EL FILIBUSTERISMO

background and synopsis

 Background
• El Filibusterismo is known as the “the reign of greed”.
It was the sequel of his first book Noli Me Tangere.
• Rizal wrote El Filibusterismo in dedication to the three
martyr priests, Mariano Gomez, Jose Burgos, and
Jacinto Zamora.
• He started writing El Filibusterismo on October 1887
while he was in Calamba, Laguna and continued to
London in 1888.
• He finished writing the novel on March 29, 1891 while
he was in Biarritz, and took 3years to complete the
novel.
• September 18,1891, the novel was published in
Ghent, funded by Rizal’s friend Valentin Ventura.
Rizal donated the manuscript and an autograph
printed to Valentin Ventura.
• El filibusterismo is composed of 38 chapters.
 Synopsis
Crisostomo Ibarra is back as simoun. During the period in
between the story line of Noli Me Tangere and El
Filibusterismo which is 13 years, Ibarra left the Philippines
and became a wealthy jeweler. He came back to the
Philippines as Senor Simoun, disguised with a beard. He
seems to have long abandoned his once vision of ending
the despotism of Spain with words and peace. He
becomes hungry for vengeance for all the misfortune our
country has suffered under the tyranny of the Spaniards .
And near the end of the novel, when he discovers that his lover,
Maria Clara, died in the convent, he becomes all the more
furious. Simoun is a confidant of the Captain-General. He
encourages the government to make bad decisions and to abuse
their power so that it would spark a revolution among the masses.
Basilio, now all grown up, is at first reluctant to join in on Simoun’s
idea but ends up being part of the plan. Simoun started planning
uprisings and stashed guns in the shop of an ally. At the wedding
reception of newlyweds (the bride being the ex-girlfriend of one
of the friends of Basillo—Isagani), Simoun tells Basilio that his plan
was to conceal an explosive which contains nitroglycerin inside a
pomegranate-styled Kerosene lamp that Simoun will give to the
newlyweds as a gift during the wedding reception.
One of the priests who knew Ibarra before the ending of Noli Me Tangere
confirmed to the people that it was the writing of Ibarra. The lamp started to
dim… Outside the house, Basilio was about to walk away because he knew the
lamp was going to explode anytime soon when he saw Isagani, the still heart-
broken ex-boyfriend of the bride whose reception was still going on in the
house of Capitan Tiago. Isagani said that he just wanted to congratulate the
newly-weds. Basilio who then feared for the safety of his friend told him
about the plan of Simoun. Isagani ran to the house. A priest was about to fix
the lamp but once Isagani got in, he found the lamp and threw it out the
window into the river outside the residence. Since the guards were chasing
Isagani, he himself jumped out of the window into the river as well. There was
an uprising planned by Simoun during the time of the reception.
The band got caught and confessed that Simoun lead them. Ibarra
was now wanted both as himself and as Simoun. Days passed and
a good priest found Simoun walking along the shore, wounded and
weak. The noble priest tended to Simoun while the latter explained
that he is Ibarra and that he was greatly saddened and angry due to
the failure of the revolution and that he was questioning God as to
why he was the one who is suffering and not the ones who have
forsaken the people of the Philippines. The priest explains that all
punishments will come in due time. Ibarra died as he weakly held
the hand of the priest. The latter blessed the former and threw
away all the remaining jewels of Ibarra in the hopes that they may
always be used for good.