The Greatness of Noli Me Tangere

JOSE Rizal poured most of his literary talent into the novel. He wrote two powerful novels that are now associated with his heroism and greatness: Noli Me Tangere (Touch Me Not) and El Filibusterismo (Subversion).

He began writing the Noli in late 1884, when he was still studying in Madrid, Spain, and finished it on February 21, 1887, in Berlin, Germany, while in poverty amidst a harsh winter. Only 25 years old then, he had already produced a 465-page manuscript. It went into publication in March 1887 in Berlin, when its printer churned out its first 2,000 hardbound copies.

Those copies were worth around P300 in all; hence, the printing cost for each copy was 15 cents or less. Rizal sold each copy for five pesetas (one peso) and gave a ten per cent commission to his friends who acted as distributors and sellers (Rizal’s Correspondence with Fellow Reformists, Centennial Edition, Manila: National Heroes Commission, 1963, pp. 126-127).

The Noli is a social novel portraying the Philippines in the years 1882-83, part of the remaining two decades of the waning Spanish rule. It was written in the Spanish language, had 63 chapters and an epilogue, and was dedicated by Rizal to his motherland.

Taken from John 20:17 of the Bible, its title is a Latin phrase which means “touch me not.” In the novel, the one saying it was the malignant social cancer that was pestering the nation. The cancer was saying it because before the Noli, no one wanted to examine or “touch” it. Rizal was the first person to touch it and offer its remedies.

Rizal said that he wrote the Noli to awaken Filipino patriotism and to ask the Spanish authorities in the Philippines and Spain to cure that cancer through drastic reforms in the government, clergy, church, military, and education (ibid., pp. 252, 83-84).

Themes. The two major themes of the Noli are the patriotism of its heroes and the battle between good and evil in which evil prevailed in the end. The evil (wicked priests and government officials) did all their best to defeat the good (heroes).

Though it won convincingly in the end, the evil did not eclipse the other themes of the novel, such as the romances and hopes of its good-natured characters, the defects of the less educated, and the wit, humor, and laughter of its hilarious figures.

Characters. There are two heroes in the novel: Juan Crisostomo Ibarra and Elias. Ibarra was a 23-year-old son of Spanish-Filipino parentage, highly educated, and belonged to a wealthy family. Elias was a poor young man who suffered tyrannies from the Spaniards. They both loved their native land and committed their lives for her betterment.

Ibarra preferred that the Philippines remain a Spanish colony and praised its authorities for attempting to improve its rule. Elias had already lost his faith in the government, yet he still wanted peaceful means to attain reforms. But if they were no longer possible, only then would he opt for an armed resistance to win the country’s independence. Their differing beliefs did not hinder them from becoming friends.

Other articles by Jon E. Royeca

• Why Is the Philippines A Poor Country? - January 19, 2010
• Defend the Filipino - January 19, 2010
• Wrong Perceptions of Americans - January 19, 2010
• Gossips are everywhere - January 19, 2010
• Copycats? - January 19, 2010
• Colonial Mentality - January 19, 2010
• The Real ‘Filipino Time’ - January 19, 2010
• On Our Sense of History - January 19, 2010
• Crab Mentality Is Universal - January 19, 2010
• It’s Not Lack of Discipline - January 19, 2010

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