The Spanish Colonization in Mata’s Eyes: An Essay About the Summary of Gina Apostol’s ‘The

Revolution According to Raymundo Mata’

“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” —Martin Luther King, Jr.

For exactly three hundred thirty-three (333) years, Spain has colonized the Philippines, a
resource-rich archipelago in Southeast Asia. Spanish culture was introduced to the Filipino people in
terms of trades, manners, customs, language, and habits of the Spanish people. Well, even the name of the
Philippines was derived from the king of Spain during the early years of its invasion of the archipelago,
King Philip II. However, despite its “notable” influence, the hostilities of the Spanish elite, most were the
Spanish authorities and friars, have also been clear throughout Spain’s authoritarian rule. For instance,
feudalism persisted in the Philippine society during Spanish colonization. As a matter of fact, many
Filipino farmers were subjected to violence by the Spanish landlords, Filipino priests were viewed as
“inferior” to the Spanish friars, and even ordinary Filipinos were discriminated and called as “indios.”
Consequently, many uprisings broke out to challenge Spanish authority in the archipelago and the
Philippine revolution against Spain was eventually born.

In Gina Apostol’s novel the views of Raymundo Mata, a half-blind bookworm and revolutionary,
on the revolution, she showed Mata’s memoir which described and elaborated how the Filipinos craved
for freedom against tyranny. With some of the events being mixed with opinions, first-hand experiences,
fact, and fiction, the memoir primarily displayed Mata’s childhood, his educational journey in Manila, his
several love affairs, and his remarkable discovery of Dr. Jose Rizal, who would soon be the country’s
national hero. It is also important to note that even though the memoir held some fictional events,
characters, and settings, it became an “eye-opener” to the Filipino readers about the countless sacrifices
made by our Filipino heroes, especially Rizal.

Regarded as “a story within a story”, Apostol’s novel supplied many perspectives on how the
Spanish colonizers oppressed the Filipino people and, at the same time, reimagined the contribution of
Rizal in the Philippine revolution. In fact, Mata’s memoir highlighted how he met the nation’s greatest
writer and wrote about him. Mata expressed deep admiration to Rizal which manifested Apostol being a
fan of Rizal’s works. Hence, it is clear that this novel would help Filipino readers to better understand
various perspectives about the rise of nationalism in the country.