A Proposal on Writing a Novel About the
Philippines
 According to Leon Ma. During Rizal’s stay in
several European cities, Guerrero noted that
Filipinos were practically an unknown nation.
 During the Paris Exposition of 1889, Rizal
encouraged his fellow expatriates to call
themselves Indios Bravos so they would have a
sense of national identity.
 Rizal presented a proposal for writing a novel
about the Philippines to the Circulo-Hispano
Filipino on January 2, 1884.
 The members of the association approved this
proposal. Unfortunately, however, the project
did not materialize because those who were
expected to collaborate with Rizal did not write
anything on the subject.
 One year later, Pedro Paterno published his
novel entitled Ninay, with the subtitle
Costumbres Filipinas (Philippine Customs).
Rizal was very happy, considering that his
purpose was partly fulfilled.
IDEAS
1st Idea: Spoliarium by Juan Luna
Luna’s Spoliarium conveyed the plight of the
vanquished and the pathetic suffering of the human
race.
2nd Idea: Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher
Stowe
This novel portrayed the brutalities committed by
American slave owners against their Negro slaves.
3rd Idea: The Wandering Jew by Eugene Sue
According to Quirino, the literary form of the novel
could have probably been used by Rizal as his
model to arouse feelings against the existing
Philippine situation and, at the same time,
communicate to the Filipinos the
ideals he wanted them to embrace.
The Writing of the Noli
 Rizal started writing Noli Me Tangere in 1884,
while he was studying in Europe.
 He completed one-half of the novel in Madrid.
 One-fourth of the novel was written when he
was in Paris in 1885. After completing his
studies at the Central University of Madrid, he
continued writing the novel, finishing one-half of
the second half.
 Rizal finished the remaining one-fourth in Berlin,
Germany.
 Rizal made the final revisions to the manuscript
of Noli Me Tangere.
 During that time, Rizal fell sick and was
penniless. Rizal told Fernando Canon, who is
his friend, that he had no hope of the novel
getting published, and he almost threw his work
into flames.
The Savior of the Noli
Dr. Maximo Viola
 Rizal friend from Bulacan.
 Scion of a rich family of San Miguel, Bulacan
 Arrived in Berlin at the height of his
despondency and loaned him the needed funds
to publish the novel.
The Printing of the Noli
 On February 21, 1887, the novel was finally
finished and ready for printing.
 Noli Me Tangere was printed in a printing shop
named Berliner Buchdruckrei-Action-
Gesseslschaf, which charged the lowest rate of
300 pesos per 2000 copies.
 During the printing of Noli, Rizal was suspected
of being a French spy.
Rizal Suspected as a French Spy
 The chief police of Berlin asked Rizal for a
passport, but he was unable to provide one.
 Rizal was given 4 days to comply, or else he
would be deported.
 Rizal, accompanied by Viola, went to the
Spanish embassy, but the Spanish ambassador
was not able to issue a passport.
 Because of Rizal’s frequent visits to the villages
and towns in rural areas, it aroused the German
authorities that he was a French spy.
 Rizal explained to the Chief of Police that he
was not a French spy but a Filipino ethnologist.
 The chief of police was satisfied, and it allowed
him to stay freely in Germany.
After the Printing of Noli
 The novel came out of the press on March 21,
1887, with the financial assistance of Maximo Viola.
 Rizal immediately sent the first copies to:
- Professor Ferdinand Blumentritt
- Dr. Antonio Ma. Regidor
- Graciano Lopez Jaena
 - Mariano Ponce
- Felix R. Hidalgo
 On March 29, 1887, Rizal, in token of his
appreciation and gratitude, gave Viola the galley of
proofs of the novel. He carefully rolled around the
pen that he used in writing it and a complimentary
copy.
The Title of Noli
 Rizal decided to call his first literary piece Noli Me
Tangere. The title can be translated into English as
“Touch Me Not”. The aforementioned label for this
novel has a biblical basis, as those words were the
ones uttered by Jesus Christ to Mary Magdalene
when she visited His tomb before the sunrise of
Easter Sunday.
 (John 20:17) Jesus saith to her, Touch me not; for I
am not yet ascended. to my Father; but go to my
brethren, and say to them, I ascend to my Father
and your Father, and to my God and your God.
