That is how this book stared at me for the first time I saw it in the bookstore.
Last time, I wrote an Independence Day article about the facts about Philippine Independence. This time, I will write an article about Noli me Tangere and the Philippine Society.
When Rizal wrote Noli me Tangere back then, it was meant to attack the Philippine society as a whole. But the effects were rather… different. And lo, it ushered the hearts and minds of the Filipinos to wage war against the Spaniards. Well, part of the message of the novel was meant to depict the lives of Filipinos being oppressed by the Spaniards but this part was just an icing of the cake.
Years later, Noli and its sequel, El Filibusterismo, were now part of our educational curriculum forcing students to memorize lines coming from the novel and reading abridged versions of the novel, or worse, summaries of every chapter. Because of this, Rizal’s sarcastic style in writing Noli was severely lost due to abridging. Because of this, I decided to save money (Well, I failed the saving part) and buy the Penguin Classics Edition of Noli me Tangere which is unabridged.
After finishing the novel, I was amazed on Rizal’s writing style and his true intention of Noli me Tangere. Here are the things that I observed while reading the unabridged copy of Noli.
+ Dona Victorina
You can still observe this on the abridged version. Dona Victorina wants to be a European thus, he wears the same known European fashion and wants to have the same European skin tone. In short, gusto niyang pumuti. Fast forward to the present, there are many ways on how to have that fair and rosy skin tone and every Filipina wants to have that smooth silky white skin tone.
+ The Balimbing Factor
Balimbing is a political term about a certain politician who always switches sides once he/she notices the greater influence of a said politician (Example: Former members of LAKAS-KAMPI-CMD now on LP). In Noli, Ibarra was very much supported by everyone on his project in building a school for San Diego. But after someone framed him up on a crime that he is not involved, this is where his supporters started to switch sides and started ranting about him. Wow, parang pamilyar ang eksena na ito… which leads to this.
+ Pulling Someone Down Who is On Top
This is what happened to Ibarra. He was one of the most influential personalities in San Diego. This also happened to his father when someone accused him of killing a Civil Guard. After this incident, the number of his enemies grew and started pulling him down. Modern example, it starts with a V. Yes, I am serious. Manny Villar.
+ The Influence of the Church and State
The most dominant factor that I noticed in Noli, sure the friars are the ones who are dominating the state back then and everything they say is like the “Rule of God”. There is one scene of the novel which the heads of the town are having a meeting of the upcoming town fiesta. After finishing their plans, one person said what the friars wanted, since the friars want that, they have no choice but to abide on their wishes.
Same goes on what’s happening today. Everything must be consulted first to the Church. Sure, they are not Europeans but still, the influence of Filipino Bishops still lingers.
The question is, when we will be free from these factors? Time will only tell. Hope that the future generation will not see this scene again.