal enjoyed his life where he was born,
enjoying his childhood life as a normal kid, enjoying the view of nature, the sound of a
bird in his father’s orchard, reading outside their house with his nanny while looking at
the beautiful stars. Indeed, these were such good memories to keep until you grow old.
His mother, Doña Teodora, decided to teach Jose the Spanish language by reading a
book. She can read Spanish and know how to speak, make a poem and such. Jose was
amazed by his mother and listened to every story that his mother was reading to him
and he was able to understand it as she translated it into Tagalog for him to understand.

When he was transferred to the city, with his Aunt’s house to study in private
school, he didn’t enjoy that place. During the teenage years of Rizal, he struggled with
going to school because of being small and he almost got denied. All his classmates are
teasing him for speaking and stuttering and such but he proves to them that he can beat
them in terms of strength and brain. Even in his aunt's house, he struggled also in that
house and was bullied by the Aunt's grandson, Leandro.

Jose studied in Ateneo and decided to use Rizal and Mercado as his surname
that was suggested by Paciano. He stayed in a boarding house so that he will be near
his school. Jose gave his best in his studies despite all the issues from his classmates
and school itself. He excelled in every subject but he wasn’t awarded as the best
student. Jose entered Ateneo when he was still young with little knowledge of the
Spanish language, in other subjects that were partly developed during his school days.
He tried his very best to learn all the things and excel in his school despite all the
hardships he experienced during this time.

For me, it was really hard to be far away with your family but for you to achieve
your goal, I know for sure that in the future, it will be all worth it. That all the hardships
you experienced being far away from your family will be paid off once you are able to
get back with the things you have and can give to. We all know, or maybe for me, you
will enjoy studying if you love what you are doing. It's not that hard. But people around
us make it hard by teasing, pressuring, saying bad things that will make us feel or
question ourselves if we really deserve what we have as of the moment. But Jose stood
up his stand and showed others that he can prove himself among others and can excel
despite his shortcomings. Not all people can do this but this is an important message
that everyone should hear. That what you do is your success. It's like an investment for
your future. That no matter how stressed we are, we should stay focused on our goals
and listen to our hearts. Rizal showed us one of the bravest things that a person can do
once we face the problems in our life.

Rizal concluded that white people and indio have the same mental ability. Not
because you are different from others just because of your physical appearance, means
that you can’t do the things that they can do. "Being smart, well-behaved or not, smart
and such, these abilities can happen to both." he said. Jose expressed his thoughts
about the language that was needed to be used in school. That Spanish was used and
only white people can speak to it freely while the indios need to learn this language just
to understand and communicate to others.

I agree with him and being a racist will not make you better. We are all the same
in this world and everyone should be treated equally. In Spanish time, where the
government is strict on what language should be used on, Jose and all the indios had a
hard time speaking Spanish because they only know the Tagalog words - their mother
tongue - and they feel the barrier between them. It's really hard to study their language
especially if you are going to communicate with these racist people. But for them to
survive their studies, they worked hard without doing bad things to other people. They
learned this language not for the others, but for themselves and to defend them among
other people.

The part where Rizal’s mother wanted him to stop going back to Manila because
she was afraid that time would come and “they would cut off his head” Doña Teodora
said. She said that he knew enough so she asked her husband to stop Rizal from going
back to Manila because if he gets to know more (maybe about in their country), they will
cut his head.

This part in Leon Ma Guerrero's paper made me think that his mother’s instincts
were somehow right. Not that accurate but a bad thing really happened to Jose. Jose
talking about facts in his poem, journal, and such that will be against the government
because of being too good in studies and being aware of what is happening in their
country is such a fearless action to let other people in the community and the
government itself to know. His parents, not allowing him to go back to Manila because
of this, Paciano pushed him and got back together. Jose, who still doesn't know what to
pursue in college, Paciano argues with him and encourages him to take the Arts or
Medicine instead of the Law.

After studying his Bachelor of Arts degree, he studied medicine and his
motivation was because his mother’s sight was failing. Even though he only got a very
good and some excellent grade, he is still doing fine in studying this course. And for me,
even though it is not his vocation, he still managed to finish this course because it was
for his mother.

Maybe if I were Jose, I would do the same thing. I will do my very best to study
the things that will make my parents or loved ones in my life heal when they are sick, or
maybe study the things that will protect them and will let my knowledge expand and
know what is happening around me. I would gladly admire Rizal for being such a good
son because he chose to take this course on his own. No one forced him. He just made
his mother as his inspiration to take this course.

Jose once dreamed of being a swordsman. He also took Fine arts and did
painting and sculpture. He also mentioned that he wanted to take the path of priesthood
and maybe because he was in religious school.
 Paciano played a big role in Jose’s life. He called Paciano “the noblest of the
Filipinos” and when Jose thinks of him, he is the noble and genius man he knows.

