FINALS (RIZAL)

• Renato Constantino: 'A hero is he who best understands the society in which he lives, who knows the problems and aspirations of his people, who by his teachings and his labors, concretizes these problems and aspirations so crystallized into a clear pattern of action with definite goals. Rizal is still very much our hero because he crystallized for his generation as well as for ours most of the great problems of Philippine society.'
• Rizal was greatly influenced by Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin
• Rizal wanted to publish a book that would play a crucial role in the political history of the country
• Rizal planned on revealing the kind of society that the Philippines had under the Spanish colonial rule
• Creation of Noli Me Tangere

  1. Meeting of Filipinos at the Paterno residence in January 1884

  2. Rizal suggested creation of the book

  3. Companions unanimously approved contributing papers

  4. Plan did not materialise

  5. Rizal decided to write the novel alone in Madrid, Paris, and Berlin
• Rizal had apprehensions that Noli Me Tangere might not be published


  He had insufficient money to have it printed
• Noli Me Tangere


  Touch me not (in Latin)
• Noli Me Tangere is the first in a trilogy about the history of the Philippines, followed by El Filibusterismo and ends with Makamisa, though it was never finished
• "Noli me tangere" is a known Latin phrase that has a biblical connection meaning "touch me not"
• The phrase was spoken by Jesus to Mary Magdalene after he was resurrected, recorded in John 20:17
• Crisostomo Ibarra


  The main character of Noli Me Tangere, a young and wealthy Filipino who returned to the Philippines after studying in Europe
• Crisostomo Ibarra


  • Sophisticated, highly esteemed, and very idealistic
  • Shocked upon learning of his beloved father's demise
  • Seeks to fulfill his father's wishes of putting up a school in San Diego
• Maria Clara


  • A woman of high social standing, the adoptive daughter of Capitan Tiago and goddaughter to Fr. Damaso
  • The truth is she is the biological daughter of Fr. Damaso and Capitan Tiago's wife
  • Planned to marry Ibarra but Fr. Damaso disapproved
  • Coerced into surrendering Ibarra's letters as evidence of his guilt
• Father Damaso


  • An old, power-hungry, and shamelessly corrupt Spanish priest
  • Petty and vindictive, uses his influence to ruin the lives of those who have slighted him
• Rizal's friend Dr. Maximo Viola lent him P300 to publish the Noli
• Viola was dubbed the "Savior of the Noli"
• Rizal gave Viola the gallery of proofs of the novel rolled around the pen used in writing the Noli, and the very first copy of the novel with Rizal's dedication
• Maria Clara


  Biological daughter of Fr. Damaso, the product of a scandalous relationship between the old priest and Capitan Tiago's wife, Pia Alba
• Maria Clara and Ibarra


  Grew up alongside each other and planned to marry but Fr. Damaso disapproved of the union
• Maria Clara's guardians


  Set her up to be wed to Linares, a wealthy young man of Spanish descent
• Maria Clara


  Coerced into surrendering the letters Ibarra has sent her as evidence of his guilt when he is put on trial for sedition
• Father Damaso


  An old, power-hungry, and shamelessly corrupt Spanish priest who has lived among the native Filipinos for nearly two decades
• Father Damaso


  Masterminded the death of Don Rafael Ibarra then brazenly taunted the younger Ibarra, alluding to having a hand in his father's death
• Crisostomo Ibarra and Father Damaso


  Ibarra attacks the old friar prompting his excommunication and the dissolution of their would-be wedding
• Elías


  A mysterious character, a man on the run from the law---a wandering insurgent---resentful of both the Spanish colonial government and the Catholic Church
• Elías and Crisostomo Ibarra

  Elias pledges his life to the young man, promising to protect him from his manifold enemies
• Don Rafael Ibarra was a great supporter of liberal education for all and a vocal critic of the corrupt practices of the Spanish friars
• Don Rafael Ibarra


  Earns the ire of the vitriolic Fray Damaso who accuses him of sedition and heresy
• Don Rafael Ibarra dies in prison having contracted pneumonia
• Father Damaso

  Hires a gravedigger to disinter Don Rafael Ibarra's body to have him buried at the Chinese cemetery because of his status as a heretic
• The gravedigger instead throws the body into the river, deciding that it would make a more honorable final resting place than the Chinese cemetery
• Crispín

  A young lad studying to be a church caretaker, he together with his brother Basilio, ceaselessly work to send support money for their beleaguered mother, Sisa
• Crispín


  Blamed for stealing money from the church coffers by the head sexton and is kept a virtual prisoner until the debt is paid
• Crispín is never seen again afterwards, and one can assume that he has died at the hands of the cruel head sexton
• Basilio

  Eldest of Sisa' brood, he, like his younger brother are sextons in training
• Basilio


  Makes a desperate run for their home the night Crispín is dragged away, attempts to locate his younger brother the day after but his search efforts come up fruitless
• Basilio

  Fearing for his life he makes a mad dash for the forest where he goes into hiding, living with kind family until Christmas Eve where he planned to return to his mother
• Basilio and Sisa


  When he finally locates Sisa, but learns that the poor woman has gone mad from grief and is thusly unable to identify her son. He follows her to the forest where she regains her wits temporarily recognizing her son, and then dies from the shock
• Father Salví

  A younger, more cunning Spanish priest who assumes control over Fr. Damaso's post as friar curate of San Diego
• Captain Tiago (Don Santiago de los Santos)


  A wealthy native-born Filipino socialite who keeps close ties with high-ranking members of the Catholic Church, despite actually having no love for them