Noli Me Tángere (novel)

Noli Me Tangere

original cover
Author	José Rizal
Language	Spanish
Genre	novel
Publisher	Setzerinnenschule des Lette-Vereins
Publication date	1887
Publication place	Philippines (first printing in Berlin)
Media type	Print
Followed by	El filibusterismo

Noli Me Tangere (commonly referred to by its shortened name Noli) is a novel written in Spanish by Filipino writer and national hero José Rizal, first published in 1887 in Berlin, Germany. The English translation was originally titled The Social Cancer, although more recent translations have been published using the original Latin title.

Summary

Having completed his studies in Europe, young Juan Crisostomo Ibarra comes back to the Philippines after a 7-year absence. In his honor, Captain Tiago throws a get-together party, which is attended by friars and other prominent figures. In an unfortunate incident, former curate Father Dámaso belittles and slanders Ibarra. But Ibarra brushes off the insult and takes no offense; he instead politely excuses himself and leaves the party because of an allegedly important task.

The day after the humbling party, Ibarra goes to see María Clara, his love interest, a beautiful daughter of Captain Tiago and an affluent resident of Binondo, Manila. Their long-standing love is clearly manifested in this meeting, and María Clara cannot help but reread the letters her sweetheart had written her before he went to Europe. Before Ibarra left for San Diego, Lieutenant Guevara, a guardia civil, reveals to him the incidents preceding the death of his father, Don Rafael Ibarra, a rich hacendero of the town.

According to the Lieutenant, Don Rafael was unjustly accused of being a heretic, in addition to being a filibuster—an allegation brought forth by Father Dámaso because of Don Rafael's non-participation in the Sacraments, such as Confession and Mass. Father Dámaso's animosity against Ibarra's father is aggravated by another incident when Don Rafael helped out on a fight between a tax collector and a student fighting, and the former's death was blamed on him, although it was not deliberate. Suddenly, all of those who thought ill of him surfaced with additional complaints. He was imprisoned, and just when the matter was almost settled, he got sick and died in jail. Still not content with what he had done, Father Dámaso arranged for Don Rafael's corpse to be dug up and transferred from the Catholic cemetery to the Chinese cemetery, because he thought it inappropriate to allow a heretic such as Don Rafael a Catholic burial ground. Unfortunately, it was raining and because of the bothersome weight of the cadaver, the men in charge of the burial decided to throw the corpse into the lake.

Revenge was not in Ibarra's plans; instead he carries through his father's plan of putting up a school, since he believes that education would pave the way to his country's progress (all over the novel the author refers to both Spain and the Philippines as two different countries which form part of a same nation or family, being Spain the mother and the Philippines the daughter). During the inauguration of the school, Ibarra would have been killed in a sabotage had Elías—a mysterious man who had warned Ibarra earlier of a plot to assassinate him—not saved him. Instead the hired killer met an unfortunate incident and died. The sequence of events proved to be too traumatic for María Clara who got seriously ill but was luckily cured by the medicine Ibarra sent her

After the inauguration, Ibarra hosts a luncheon during which Father Dámaso, uninvited and gate-crashing the luncheon, again insults him. Ibarra ignores the priest's insolence, but when the latter slanders the memory of his dead father, he is no longer able to restrain himself and lunges at Father Dámaso, prepared to stab the latter for his impudence. As a consequence, Dámaso excommunicates Ibarra. Father Dámaso takes this opportunity to persuade the already-hesitant father of María Clara to forbid his daughter from marrying Ibarra. The friar wishes María Clara to marry a Peninsular named Linares who just arrived from Spain.

With the help of the Captain-General, Ibarra's excommunication is nullified and the Archbishop decides to accept him as a member of the Church once again. But, as fate would have it, some incident of which Ibarra had known nothing about is blamed on him, and he is wrongly arrested and imprisoned. But the accusation against him is overruled because during the litigation that followed, nobody could testify that he was indeed involved. Unfortunately, his letter to María Clara somehow gets into the hands of the jury and is manipulated such that it then becomes evidence against him.

Meanwhile, in Captain Tiago's residence, a party is being held to announce the upcoming wedding of María Clara and Linares. Ibarra, with the help of Elías, takes this opportunity and escapes from prison. But before leaving, Ibarra talks to María Clara and accuses her of betraying him, thinking that she gave the letter he wrote her to the jury. María Clara explains to Ibarra that she will never conspire against him but that she was forced to surrender Ibarra's letter to her in exchange for the letters written by her mother even before she, María Clara, was born. The letters were from her mother, Pía Alba, to Father Dámaso alluding to their unborn child; and that she, María Clara, is therefore not the daughter of Captain Tiago, but of Father Dámaso.