Paciano really contributed a lot in Jose’s life especially in terms of decision

making. He was the one who helped and guided Jose when he went to Manila to study.
Paciano is the one who managed and prepared Jose’s travel to Madrid to study. His
parents don’t want him to go, especially his mother because she was afraid that some
danger will happen but this didn’t stop Jose. he still went to Madrid. Jose going abroad
became hard for him, leaving his friends, leaving his loved ones without saying
goodbye. Some get upset about it but some become glad because there’s not so much
sorrow on it. While he was on the ship, he saw a lot of mountains, temples, gardens and
such. He asked about the name of the mountain but no one told him. His curiosity raged
up while he saw these natures while on the deck. Rizal struggled to communicate with
other people onboard because he only spoke Spanish and the other people spoke
English, French, and Chinese.

Up to the page where I am reading, I just think that Jose believes in God. Why? It
is because he believes in saints, he reads the Bible and he prays the rosary. His mother
taught him how to pray the rosary and he was used to it. He also attends mass regularly
and visits the chapel of Ateneo most of the time, to pray. While onboard, he prays and
calls all the saints. But not because you are doing these things means you are religious.
Maybe in some, but not to all. What I am saying is that, yes, we can go to church always
and pray the rosary but this doesn’t mean that all the people who do this are saints.

When he landed in Singapore, he went to the Protestant church and found a font
of holy water and read the Bible a little. While walking on the street in Singapore, he
was sad that no one mentioned his country, the Philippines. I realized that the
Philippines is a poor country where other countries didn’t have the guts to get to know
this country. But we all know that this time, the Philippines have lots of tourist spots now
and that it is one of the most visited countries because of this. I am amazed at how Jose
was so loyal to the Philippines that he will be proud to brag about his country to others.
Truly a Filipino citizen with a heart. He will never get tired of mentioning his motherland
and defending its citizens.

On December 30, 1882, Rizal had a horrible nightmare that almost got him. He
was playing a dying actor. Losing his strength little by little and wanting to shout for help.
He woke up exhausted and breathless.

This paragraph from the biography paper of Leon, just gives me chills. I know
that this kind of scenery can happen but for Jose, it just feels unreal. I mean, his mother
was always worried about his safety but he chose to continue what he was doing.
Despite the fact he died on December 30, the same date when had such a horrible
dream. Studying a lot of degrees, molding his talents such as sculptor, painter, singer,
swordsman and many more. He just wants to finish his business in this country. A young
boy who did all of these for his country to be known, who spent a lot of his time to know
everything because of his curiosity. Isn’t it scary to have scenarios like this in your
dream, and worst this was already mentioned by your mother? It was so scary. For me I
don’t know if I will still continue doing such things or will listen to my parents just to be
safe because no one knows what will happen in the future. It sounds like you are being
a coward and want to forget all your goals but thinking of your family who will be left
once you are gone, a scenario that I can’t imagine. But Rizal continued and went for his
goal.

A young boy who is happy on his hometown, that was bullied by other people
when he studied at Manila, who got an excellent grades in almost of all his subjects
when he was studying, who is his first love was failed because of some reason, who go
abroad to pursue what Paciano - his brother who he’s been together almost all of his
teenage life - said. Jose didn't have that good childhood memories but he didn’t focus
on that instead he focused on his goal.

Jose studied a lot of courses and for me it was so amazing. To study medicine is
not that easy and it is also not that hard for those people who really love to be a doctor
in the future. But Jose did not only study this course however he finished his Bachelor of
Arts degree in Ateneo and when he knew that his mother would get blind, he went to
UST to study ophthalmology. He also took lessons in French, English, and German at
the Madrid Ateneo and took lessons for painting and sculpture at the Academia de San
Fernando.

To study a lot of Languages is one of my dreams. Because if you are able to

speak in different languages, you can go to other countries confidently and can
communicate with other people there not that fluently, but at least you can understand
them. Studying this all will really take your energy because there is a lot to finish but
Jose was able to finish these courses with some rewards that he was able to get while
studying. Indeed Jose is a genius.

Jose exclaimed: "The love of country can never be expunged once it has entered
the heart because it bears a divine mark that makes it eternal and imperishable." and
this thought leave an impact to me in a way that I realized that once you fall in love with
your own country, you will take care of it and will do everything. That it will take a lot of
reasons to hate this and you will rather defend your own country than to leave. But
today’s country is not that beautiful because of those people in government who keep
on stealing money that should be for the people in the country. That instead of being
together in the midst of problems that were happening, it happened to be that they are
enemies. But I can say that it’s not all the government's fault when it comes to the
development of a country because some people don’t want to follow what the
government says even if it will be the reason for the country’s development.

His mother got ill and it’s worse but Paciano managed to transfer their mother
where they think it will help her to recover and have a good feeling. This is because she
heard that Jose’s speech will put his life in danger and that he is better not to go in
Manila or in their house anymore because he is safer where he is right now. His mother
just wants him to stop what he's doing and make sure that he will not fail his duties
being a Christian because that is what Doña Teodora wants and will make her heart be
at peace, making sure that Jose will be a good Christian. That the knowledge he has
will ruin his life and everything.

