Noli Me Tangere

Noli Me Tangere

By: Dr. Jose Rizal

Noli Me Tangere is a Spanish-language novel written by José Rizal that is credited with the awakening of nationalism among the Filipinos of Rizal's time. "Noli Me Tangere" is a Latin phrase that Rizal took from the Bible, meaning "Touch me not." It was published in 1887 in Berlin.

When Rizal read Uncle Tom's Cabin Harriet Beecher Stowe's novel on the abuse of black slaves in America, he thought that a novel should be written about the abuses that Philippine natives were suffering at the hands of the Spanish friars. He proposed to his Filipino friends in Madrid in 1884 that they collaborate in writing a novel on the Philippines. This group of friends included his hosts, the Paternos (Pedro, Máximo, and Antonio), and Graciano López Jaena. Although the others approved of the idea of writing on Philippine life, they all wanted to write about women rather than about national problems and in any case preferred to gamble and flirt than to write. Rizal then decided he would have to write the entire book himself.

Rizal began working on the Noli while still in Madrid, Spain. Of the remainder, most was written in Paris. He finished the book in Berlin, Germany. Vicente Blasco Ibáñez, a well-known writer and political activist, volunteered to be the proofreader and consultant.

When he was finishing the book in December 1886, Rizal was penniless and despaired of ever publishing it. The novel might never have seen print had it not been for the support of his wealthy friend, Máximo Viola, who came to visit him in Berlin. Rizal gratefully presented him with the galley proofs of Noli on 29 March 1887, the day that Noli was printed.

Key characters of this novel are the following:

• Juan Crisostomo Ibarra, the main character, is a young illustrado who has been studying in Europe for 7 years according to the wishes of his father. Influenced by his father, his studies and his observations of other countries, he has developed patriotic and progressive ideas which he wishes to put into action in his country. He is very much like Rizal himself. Quoted as saying that to achieve liberation, they need the "catuiran ng lakas" , or the use of force.
• María Clara de los Santos is Ibarra's faithful, pure and modest sweetheart. She is the portrait of an ideal woman, partly drawn perhaps from Rizal's love Leonor Rivera.
• Padre Dámaso was once a good friend of Ibarra's father. He was, until the start of the novel, the domineering and condescending curate of San Diego, where the property of the Ibarra family is located, and continues to be a powerful figure in San Diego. Biological father of María Clara, as he takes advantage of Doña Pia, mother of María Clara and wife of Capitán Tiago
• Padre Salví is the new parish priest of San Diego, who lusts after Maria Clara.
• Elías, a common laborer whose family has suffered much, dreams of revolution. He may be said to represent another side of Rizal.
• Pilosopong Tasio is an old man who received an excellent education in his youth but was persuaded into discontinuing his studies, which he was told would lead him away from his faith. The character is based on Rizal's older brother, Paciano.
• Sisa is the mother of two young boys who disappear. With her mother love, her grief and her frustration, she is thought to represent the suffering motherland.
• Crispín- brother of Basilio. Dies at the hands of the "sacristan mayor" and Padre Salví.
• Basilio- brother of Crispín and son of Sisa and Pedro. Last person to see Elías alive.
• Capitán Santiago de los Santos - also known as Capitan Tiago, he accepts María Clara as his own daughter.
• Doña Victorina is a native woman who desperately tries to look like a Spaniard. She was so determined to marry a Spaniard that she was willing to settle, late in life, for a toothless stuttering man. She convinces him to pretend to be a doctor to raise their status and society.
• Don Tiburcio is a former customs official who pretended to be a prestigious medical doctor in town as his bread and butter. He is the lame, stuttering husband of Doña Victorina.
• Doña Consolación is the muse of the cuartel. She is the violent wife of the Alferez and has treated Sisa cruelly.
• Alfonso Linares is the godson of Padre Damaso and a distant cousin of Don Tiburcio from Spain. He is hard pressed to be Maria Clara's fiance instead of Ibarra.
• Padre Sibyla is a Dominican friar who is the curate of Binondo. His character is a stark contrast to that of Padre Damaso.

Completed when he was 26, Noli Me Tangere was Rizal's first novel. He had already written essays and poetry with nationalistic themes previously. The book was a call to the assertion of national identity and the fight for equality with the conquerors. With its presentation and analysis of Spanish abuses, it emphasized the need for reforms.

Rizal had problems with the authorities due to their reception of the book. He was accused of being a subversive because of the content of the book. Governor-General Emilio Terrero confronted him with this charge, but when Rizal defended himself and gave him the book to read, he accepted Rizal's statement that the book was merely an honest presentation of the country's situation and not a call to revolution. However, the Archbishop of Manila and other friars remained prejudiced against the book, and it was eventually banned. All this only added to its popularity among the masses, who secretly obtained copies. With its vision of a national identity, the book served to unify the Philippine natives, who had long maintained allegiance only to those of their own region.

Despite Rizal's clearly expressed reluctance for revolution, his Noli Me Tangere and later its sequel, El Filibusterismo, inspired revolutionaries in their cause.During the visit following the publication of Noli, Rizal had gotten into further trouble with the friars when he aided his townsmen in demanding agrarian reform and had to leave home again. He wrote and published El Filibusterismo while abroad. When he returned to the Philippines after completing his medical studies, he was exiled in Dapitan by the Spanish authorities. The Philippine Revolution broke out soon after his exile ended. He feared the Spanish authorities would credit him as a revolutionary leader. Sure enough, he was soon arrested, tried for rebellion, sedition and forming an illegal association, found guilty and executed.