The Theme of Noli Me Tangere

Theme as an element of fiction is the idea that runs through the whole novel, repeated again and

again in various forms and ways.

 The theme of ‘Noli Me Tangere’ comes from Gospel of John. John tells that when Jesus

showed himself after the Resurrection, it was first to Mary Magdalene.

 Jesus called her and she turned around and saw him. But Jesus did not want her to touch

him. He said literary to her, “Do not cling to me, because I have not yet ascended to the

Father.

 But go to the brothers and tell them: I am ascending to my father and Your Father, my

God and Your God.”

 The ‘Noli Me Tangere’ or ‘Touch me not’ is a symbol of the need for distance.

 The ‘Noli Me Tangere’ is a similar theme of longing and unfulfilment.

 There is no more tragic love and of course no greater love than of two beings unable to

reach each other, since such a love eternally remains unblemished.

 Rizal’s book persistently unmasks contemporary Spaniards in the Philippines of every

kind.

 He exposes corruption and brutality of the civil guards which drive good men to crime

and banditry.

 He focuses on an administration crawling with self-seekers, out to make their fortune at

the expense of the Filipinos, so that the few officials who are honest and sincere are

unable to overcome the treacherous workings of the system, and their efforts to help the

country often end up in frustration or in self-ruin.

  The Noli is Rizal’s expose of corrupt friars who have made the Catholic religion an

instrument for enriching and perpetuating themselves in power by seeking to mire

ignorant Filipinos in fanaticism and superstition.

 According to Rizal, instead of teaching Filipinos true Catholicism, they control the

government by opposing all progress and persecuting members of the ilustrado unless

they make themselves their servile flatterers.

Rizal does not, however, spare his fellow countrymen.

 The superstitious and hypocritical fanaticism of many who consider themselves religious

people;

 the ignorance, corruption, and brutality of the Filipino civil guards;

 the passion for gambling unchecked by the thought of duty and responsibility;

 the servility of the wealthy towards friars and government officials;

 the ridiculous efforts of Filipinos to dissociate themselves from their fellowmen or to

lord it over them—all these are ridiculed and disclosed.

Rizal nevertheless balances the national portrait by highlighting the virtues and good qualities of

his unspoiled countrymen:

 the modesty and devotion of the Filipina, the unstinting hospitality of the Filipino family,

 the devotion of parents to their children and children to their parents,

 the deep sense of gratitude, and

 the solid common sense of the untutored peasant.

 It calls on the Filipino to recover his self-confidence, to appreciate his own worth, to

return to heritage of his ancestors, and to assert himself as the equal of the Spaniard.

 It insists on the need of education, of dedication to the country, and of absorbing aspects

of foreign cultures that would enhance the native traditions.”