Afterwards, Ibarra and Elías board a boat and flee the place. Elías instructs Ibarra to lie down and the former covers the latter with grass to conceal the latter's presence. As luck would have it, they are spotted by their enemies. Elías thinks he could outsmart them and jumps into the water. The guards rain shots on the person in the water, all the while not knowing that they are aiming at the wrong man.

María Clara, thinking that Ibarra has been killed in the shooting incident, is greatly overcome with grief. Robbed of hope and severely disillusioned, she asks Father Dámaso to confine her into a nunnery. Father Dámaso reluctantly agrees when María Clara threatens to take her own life. demanding, "the nunnery or death!" Unbeknownst to her, Ibarra is still alive and able to escape. It was Elías who has taken the shots. It is Christmas Eve when Elias wakes up in the forest, gravely wounded and barely alive. It is in this forest that Elias finds Basilio and his lifeless mother, Sisa.

Publication history

Rizal finished the novel on December 1886. At first, according to one of Rizal's biographers, Rizal feared the novel might not be printed, and that it would remain unread. He had been struggling financial constraints that time and thought it would be hard to pursue printing the novel. A financial aid came from a friend named Maximo Viola. Rizal at first, however, hesitated but Viola insisted and ended up lending Rizal P300 for 2,000 copies; Noli was eventually printed in Berlin, Germany. The printing was finished earlier than the estimated five months. Viola arrived in Berlin in December 1886, and by March 21, 1887, Rizal had sent a copy of the novel to his friend Blumentritt.

On August 21, 2007, a 480-page then-latest English version of Noli Me Tangere was released to major Australian book stores. The Australian edition of the novel was published by Penguin Books Classics, to represent the publication's "commitment to publish the major literary classics of the world". American writer Harold Augenbraum, who first read the Noli in 1992, translated the novel. A writer well-acquainted with translating other Latin literary works, Augenbraum proposed to translating the novel after being asked for his next assignment in the publishing company. Intrigued by the novel and having been known more about it, Penguin nixed their plan of adapting existing English versions of the novel, and instead translate on their own.

Reaction and legacy

Noli Me Tangere was Rizal's first novel. He was 26 at its publication. This book was historically significant and was instrumental in the establishing of the Filipino's sense of national identity. The book indirectly influenced a revolution although the author, José Rizal, actually advocated for direct representation to the Spanish government and larger role of the Philippines inside the Spaniard political affairs. The novel was written in Spanish, the language of the educated at a time when Filipinos were markedly segregated by diverse native languages and regional cultures.

The novel created so much controversy that only a few days after his arrival, Governor-General Emilio Terrero summoned him to the Malacañang Palace and told him of the charges saying that the Noli was full of subversive ideas. After a discussion, the liberal Governor General was appeased; but he mentioned that he was unable to offer resistance against the pressure of the Church to take action against the book. The persecution can be discerned from Rizal's letter to Leitmeritz: "My book made a lot of noise; everywhere, I am asked about it. They wanted to anathematize me ['to excommunicate me'] because of it ... I am considered a German spy, an agent of Bismarck, they say I am a Protestant, a freemason, a sorcerer, a damned soul and evil. It is whispered that I want to draw plans, that I have a foreign passport and that I wander through the streets by night ..."

Rizal depiction of nationality by emphasizing the qualities of Filipinos: devotion of a Filipina and her influence to a man's life, the deep sense of gratitude, and the solid common sense of the Filipinos under the Spanish regime.

This novel and its sequel, El Filibusterismo (nicknamed Fili), were banned in some parts of the Philippines because of their portrayal of corruption and abuse by the country's Spanish government and clergy. A character which has become a classic in the Philippines is "Maria Clara" who has become a personification of the ideal Filipino woman, loving and unwavering in her loyalty to her spouse. Another classic character is the priest "Father Dámaso" which reflects the covert fathering of illegitimate children by members of the Spanish clergy. In the story, Father Dámaso impregnates a woman. Copies were smuggled in nevertheless, and when Rizal returned to the Philippines after completing medical studies, he quickly ran afoul of the local government. First exiled to Dapitan, he was later arrested for "inciting rebellion" based largely on his writings. Rizal was executed in Manila on December 30, 1896 at the age of thirty-five.

The book was instrumental in creating a unified Filipino national identity and consciousness, as many Filipinos previously identified with their respective regions to the advantage of the Spanish authorities. It lampooned, caricatured and exposed various elements in the colonial society.

Nowadays, Noli me Tangere and its sequel, El Filibusterismo, is studied by Third Year and Fourth Year secondary school students in the Philippines as part of the curriculum, usually as part of their Filipino subject. The novel is also often among the topics of the required course on the study of Rizal's life in tertiary education in the country. Textbooks designed for students were made by various publishers, and the text itself is oftentimes condensed or shortened to facilitate learning among students.

