Themes of The Filipino Novel "Noli Me Tangere" Freedom From Spain

Themes of the Filipino Novel "Noli Me Tangere"
Freedom from Spain

 Elías instructs Basilio to build a funeral pyre and burn his and Sisa’s bodies to ashes since he feels that he is going to
die soon. He tells Basilio that, if nobody reaches the place, he come back later on and dig for he will find gold. He
also tells Basilio to take the gold he finds and go to school. Elias instructed Basilio to continue dreaming about
freedom for his motherland with the words: “I shall die without seeing the dawn break upon my homeland. You, who
shall see it, salute it! Do not forget those who have fallen during the night.”
Social Climbers
 Capitan Tiago, in this instance, portrays this character as he gives friars lumps of money as ecclesiastical donations
and even invites the parish curate at his home every dinner. Aside from that, he also supports the government’s tax
increases, leading to his title of gobernadorcillo, the highest post a non-Spaniard can attain.
 Doña Victorina’s character in the novel shows an obsession in becoming Spanish. She does this by covering her face
with too much makeup, dressing just like Spanish women, speaking Spanish (though incorrectly), and basically
promotes the “colonial mentality” as she prefers being just like a Spaniard when in fact she is a Filipino.
 The novel narrates Doña Victorina’s younger days: she had lots of admirers, but she didn’t choose any of them
because nobody was a Spaniard. Later on, she met and married Don Tiburcio de Espadaña, an official of the customs
bureau who is about ten years her junior. However, their marriage is childless.
 Don Tiburcio de Espadaña assumes the title of medical doctor even though he never attended medical school; using
fake documents and certificates, Tiburcio practices illegal medicine. Tiburcio’s usage of the title Dr. consequently
makes Victorina assume the title Dra. (doctora, female doctor). Apparently, she uses the whole name Doña Victorina
de los Reyes de de Espadaña, with double de to emphasize her marriage surname. She seems to feel that this awkward
titling makes her more “sophisticated.”
Abusive Power; Anger

 Before Ibarra left for San Diego, Lieutenant Guevara, a Civil Guard, reveals to him the incidents preceding the death
of his father, Don Rafael Ibarra, a rich hacendero of the town. was unjustly accused of being a heretic and subservient
alleged by Dámaso of non-participation in the Sacraments, such as Confession and Mass. Another reason is when Don
Rafael helped out on a fight between a tax collector and a child fighting, and the the tax collector’s death was blamed
on him, He was imprisoned, and when he was almost settled, he died of sickness in jail. Dámaso arranged for Don
Rafael’s corpse to be dug up from the Catholic church and brought to a Chinese cemetery, because he thought it
inappropriate to allow a heretic a Catholic burial ground. It was raining and because of the bothersome weight of the
body, the undertakers decide to throw the corpse into a nearby lake.
 Ibarra hosted a luncheon during which Dámaso gate-crashed and again, insulted him. Ibarra ignored the priest’s but
when the latter slandered the memory of his dead father, he was no longer able to restrain himself and lunged at
Dámaso, prepared to stab him for his impudence. As a consequence, Dámaso excommunicated Ibarra, taking this
opportunity to persuade the already-hesitant Tiago to forbid his daughter from marrying Ibarra.
 Some incident of which Ibarra had known nothing about was blamed on him, and he is wrongly arrested and
imprisoned, but it was overruled because nobody could testify that he was indeed involved. Unfortunately, his letter to
María Clara somehow got into the hands of the jury and is manipulated such that it then became evidence against him
by the parish priest, Fray Salví. Salví framed Ibarra and ruined his life just so he could stop him from marrying María
Clara and making the latter his concubine.
 Upon discovering the upcoming wedding of María Clara and Linares. Ibarra, with the help of Elías, escaped from
prison and spoke to María Clara and accused her of betraying him, thinking that she gave the letter he wrote her to the
jury. María Clara explained that she would never conspire against him, but that she was forced to surrender Ibarra’s
letter to Father Salvi, 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 Dámaso alluding to their unborn child; and that María Clara was therefore
not Captain Tiago’s biological daughter, but Dámaso’s.
 Sisa lost her mind when she learned that her two sons, Crispín and Basilio, were chased out of the convent by the
sacristan mayor on suspicions of stealing sacred objects. The truth is that, it was the sacristan mayor who stole the
objects and only pinned the blame on the two boys. The said sacristan mayor actually killed Crispín while
interrogating him on the supposed location of the sacred objects. It was implied that the body was never found and the
incident was covered-up by Salví.
Family Devotion
 With the death of Don Rafael, Ibarra’s father, Crisostomo traces all means to seek for justice.
 Maria Clara, an obedient daughter to Capitan Tiago, consenting to her father’s request that she marry a Spaniard as
requested by Padre Damaso, but she chose to be a nun when she assumed that Ibarra was dead.
 Sisa shows her devotion to her family by doing everything to serve her family. Considering her children (Basilio and
Crispin) as her treasures, she endures the trials she goes through just to keep them secure.
 One day, Elias’ sister disappeared which led him to search for her. His search led him into different places, and
finally, he became a fugitive and subversive.
Self-Sacrifice
 Sisa’s never-ending sacrifices for her children, she withstands her husband’s beatings and even takes on the journey of
finding her sons, thereby showing her real love as a mother.
 Elías help Ibarra to conceal his presence when they were at the boat, but they were spotted by their enemies. Elías,
jumped into the water and the guards rained shots on him, but were aiming at the wrong man.
 Elías had taken the shots for Ibarra to escape and he was fatally wounded when he wake up on Christmas eve in the
forest where he instructed Ibarra to meet him.
 Sisa was dead when Elias saw Basilio holding her mother in the forest
Love; Purity; Faithfulness

