Noli Me Tangere an Eye Openerby Mona Lisa H. Quizon

  During Rizal’s stay in various cities in Europe, he noticed that Filipinos were practically unknown. According to Leon Ma. Guererro, Filipinos were mistaken for Chinese in Spain and Japanese in Paris. Thus during the Paris Exposition in 1889 Rizal picked seven Filipinos including Juan Luna to be part of a society called Indios Bravos in order to uphold the dignity of the Filipinos and to have a sense of national identity. 

Realizing the need for the Filipinos to be known in Europe, Rizal presented a proposal on writing a novel about the Philippines to the members of the Circulo-Hispano Filipino on January 2, 1884. The members generally approved his idea. But unfortunately, the project did not materialize because those who are expected to work with him did not write anything on the subject instead most of his fellow expatriates    are interested to write about women. Sadly the project died out; on the other hand Rizal became more determined to write his own novel about the Philippines.

 Rizal was inspired to numerous ideas on writing his first novel from the novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe, which portrayed the brutalities committed by the American (Whites) against the Negro slaves up to the Wandering Jew by Eugene Sue. He was even motivated by Luna’s Spoliarium. For Rizal, Luna’s canvass conveyed the predicament of the defeated and the wretched agony of the human race. The Spoliarium was a reflection of the spirit of the social, moral and political life of Rizal’s time because it showed the Filipinos under the hardship and injustices in the hand of the tyrants. Indeed these inspirations provided Rizal the springboard to write a novel that will serve as an antidote to the stern illness of the society.

 Noli Me Tangere according to Schumacher can be considered as a charter of Filipino nationalism. It calls on the Filipino to return to the heritage of their ancestors; affirm equal rights to the Spaniards, regain his self-confidence and value his self-worth. It pushes the importance of education, dedication to the country and assimilating the aspects of Western culture that could enhance native traditions.

 The novel exposes the social maladies in the country during Rizal’s time and changes needed in the various sector in our society. Some of the reforms that Rizal cited in the novel were justice for the unfortunate, more respect for human dignity and greater security for the individual, less power in the constabulary and less privileges for the groups prone to abuses and corruptions. Though the novel is a work of fiction, it can be considered a true story of the Philippines during the last decades of the Spanish regime. The characters used by Rizal were inspired by persons who actually existed during that time.  

 Elias and Crisostomo Ibarra became the mouthpiece of Rizal. Elias cited the solutions for the needed reforms in the society. For Elias, revolution was the key for the change they wanted while Ibarra on the other hand believed that it is not yet time nor the Filipinos are ready enough to launch a revolution. Rizal’s connection to the revolution is indeed controversial; to some he may be regarded as hero because he serves as an inspiration while to others he is an anti-hero for the reason that he himself is against to this kind of uprising. 

 Again Guererro mentioned that Noli Me Tangere presented the problem, the need for change in the country during that period. On the contrary it did not offer any solution to address the issues presented. Nonetheless, the novel was a major turning points in the life our national hero. It became an eye opener to the society being corrupted by the oppressors while the common tao became blind of their rights and privileges. The lessons and values presented in the novel are inspirations for all of us. Rizal stresses the following: the devotion and humility of the Filipino woman, the hospitality of Filipino family, the respect and affection of parents to their children and the deep sense of gratitude to common people. And though he may not able to see the realization of all his dreams and visions for our motherland his efforts were not in vain.   

 As we commemorate another year on the heroism of Jose Rizal, may we instill in our minds and hearts the many things he had done for the Filipinos and for our nation.   In the end, Rizal said in his speech at the banquet of the Filipino students held at the Café de Madrid on December 31, 1883 “in my heart I have suppressed all loves, except that of my native land; in my mind I have progress; and my lips have forgotten the names of the native races in the Philippines in order not to say more than Filipinos”.