SUMMARY OF NOLI ME TANGERE

Crisostomo Ibarra, a young and rich Filipino who had just retured after seven years of the study in Europe. Ibarra was the only son of Don Rafael Ibarra, friend of Capitan Tiago, and a fiancé of beautiful Maria Clara, supposed daughter of Capitan Tiago.

            Among the guest during the reception were Padre Damaso, a fat Franciscan friar who had been parish priest for 20 years of San Diego ( Calamba),  Ibarra’s native town; Padre Sybila, a young Dominican parish priest of Binonda; Señor Guevara, an elderly and kind lieutenant of the Guardia Civil; Don Tiburcio de Espadaña, a bogus Spanish physician, lame, and henpecked husband of Doña Victorina; and several ladies.

            Ibarra, upon his arrival, produced a favorable impression among the guests, except Padre Damaso was in bad mood because he got a bony neck and a hard wing of the chicken tinola. He tried to discredit Ibarra’s remarks.

            After dinner, Ibarra left Capitan Tiago’s house to return to his hotel. On the way, the kind Lieutenant Guevara told him the sad story of his father’s death in San Diego. Don Rafael, his father, was a rich and brave man. He defended a helpless boy from the brutality of an illiterate Spanish tax collector, pushing the letter end accidentally killing him. Don Rafael was thrown in prison, where he died unhappily. He was buried in consecrated ground, but his enemies, accusing him of being a heretic, had his body removed from the cemetery.

            On hearing about his Father’s sad story, Ibarra thanked the kind Spanish lieutenant and vowed to find out the truth about his father’s death.

            The following morning, he visited Maria Clara, his childhood sweetheart. Maria Clara teasingly said that he had forgotten her because the girls in Germany were beautiful. Ibarra replied that he had never forgotten her.

            After the romantic reunion with Maria Clara, Ibarra went to San Diego to visit his father’s grave. It was Saint’s Day. At the cemetery, the grave- digger told Ibarra that the corpse of Don Rafael was removed by order of the parish priest to be, buried in the Chinese cemetery; but the corpse was heavy and it was a dark rainy night so that he (the grave- digger) simply threw the corpse into the lake.

            Ibarra was angered by the grave- digger’s story. He left the cemetery. ON the way, he met Padre Salvi, Franciscan parish priest of San Diego. In a flash, Ibarra pounced on the priest, demanding redress for desecrating his father’s mortal remains.

When Ibarra went to his hometown, he met several interesting people such as the wise old man, Tasio the philosopher, whose ideas were too advanced for his times so that the people who could not understand him, called him "Tasio the Lunatic.

The most tragic story in the novel is the tale of Sisa, who was a formerly rich girl but became poor because she married a gambler, and  a wastrel at that. She became crazy because she lost her two boys, Basilio and Crispin, the joys of her wretched life.

Ibarra and his friends gave a picnic at the lake.  Among those present in this picnic, were Maria Clara and her four girl friends--- "the merry Sinang, the grave Victoria, the beautiful Iday and the thoughtful Neneng; Aunt Isabel, chaperon of Maria Clara; CapitanaTika, mother of Sinang; Andeng, foster sister of Maria Clara, Albino, the ex – theological student who was in love with Sinang.  One of the boatmen was a strong and silent peasant youth named Elias.

After Maria Clara song and the boat incident they went ashore.  The meal over, Ibarra and Capitan Basilio played chess, while Maria Clara and her friends played the " Wheel of Chance", a gamesshortly thereafter, a sergeant and four soldiers of the Guardia Civil suddenly arrived, looking fo Elias, who was haunted for 1.) assaulting Padre Damaso and 2.) Throwing the alferezintoamudhole. During the picnic also, Ibarra received a telegram from the Spanish authorities notifying him of the approval of his donation of a schoolhouse for the children of San Diego.

Meanwhile San Diego was merely preparing for its annual fiesta, in honor of its patron saint San Diego de Alcala, whose feast day is the 11^th of November. The music was furnished by five brassbands.  At the sumptuous dinner that night under a decorated kiosk, a sad incident occurred.  The arrogant Padre Damaso, speaking in the presence of many guests, insulted the memory of Ibarra's father.

Ibarra jumped from his seat, knocked down the fat friar with his fist, and then seized a sharp knife.  Ibarra's attack on Padre Damaso produced two results: (1) his engagement to Maria Clara was broken and (2) he was excommunicated.The fiesta over, Maria Clara became ill.  She was treated by the quack Spanish physician.

A touch of comedy in the novel was the fight between two ludicrous senoras- Dona Consolacion, the vulgar mistress of the Spanish alferez, and Dona Victoria, the flamboyantly dressed wife of a henpecked Spanish quack doctor.  The story of Elias, like that of Sisa, was a tale of pathos and tragedy.  He related it to Ibarra.

Years later the first boy became a dreaded tulisan named Balat.  He terrorized the authorities.Balat's younger brother, who was by nature kindhearted, fled and became a trusted laborer in the house of a rich man in Tayabas. Elias and his sister left Tayabas to hide their shame in another place.one day the sister disappeared. Elias roamed from place to place. He heard later that her sister was found dead. Elias lived a vagabond life wandering from province to province until he met Ibarra.Maria Clara, an unhappy nun in Santa Clara nunnery-forever lost to the world.

Ibarra's enemies left no stone unturned to bring about his ruin. They engineered an attack on the barrack of the Guardia Civil.  Elias learning of Ibarra's arrest burned all the papers that might incriminate his friend and set Ibarra's house on fire.  After bidding Maria Clara farewell, Ibarra returned to the banca. He and Elias paddled up the Pasig River toward Laguna de Bay.

The soldiers fired at the swimming Elias, who was hit and sank. Elias seriously wounded, reached the shore and staggered into the forest. He met a boy, Basilio, who was weeping over his mother's dead body.