Characters

Rizal included around 30 characters in the novel. Below are the major characters of the story.

• Crisóstomo Ibarra – also known in his full name as Juan Crisóstomo Ibarra y Magsalin, a Filipino who studied in Europe for 7 years, the love interest of Maria Clara. Son of the deceased Don Rafael Ibarra; Crisostomo changed his surname from Eibarramendia to Ibarra, from his ancestor's surname.
• Elías – Ibarra's mysterious friend, a master boater, also a fugitive. He was referred to at one point as "the pilot." He wants to revolutionize his country. In the past, Ibarra's grandfather condemned his grandfather of burning a warehouse, making Elias the fugitive he is.
• María Clara – María Clara de los Santos, Ibarra's sweetheart; the illegitimate daughter of Father Dámaso and Doña Pía Alba
• Father Dámaso – also known in his full name as Dámaso Verdolagas, Franciscan friar and María Clara's biological father
• Don Filipo – A close relative of Ibarra, and a filibuster.
• Linares – A distant nephew of Don Tiburcio de Espadaña, the would-be fiance of Maria Clara.
• Captain-General (no specific name) – The most powerful official in the Philippines, a hater of secular priests and corrupt officials, and a friend of Ibarra.
• Tandang Pablo – The leader of the tulisanes (bandits), whose family was destroyed because of the Spaniards.
• Tarcilo and Bruno – a pair of brothers whose father was killed by the Spaniards.
• Sisa – the mother of her two sons Basilio and Crispín, who went insane after losing them.
• Basilio – Sisa's eldest son.
• Crispín – Sisa's younger son. An altar boy, he was unjustly accused of stealing money from the church. He is placed under the custody of the Civil Guard, where he eventually dies.
• Padre Sibyla – Hernando de la Sibyla, a Dominican friar. He is described as short and has fair skin.
• Capitan Tiago – also known in his full name as Don Santiago de los Santos the known father of María Clara (not the real one) who lives in Binondo
• Padre Salví – also known in his full name as Bernardo Salví, a secret admirer of María Clara
• Pilosopo Tasyo – also known as Don Anastacio, portrayed in the novel as pessimistic, cynic, and mad by his neighbors.
• The Alférez – chief of the Guardia Civil ; mortal enemy of the priests for power in San Diego
• Don Tiburcio – Spanish husband of Donya Victorina who is limp and submissive to his wife; he also pretends to be a doctor.
• Doña Victorina – Victorina de los Reyes de De Espadaña, a woman who passes herself off as a Peninsular
• Doña Consolación – wife of the alférez, another woman who passes herself as a Peninsular; best remembered for her abusive treatment of Sisa
• Pedro – abusive husband of Sisa who loves cockfighting.

Adaptations

The Noli has been adapted for literature, theater, television, and film.

• 1951: National Artist for Cinema Gerardo de León directed a motion picture titled Sisa, starring Anita Linda in the role of the titular character.
• 1961: Noli Me Tangere, a faithful film adaptation of the novel, was directed by Gerardo de León for Bayanihan-Arriva Productions, featuring Eddie del Mar in the role of Crisostomo Ibarra. Released for the birth centenary of José Rizal, the motion picture was awarded the Best Picture in the 10th FAMAS Awards.
• 1992: Noli Me Tangere, a 13-episode TV series by Eddie S. Romero. This adaptation features Joel Torre in the role of Crisostomo Ibarra, Monique Wilson as Maria Clara, and Tetchie Agbayani as Sisa.
• 1994: Noli Me Tangere, a musical adaptation of the novel.
• Several excerpts from Noli Me Tangere were dramatized in the 1998 film José Rizal, with Joel Torre as Crisostomo Ibarra, and Monique Wilson as Maria Clara.
• 1999: Sisa, a remake of the 1951 film of the same name. Written and directed by Mario O'Hara.
• 2005: Noli Me Tangere 2, a modern literary adaptation of the novel written by Roger Olivares.
• Noli at Fili: Dekada 2000, a stage adaptation of Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo by the Philippine Educational Theater Association, set in the present day. Written by Nicanor G. Tiongson and directed by Soxie Topacio.

External links

• Full Text English translation
• Complete text: HTML, OCR Template:Es
• Charles Derbyshire English translation
• Pascual Poblete Tagalog translation
• Rizal's Little Odyssey
• Noli Me Tangere 13-episode television series from the Cultural Center of the Philippines
• Tribute to Jose Rizal, Noli me tangere, cancer of the eyelids
• Caiñgat Cayo! The pamphlet written by Fr. Jose Rodriguez criticizing Dr. Rizal and advising the people that reading the book is tantamount to committing mortal sin.