After sometime from the publication
and release of Dr. Rizal’s first novel NOLI ME TANGERE, his was able to write a
sequel entitled EL FILIBUSTERISMO or translated as the Filibusterism. The word
Filibusterism comes from the word “Filibuster” which means a person undertaking
a rebellious and subversive actions against a foreign land. From the title
therefore one can infer the possible motives and intentions of the author in
writing such piece of literature. The same as his first book NOLI ME TANGERE,
the novel EL FILIBUSTIRISMO also depicts characters and personalities which has
a great relations to the current reality of socio-political setting in the
Philippines.
The ending of the first novel NOLI
ME TANGERE was when Crisostomo Ibarra escaped the constabulary guards thru the
help of Elias who instead sacrificed his own life for the safety of Ibarra. The
second novel of Dr. Rizal EL FILIBUSTIRISMO is all about the return of
Crisostomo Ibarra in his native town of San Diego, not to return as the
fugitive, but in disguise as a wealthy jeweler named Simoun whos aim is to
avenge the cruelty he experienced from the hands of the church and the state.
like in the first novel, Rizal intended his characters to be a true
representation of exiting people of his society. Simoun compared to Crisostomo
is more like of a mad man than a protagonist. He aims to yield a revolution by persuading
the authorities to further suppress and oppress the people. As a result, he is expecting that the oppressed Indios would
retaliate in violence. For Me Simoun still exist today. They are those who use
their wealth and influence to the government officials in order to gain for
their own personal advantages.
EL
FILIBUSTIRISMO also denotes the continuing class struggle between the church and
colonial government against the native Indios.
Here Rizal introduced a character named Cabesang Tales who was a victim
of oppression of the church by unreasonably grabbing his land. In return to his
oppression, he joined the revolution. Cabesang Tales has a daughter called
Juli. Juli was depicted to be a beautiful and charming young woman, a
contemporary character of Maria Clara in NOLI ME TANGERE. She was the love interest of Basilio, who
asked for the influence of Fr. Camorra in the release of Basilio from
incarceration because of an allegation that he was a member of the subversives.
However, because of the carnal lust that Fr. Camorra has on Juli, she chose to
throw herself out of the window rather than to be raped by the friar. Juli is
the embodiment of the modern young women, who are courageous and gives great
importance to their loyalty to a lover and purity as a woman of society. Father
Camorra on the other hand, is the exact likeness of Father Damaso in the first
novel of Rizal. He is arrogant and opportunistic. He used his position as a
clergyman to install influence to the government officials. Today we can
associate Fr. Camorra to the priest and pastors who proclaim themselves as
vicars of Christ, but exhibit the opposite of his teachings.
Basilio
is still in the novel and he is a grown boy now. He is already studying for
college. At first, Basilio is still hesitant to join the revolution being proposed
by Simoun for the reason that his career is more important to him. I can see
many modern Basilio is in the society today. They are those who always think
first of themselves before the advantage of their country. They tend to oppose
new ideas of reform and only agree to it if they were already became a victim
of the system. Like Basilio who joined Simoun only after the death of her lover
Juli. Also some modern Isagani and
Macaraig are still active in the society today. They are those student leaders
who always ready to risk their lives just for the reform and advancement of
modern educational system. Like Doña Victorina in NOLI ME TANGERE, there is
also Paulita Gomez who always think of nothing else other than her own comfort
in life and her status as an elite in the society. She is willing to dump her
lover like Isagani and to marry Pelaez just to enrich herself and lift her
social status, she is known in the modern society as a gold digger. Rizal even
noticed and criticized the ongoing “padrino system” as a form of corruption of
public officials brought about by the Chinese. In his novel, it is depicted as
Quiroga, a Chinese businessman who by means of bribes has been able to smuggled
goods without paying for the specified amount of tax.
Lastly,
there is always a Ben Zayb a journalist who used his trade to black mail and
extort government officials for not divulging their corrupt secrets in the
media. He also, receives bribe from other officials for good publication of
their names and status as officers of the government.
As a conclusion to this reaction
paper, I must say that this novel EL FILIBUSTIRISMO is a way darker than its
predecessor NOLI ME TANGERE. The second novel of Rizal is full of hatred and
vengeance to the state. This is clearly showed by Rizal in his attempt to blow
the house were a party is being held for the marriage of Paulina Gomez and
Pelaez. That instance of the novel only give the reader the idea of Rizal’s
concept of a violent revolution. That if we always turn to arm struggle to overthrow
and end the oppression of the government we are always bound to fall like the
destiny of Simoun who took a poison to end his life knowing that he was
unsuccessful with his plans. In addition like in NOLI ME TANGERE, we can
clearly see how Rizal emphasized the importance and effect of education to the
masses, how it would eventually free from chains of oppression the slave of
ignorance.
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