Noli Me Tangere

Chapter 17-24

Tagudin. Niñeza. Ranoco. Benlot

 Chapter 17- Basilio
Plot:
Basilio, who works as a sacristan, returns home wounded
after escaping from the civil guards. He reveals that Crispin
stayed at the convento (church) and faced troubles there,
though he doesn't disclose the full extent of their suffering.

Sisa is relieved to know that Crispin is alive but is deeply

upset to learn that he has been falsely accused of a crime
due to their poverty.
Chapter 17- Basilio
Characters:
1. Basilio
Insights
The story highlights the hardships faced by the
2. Crispin
poor and the unfair treatment they receive in
3. Sisa society. It also portrays the resilience and
hope of a mother and her sons as they strive
for a better life despite the odds stacked
against them.
Chapter 18: Souls In Torment
Plot:

1. Fray Salvi, the curate, finishes celebrating his last mass

and appears to be in a hurry and agitated.
2. He avoids interaction with the women waiting for him in
the hallway and shows signs of impatience.
3. The women discuss earning indulgences and share their
methods of gaining spiritual merits.
4. A man named Brother Pedro boasts of earning numerous
indulgences and claims he can even gain them while
sleeping.
Chapter 18: Souls In Torment
Plot:

5. Amidst their discussions, Sisa, a poor mother, arrives with a

basket
of vegetables and salad leaves as a gift for the friar. She inquires
about
her son Crispin, who was supposed to stay at the convento
(church
residence) but apparently stole things and ran away,
leaving his brother Basilio at home. Distressed, Sisa
heads home in tears.
Insight

Through this chapter, we gain insights into the religious

beliefs and practices of the townspeople, as well as the
challenges and sorrows faced by Sisa as a mother trying
to protect and understand her sons' actions. It also
highlights the disparities in society, as the pious women
focus on earning indulgences while Sisa grapples with the
harsh realities of poverty and the actions of her sons.
Chapter 19;
Looking over the lake, Ibarra speaks with the town’s
schoolmaster, who says that the gravedigger showed him where
Don Rafael’s body was dumped. The schoolmaster greatly
respects Ibarra and his late father, saying that he owed Don
Rafael many favors because the old man used to give his poor
students scholarships to encourage them to pursue education. In
Rafael’s absence, though, these children live in rags and hardly
have time for their studies. Ibarra takes an interest in this
dilemma, asking the schoolmaster questions about San Diego’s
current education system and telling him that he isn’t asking out
of “an empty curiosity.” Rather, Ibarra wants to continue his
father’s efforts to empower the town by promoting secular
education. “I want the religion that brought education to this
society to be respected,” he says. “I want my own spirit to be
inspired by what has given my life so much meaning.”
Chapter 20;
Before the meeting at city hall begins, the two factions of influential
authorities separate into groups. The older men represent the town’s
conservatives while the younger men represent San Diego’s liberal
component—these two sides are notorious for never seeing eye to eye. Don
Filipo, the deputy mayor, complains to his friends about the mayor, who’s
older and more conservative. The meeting they’re about to have is in regards
to San Diego’s large fiesta, which traditionally celebrates the religious
holidays of November with expensive fireworks and musicians and other
extravagancies. The liberals resent these lavish customs, which are
encouraged by the church and drain economic resources from the rest of the
town. Don Filipo tells his comrades that Tasio advised him to propose the
conservatives’ idea—that the town should spend large amounts of money on
the fiesta—because he’s confident the old men will disagree with whatever he
says.
Chapter 21
Sisa runs all the way home. She wants desperately to save and
protect her sons from the danger that she feels is coming. She
comes across the civil guards and finds out that Crispin was
nowhere to be found, and that Basilio had escaped. The guards
command Sisa to bring out the friar's money which his sons had
stolen. When she cannot produce it they arrest her. Sisa nearly
dies of shame from the piercing stares of the people as she is
dragged across town. The alferez eventually releases her, and
she goes searching for her lost sons. Still no sign of them. Sisa
becomes insane.
Chapter 22
For the next three days, the town prepares for the fiesta. María
Clara arrives with Aunt Isabel, and the townspeople notice a
profound difference in Father Salví, who seems distracted during
his sermons and becomes thinner. Even more notably, he stays
out late at night while visiting María Clara’s house. As for Ibarra,
nobody knows why he’s absent, and some speculate that he has
been imprisoned for having forced Father Salví to his knees on
All Saints’ Day. These suspicions are dispelled, though, when he
arrives in front of María Clara’s house in San Diego and warmly
greets Father Salví, who is also on his way to pay the young
woman a visit.
Chapter 23
SUMMARY
Ibarra and María Clara go on the planned outing the next
morning, taking with them María Clara’s friends Sinang,
Victoria, Iday, Nenang, their mothers, and several of Ibarra’s
friends. Two boatmen—one elderly and one roughly the same
age as Ibarra—row them to a remote beach, where they cast
fishing rods in the hopes of catching something to eat. They
eventually discover, though, that there’s a crocodile stuck in
the muck beneath the boat. The younger boatman jumps into
the water, lassoing the crocodile and bringing it above the
surface level. As the crocodile thrashes about, it drags the
boatman back into the water. Ibarra quickly dives in to save
the man, driving his knife into the crocodile’s tender belly. “I
owe you my life,” the boatman says after the ordeal is over.
The group then goes back to celebrate in the woods
surrounding Ibarra’s house.
Chapter 24
SUMMARY
Father Salví rushes through his morning mass and other
religious duties in order to meet up with María Clara and her
friends. When he arrives, he walks through the woods and
hears María Clara and several other girls talking about him,
saying that he creepily follows her everywhere she goes. When
he comes upon the rest of the group, he sees that the majority
of the town is there, including his nemesis the ensign, the
mayor, Don Filipo, and even Captain Basilio, who was Don
Rafael’s enemy in a past lawsuit that has been left unsettled.
When the priest emerges, he hears Ibarra saying to Captain
Basilio, “We may disagree over rights, but disagreement does
not mean enmity.”.
Thank You for
listening!