Rizal's Dedication
 Rizal dedicated his first novel Noli Me Tangere
to the Philippines— To My Fatherland.
Notable among his purposes for writing this
novel were the following:
1. To picture the past and realities in the
Philippines;
2. To reply to insults heaped on the Filipinos and
their country;
3. To unmask the hypocrisy that have
impoverished and brutalized the Filipino people;
and
4. To stir the patriotism of the Filipino people.
From the novel Elias played a pivotal role,
whose family was a victim of numerous strategies
for more than three generations. In the novel, he
was pictured as a bandit or an outlaw.
In the conversation that he held with Ibarra, it
was Elias who appeared to be the voice of the
revolution who believed that reforms to obtain
justice were not possible.
Ibarra convinced Elias to trust the
government and the need of the light of
education. Elias responded in this way:
Without freedom, there is no light... You see nothing
of the struggle that is being prepared, or the cloud
on the horizon. The struggle begins in the field of
ideas, but will descend into the arena, and stain
with blood. The hear the voice of God. Woe to
those who will resist Him! For them, history has not
been written. Our people slept for centuries, but
one day the lightning struck and its very act of
destroying, it called forth life. Since
then, new tendencies work on our spirits, and these
tendencies, now scattered, will one day unite under
the guidance of God. God has not failed other
peoples; He will not fail ours; their cause is the
cause of freedom!
To carry out Rizal’s purpose in writing the
novel, numerous episodes were included in the
novel (Schumacher, 1997).
 The episode in the cockpit exposed
sarcastically the demeaning effects of gambling
among Filipinos then.
 The conversation among tercorista (Lay
followers of the friars) sisters on buying
indulgences during the All Souls’ Day, reflected
Rizal's denunciation of, superstitious beliefs and
blind fanaticism.
 The homily of Father Damaso during the
celebration of the town fiesta was employed by
Rizal to denounce the vulgar ignorance,
hypocrisy and religious despotism of the friars.
The novel clearly identified the defects of the
Spanish colonial system in the Philippines.
Solutions to these defects can be gleaned from the
exchange of ideas between Elias and Ibarra. Rizal,
however, was not very clear on what to do. He was
not certain of opting for revolution. On the other
hand, he made it clear and plain that the threat of a
possible outbreak of a revolution, should radical
reforms not be instituted in the colony by the
Spanish government.
The Characters
Although the novel is a work of fiction, the novel
can be considered a true story of the Philippines
during the last decades of Spanish rule. The
characters used by Rizal in the Noli were persons
who actually existed during those times(Zaide &
Zaide, 1999).
Characters who actually existed in those times
Maria Clara - Leonor Rivera
Tasyo - Teodoro Romualdo de Jesus (old mentor of
Rizal who enlightened him about the rich heritage
of the Filipinos before the coming of the Spaniards)
Padre Salvi - Fr. Antonio Piernavieja of the
Augustinian Order
Captain Tiago - Captian Hilario Sunico of San
Nicolas
Telesfao Christian - rich Chinese merchant in
Binondo
Dona Victoria - Agustina Medel
Basilio and Crispin - Chrisostomo brothers of
Hagonoy, Bulacan
Padre Damaso - typical abusive friar during Rizal’s
time
-Symbolized a lot of things in Filipino society during
Rizal’s time
-Rizal was been able to illustrate lack of concern in
facing and resolving problems conforming
Fiipino society
-Illustrate the typical characteristic of
Filipino mothers
Don Santiago de los Santos
-He was a rich landlord
-To common people he was a symbol of the
cacique mentality
-He never did pray to God even in the face of
difficulties instead he let his money pray for him
-Represent the subservient Filipino to authorities to
protect his personal and business interest

Through the characters in the Noli, Rizal depicted Doña Victorina

different pictures of Filipino society during his time -She considered herself a Peninsulares
(Capino et al, 1977) -Social climber
-Symbolize colonial mentality
Juan Crisostomo y Magsalin
-Main character in the novel Doña Consolacion
- Represented the affluent and liberal European- -Mistress of the Alferez
educated Filipino. -She is imprudent, vulgar, cruel, and quarrelsome
-He is civic-minded, liberty-minded and patriotic -Symbolized the mentality of the Guardia Civil
-He desired the education of people and expose -She was only competitor of Capitan Tiago in
the conflict of liberalism and conservatism in the godliness
novel
Pilosopo Tasyo
Elias -Portrayed as pessimistic
-He represent the Filipino masses in the novel -Represented Rizal’s epitome of a philosopher
-He believe that redemption of the country depends -Perceive to be a sage by the educated and a weird
on the illustrados or lunatic
-Mouthpiece of Rizal’s contradictory thoughts and
Purpose The School Master of San Diego
-Represented the weak and useless education in
Maria Clara de los Santos the Philippines
-Object of Ibarra’s love and affection -Symbolized intellectual dissatisfaction in Filipino
-Represents the womanhood trained in a convent society
and immersed in education basically in religious in -Dreamed of changing the methods of teaching to
orientation facilitate greater learning on the part of
-Symbolizes the womanhood in their fidelity, the pupils
coyness, and modesty
Filipino society as pictured in the noli
Don Rafael Ibarra
-He was Crisostomo’s father SPANIARDS
-He was considered a heretic and filibustero (tao na -This novel uncompromisingly exposes Spaniards
di sumusunod sa gusto ng government) owing in the Philippines.