But Jose replied and said he believes his reasoning. That even though he chose
to stop writing because that is what you/they wanted but ended up writing again is what
he was doing is because of powerful reasons. He can’t stop himself writing on what he
sees. He wants to send a message to those people who handle and control people in
his country that they need a better life. Despite this happening, he doesn't mind having
enemies and only thinks that he cannot take the conscience he will feel if he will not do
anything and just pretend that you are not seeing and hearing the happenings.

He also mentioned that “religion is the holiest of things, the purest, the most
intangible, which escapes all human adulterations, and I think I would be recreant to my
duty as a rational being if I were to try to approach and admit what is absurd.” Being a
Christian is in heart and believing in Him. Jose believes that He will take the rest after
he does what he thinks is right.

Leaving all your worries to Him is one of the most common things that religious
people do. I’m not saying that I am a religious person but this is what I do when I know
that I can’t handle my problems anymore. Truly He is a savior that can save you when
you believe in Him.

Jose’s protest against colonialism through his writings. He put all his thoughts
about the government through his works. Just like the El Filibusterismo, where this work
sends a message to the Government that he wants the Filipinos to have better lives.
This also includes the views of national identity, Catholic faith, the government issues in
corruption, abuse of power and discriminaton. Indeed, for me, Rizal used his brain on
how he will attack or let me say how he will let the Government know their
shortcomings. This suits Jose. Those people who use their brain instead of their mouth.
This is more classy. The Government took Jose’s life because maybe they are
threatened by Jose's knowledge. They are afraid that the Filipinos will know more and
Jose will get the loyalty or side of Filipinos. Yes, we know that the Spaniards took Jose’s
life because he resisted the Government and disobeyed them. Jose didn’t stop because
of this kind of rule. He freely expressed his thoughts in his works without thinking how
dangerous it was for him. He was just concerned for Filipinos’ living and to have a better
life that they deserve. He didn’t only think for himself but for the Filipinos. This kind of
action is one of the bravest things he did. We all know that, in today's living, we still do
this kind of action, expressing our thoughts about the government through a movie, a
story, and such.

Corruption is one of the worst things that is happening in government. And no

one can ever put them in jail because of the power they have in their hands. How about
those poor people who can’t have food and end up stealing some in other places for
them to eat? Is this one of the things that Jose was saying? A fair treatment, to give
what the countrymen deserve and will make these people live better. People depend on
the government and they are hoping for opportunities for a better life. They are just
depending on what the government will do in this country however they are willing to
work hard to have money that will sustain their needs. People, especially those in poor
society really have no enough opportunities because aside from they were not able to
study and can’t have a degree, sometimes they receive discrimination and doesn’t have
money to do things that will make their life better. So they really depend and wait for this
country’s development and hope that the opportunities that were available for other
people, will be available for them too.

Jose also wrote Noli Me Tangere which translates as “do not touch me”. He
dedicated this to the Filipinos to defend from foreign accusations of foolishness and lack
of knowledge and to show how the Filipino people lived during the Spanish colonial
period, and to discuss how religion and belief can really do to everyday lives. This was
written in Spanish because in Spanish time, they are not allowed to use different
languages and that is why the indios were not able to understand this and many
Filipinos were deprived of quality education however he meant this to be read by the
Spanish government but it caused a violent rebellion that he didn’t expect to happen.
This is also a good work of Jose and freely expressed on what is happening in his
country. He truly loves his country and its countrymen and hopes for their better
situation but they are in the wrong government at that time where there’s no grace.

Rizal struggled a lot in his whole life. When he was young, entering a school in
Ateneo and was bullied by other students because of his appearance but he ignored all
of that and proved to them that he can do and finish all of his goals and can excel.
Through his mother, he learned how to pray and recite a rosary. He also used to go to
church every morning to hear masses, and when he went to Ateneo, one of the most
visited places by Jose is the chapel. Despite all the things that happened, he was able
to finish the course and other courses too. He learned different languages, took lessons
for painting, sculpture, and swordsmanship. He was able to finish and learned all of this
because of his hardships that even his parents stopped him from going to Manila and
abroad because his mother was worried about his life, he still pushed and proved that
he can do it. Though he didn’t take medicine as his vocation but because he only has 2
patients in his life and that is his country and his mother.

And when he writes and expresses his thoughts through his works that talks
about the government, and was perished because of it, these leave an impact to the
people who later realized and were able to read his works.

Jose’s life is what you can say that despite the struggles in life, you just have to
prove them wrong and do what you love and will make yourself happy and content. It is
not a matter of yourself and other people but it is just you and yourself. You need to
prove yourself that what you will choose, you should be ready for its consequences. You
should stand your own decision based on your reasonings, what you see, what you
heard and stand on it until you make yourself content. Just fight what you believe, and if
you choose to fight for your country, then be it. It just shows how you love your country.
 He shows in his works what should be done and what he wanted to say to the
Spanish government that time that will benefit the countrymen even though his parents
want him to stop on writing this kind of message because this will only lead to disaster.

RIzal met a lot of people in his journey and all of them became part of his life and
knowledge. He learned a lot from them not only in school matters but also a skill that he
can use in future. His curiosity led him to know what is happening in his country. All of
that was because he worked hard in everything.