 Maria Clara portrays purity and faithfulness as she remains true to her love for Crisostomo Ibarra. When Ibarra visits
María Clara for the first time since he left the Philippines to study at Europe for seven years, their long-standing love
was clearly manifested and María Clara cannot help but reread the letters her sweetheart had written her before he
went to Europe.
 Even though she is engaged to a Spaniard, she still does not submit herself to him because of her undying love for
Ibarra. She prefers to become a nun rather than following the suggestion of Damaso’s wish to marry Alfonso Linares,
a Peninsular who had just arrived from Spain.
 María Clara, thinking that Ibarra had been killed in the shooting incident, experienced grief. She lost hope and
severely disillusioned, she asked Dámaso to confine her into a nunnery. Dámaso reluctantly agreed when she
threatened to take her own life, demanding, “the nunnery or death!”. She did not Ibarra was still alive and able to
escape.
 María Clara entered local covenant for nuns: Beaterio de Santa Clara and became a nun where Salví, who has lusted
over her from the beginning of the novel, regularly used her to fulfill his lust. One stormy evening, a beautiful crazy
woman was seen at the top of the convent crying and cursing the heavens for the fate it has handed her. While the
woman was never identified, it is suggested that the said woman was María Clara.
Patriotism
 Portrayed by Crisostomo Ibarra and Elias, these two men earnestly desire for independence from the oppressors.
 Revenge was not in Ibarra’s plans upon discovering all the allegations Damaso did to his father. Instead, he carried
through his father’s plan of putting up a school, since he believed 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).
 Even though Ibarra and Elias has different means for seeking reform, they both profess their goals.
 Elias wants to revolutionize the country and to be freed from Spanish oppression. Since Elias resolves for a revolt
against the Spaniards, he finds all means to lead a revolution against the friars, civil guards and government officials.
Believing that God will bring forth justice over Filipinos depicts patriotism by all means.
Hospitality
 To honor Ibarra’s homecoming from Europe for seven years of studying, Don Santiago de los Santos, a
family friend commonly known as Captain Tiago, threw a get-together party, which was attended by friars
and other prominent figures.
Respect
 In Ibarra’s homecoming party, former San Diego curate Fray Dámaso Vardolagas belittled and slandered
Ibarra. Ibarra brushed off the insults and took no offense; he instead politely excused himself and left the
party.
Gambling Addiction Person

 Pedro (Husband of Sisa) Description: He has been addicted to cockfighting gambling to the extent where he
has neglected his responsibilities to his family.

Themes of The Filipino Novel "Noli Me Tangere" Freedom From Spain

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Themes of The Filipino Novel "Noli Me Tangere" Freedom From Spain

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Themes of The Filipino Novel "Noli Me Tangere" Freedom From Spain

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Themes of the Filipino Novel "Noli Me Tangere"

Freedom from Spain

Abusive Power; Anger

Love; Purity; Faithfulness

Gambling Addiction Person

You might also like