to his liberal and independent views -Corruption is rampant.
-Symbolizes an affluent landlord with a social -Banditry became a way of life to many.
conscience
FILIPINOS
Sisa -Filipinos were blind
-Mother of Basilio and Crispin -Religious fanatics
-Corrupt and Gamblers
-Rejects Filipino heritage and blindly accepts
foreign culture
-Subservient towards the friars and government
officials
-Distance themselves from the common
people
NOTABLE VIRTUES AND VALUES EMPHASIZED
IN NOLI
-the modesty and devotion of the Filipino woman
-the open-handed hospitality of the Filipino family
-the devotion of the parents to their children
and children to their parent
-the deep sense of gratitude of the Filipino
peasants
Rizal’s Diagnosis of Filipino Society
Rizal was impartial in his assessment. According to
him friars were the enemies of reform, progress,
and justice in the country.
Three reasons: agrarian problem, influence of
Spanish anti-clericalism, and political situation.
Many research confirms the correctness of
Rizal’s contention.
The Propaganda Movement was undertaken
in Spain
Charter of Filipino Nationalism
-Insists on the need for education, dedication to the
country and assimilation of western culture
-Outlines reforms needed in Filipino Society
“IT IS NEVER A CRIME THROUGH FIGHT FOR
ONE’S COUNTRY”
-ELIAS, Noli Me Tangere
-Rizal was unsure to what solution should be
implemented
-He chose friars in the Philippines as his enemy
First Reactions To The Noli
“This Book is Superior”-Antonio Ma Regidor
“Your work, as we Germans says, has been written
with blood and heart... Your work has exceeded my
hopes and I consider myself fortunate and happy to
have been honoured with your friendship...(cont.)”
-Ferdinand Blumentritt
-Heretical, impious and scandalous in its
religious aspect; unpatriotic, subversive of
public order and offensive to the Spanish
Government.
-Governor-General Terrero informed Rizal of
the unfavourable reports
-Permanent Commission on Censorship was
unable to ban the novel
Attacks
... anti-Catholic, Protestant and Socialist in
orientation andlearning.
- Fernando Vida
Rizal as a man of contradiction, whose criticisms of
the friars and the Spanish Regime were actually an
insult to the Filipinos themselves.
- Vicente Barrantes, 1889
Fr. Salvador Font issued the official censure of
Noli, citing:
Attacks on the Religion of State
Attacks on the Administration
Attacks on the Civil Guards
Attacks on the territoial integrity of the Spanish
Kingdom
"full of heresies, blasphemies, and the grossest
errors, containing, as it does, propositions
which are false, rash, offensive to pious ears,
injurious to the sacred hierarchy and to the
faithful, impious, foolish, erroneous, likely to
lead into errors condemned in Luther and
other heretics, savoring of heresy and
heretical, and likely to lead to atheism
"
- Fr. Jose Rodriguez
Defenses
Fr. Francisco Sanchez publicly defended
Noli
“If reading Noli is a mortal sin, then Fr.
Rodriguez had also committed a mortal
sin”
-- Fr. Vicente Garcia
Caiigat Cayo by Marcelo H. Del Pilar
Ferdinand Blumentritt