 Maria Clara, out of her loyalty to the memory of Ibarra, the man she truly loved, entered the Santa Clara nunnery. Maria Clara, an unhappy nun in Santa Clara nunnery-forever lost to the world.

                                           Group  Analysis on Noli Me Tangere

1st Analysis

Noli Me Tangere by Jose P. Rizal Crisostomo Ibarra a young and rich Filipino who had just returned after seven years of study in Europe. Ibarra was the only son of Don Rafael Ibarra, friend of Capitan Tiago and the fiancé of beautiful Maria Clara the daughter of Capitan Tiago.

He defended a hopeless boy from the brutality of an illiterate Spanish tax collector, pushing the latter and accidentally killing him. Don Rafael was thrown in prison where he died unhappily. He was buried in consecrated grounds, but his enemies, accusing him of being a hectic, had his body removed from the cemetery. On hearing upon his father's sad story, Ibarra thanked the kind Spanish lieutenant and vowed to find out the truth about his father's death.

Maria Clara his childhood sweetheart teasingly said that he had forgotten her because the girls in Germany were beautiful but Ibarra replied that he had not forgotten her.

In his town, Ibarra met several interesting people, such as the wise old man, Tasio the philosopher, whos ideas were very advanced and he was called "Tasio the Lunatic", the spineless Gobernadorcello, who catered to the wishes of the Spanish friars, Don FilipoLino the teniente-mayor, the captain of the cuadrillos (town police); and the former gobernadorcellos who were prominent citizens- Don Basilio and Don Valentin.

Ibarra and his friends gave a picnic at the lake. Among those present in this picnic were Maria Clara and her four girl friends and Ibarra's friends. One of the boatmen was a strong and silent peasant youth named Elias. An incident of the picnic was the saving of Ibarra by Elias. Maria Clara who had a sweet voice, she played the harp and sang the song. Then the luncheon was served and everybody enjoyed eating.

Ibarra's attack on Padre Damaso produced two result. (1) his engagement to Maria Clara was broken (2) He was excommunicated. Ibarra's enemies left no stone unturned to bring about his ruin. After bidding Maria Clara farewell, Ibarra returned to the banca.

Maria Clara, out of her loyalty to the memory of Ibarra, the man she truly loved, entered the Santa Clara nunnery. Padre Salvi left the parish of San Diego and became a chaplain of the nunnery. Padre Damaso was transferred to a remote province, but the next morning he was found dead in his bedroom. Capitan Tiago, the former genial host and generous patron of the church, became an opium addict and a human wreck. Dona Victorina, still henpecking poor Don Tiburcio, had taken to wearing eye-glasses because of weakening eyesight. Linares, who failed to win Maria Clara’s affection, died of dysentery and was buried in Paco cemetery.

                                                                                                     Evelyn Perez Pulgo BEEd-2

2nd Analysis

Rizal wrote the novel to open the eyes of our countrymen, to let them truly see all the oppression our country was going through and that it was time to fight back. And he did such act fantastically. The novel was not heavy or dreading nor was it sugar coated. It was raw and real. It showcased abuse of power, sorrow and greed. It showcased the truth. It was showed us how the Spaniards twisted and turned the truth into something that would benefit them. It showed their selfishness and abuse to the Philippine people. They showed how low to them the Filipino is.

But despite the dark themes, it described love, not entirely romantic love, but more importantly love of country and family. Despite all the hardship and pain Ibarra went through, he kept on knocking down doors; he kept on trying to help. And in the sense of family love, we can all point to the commonly parodied Sisa. She did everything in her power to find her children, and despite the fact that she neither did nor live to see the day where she finds her boys, she loved them until the last inch of her breath. Senor Ibarra also had a deep love for his father. This is supported by the fact that he let Padre Damaso’s insults pass but when the priest tried to pick on his father; it took less than a beat for Ibarra to rise to his father’s defense. The story also presented forgiveness. Ibarra was very forgiving man. He forgave the men who tried to kill him at the placing of the cornerstone of the school he wanted to build. And since the man who attempted to murder him died in the placing of the cornerstone, Ibarra even offered to pay for the burial of the man. Sacrifice also was an important theme in the novel. If Elias did not sacrifice himself, then Ibarra would not have lived and the uprisings in the sequel of Noli Me Tangere would most likely not take place. Rizal change the life of his countrymen using his words to reveal the true situation of the Filipinos in the hands of the Spaniards, and freedom is the result of his sacrifices before, for we are not free as now without Rizal aiming for truth, justice and freedom in his novel dedicated to his Motherland.

War does not necessarily have to end through means of violence, it could always be ended peacefully, through words and forgiveness. Here on earth there will always be evil people, but there will always be a lot more good people as well. And that when you think the entire world is left to, is violence and hatred, you’re very much wrong because Words are far stronger than any guns man has made and Good will always be prevail…

                                                       Shanie Rosemarie Batingal BSBA-1

3rd Analysis

The Noli Me Tangere by Jose P. Rizal, highly admired most by individual especially by youths, a national hero of the Philippines, is the novel with the greatest impact on Filipino political thinking ran in the 19th and 20th centuries, as well as the widest influence on contemporary fiction, drama,opera, dance and film. Reflects the struggles of the tagalogs being the first to project such a bold account of living in the 1800's in the Philippines which portrays also different aspects of gaining independence against abusive power of the countr's adversary.  Its popularity was rooted in its reflection of the times in which it was written, and has continued because of the characters Rizal created, set in situations that still ring true today, a novel that aims to promote awareness and to attain equality among his countrymen using diplomatic means this novel will forever be a symbol of the Philippine National hero's love for his country.

                                                                                                              Kristian B. Rañoa BSA-1