NOLI ME TANGERE

NOLI ME TANGERE
(TOUCH ME NOT)

BACKGROUND
Jose Rizal’s reading of Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin, which portrays the brutalities of American slave-owners and the pathetic conditions of the unfortunate Negro slaves, inspired Dr. Rizal to prepare a novel that would depict the miseries of his people under the lash of Spanish tyrants. He was then a student in the Central University of Madrid.
In a reunion of Filipinos in the Paterno residence in Madrid on January 2, 1884, Rizal proposed the writing of a novel about the Philippines by a group of Filipinos. His proposal was unanimously approved by those present, among whom were the Paternos (Padre, Maximo, and Antonio), Graciano Lopez Jaena, Evaristo Aguirre, Eduardo de Lete, Julio Llorente, Melecio Figueroa, and Valentin Ventura.
Unfortunately, Rizal’s project did not materialize. Those compatriots who were expected to collaborate on the novel did not write anything. The novel was designed to cover all phases of Philippine life. However, almost everybody wanted to write on women. Rizal was disgusted at such flippancy. He was more disgusted to see that his companions, instead of working seriously on the novel, wasted their time gambling or flirting with Spanish señoritas.
Undaunted by his friends’ indifference, he determined to write the novel – alone.
The title Noli Me Tangere is a Latin phrase which means “Touch Me Not.” It is not originally conceived by Rizal, for he admitted taking it from the Bible. Rizal dedicated the book to the Philippines – “To My Fatherland.” His dedication runs as follows:
Recorded in the history of human sufferings is a cancer so malignant a character that the least touch irritates it and awakens in it the sharpest pains. Thus, how many times, when in the midst of modern civilizations I have wished to call thee before me, now to accompany me in memories, now to compare thee with other countries, hath thy dear image presented itself showing a social cancer like to that other!
Desiring thy welfare which is our own, and seeking the best treatment, I will do with thee what the ancients did to their sick, exposing them on the steps of the temple so that every one who came to invoke the Divinity might offer them a remedy.
And to this end, I will strive to reproduce thy condition faithfully, without discrimination; I will raise a part of the veil that covers the evil, sacrificing to truth everything, even vanity itself, since, as thy son I am conscious that I also suffer from thy defects and weaknesses.

DATE AND PLACE OF PUBLICATION
Noli Me Tangere was published on the year 1887 in Berlin, Germany.
Toward the end of 1884, Rizal began writing the novel in Madrid and finished about one-half of it.
When he went to Paris in 1885, after completing his studies in the Central University of Madrid, he continued writing the novel, finishing one-half of the second half. He finished the last fourth of the novel in Germany. He wrote the last few chapters of the Noli in Wilhelmsfeld in April-June, 1886.
In Berlin during the winter days of February 1886, Rizal made the final revisions on the manuscript of the Noli. Sick and penniless, he saw no hope of having it published, so that in a momentary fit of desperation, he almost hurled it into flames.
In the midst of his despondency and misery, Rizal received a telegram from Dr. Maximo Viola, his friend, who was coming to Berlin. Upon seeing his talented friend’s predicament, Viola being loaded with ample funds, gladly agreed to finance the printing cost of the Noli. He also loaned Rizal some cash money for living expenses.
To save printing expenses, he deleted passages in his manuscript, including a whole chapter – “Elias and Salome.”
On February 21, 1887, the Noli was finally finished and ready for printing. After a few days of inquiries, Rizal and Viola found a printing shop – Berliner Buchdruckrei-Action-Gesselschaft – which charged the lowest rate, that is, 300 pesos for 2,000 copies of the novel.
On March 21, 1887, the Noli Me Tangere came off the press. Rizal immediately sent the first copies of the printed novel to his intimate friends, including Blumenttrit, Dr. Antonio Ma. Regidor, G. Lopez Jaena, Mariano Ponce, and Felix R. Hidalgo.
On March 29, 1887, Rizal, in token of his appreciation and gratitude, gave Viola the galley proofs of the Noli carefully rolled around the pen that he used in writing it.

Summary
The novel Noli Me Tangere contains 63 chapters and an epilogue. It begins with a reception given by Captain Tiago (Santiago de los Santos) at his house in Calle Anloague (now Juan Luna Street) on the last day of October. This reception or dinner was given in honor of Crisostomo Ibarra, a young and rich Filipino who had just returned after several years of study in Europe. Ibarra was the only son of Don Rafael Ibarra, friend of Captain Tiago, and a fiancé of beautiful Maria Clara, supposed daughter of Captain Tiago.
Among the guests 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 Binondo; Señor Guevara, an elderly and kind lieutenant of the Guardia Civil; Don Tiburcio de Espadaña, a a bogus Spanish physician, lame, and henpecked husband of Dona Victoriña; and several ladies.
Ibarra, upon his arrival, produced a favorable impression among the guests, except Padre Damaso, who was rude to him. In accordance with a German custom, he introduced himself to the ladies.
During the dinner the conversation centered on Ibarra’s studies and travels abroad. 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 Captain 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 later and 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 forgotten her.
After the romantic reunion with Maria Clara, Ibarra went to San Diego to visit his father’s grave. It was All 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. Padre Salvi told him that he had nothing to do with it, for he was not the parish priest at the time of Don Rafael’s death. It was Padre Damaso, his predecessor, who was responsible for it. Convinced of Padre Salvi’s innocence, Ibarra went away.
In his town, Ibarra met several interesting people, such as the old wise man, Tasio the philosopher, whose ideas were too advanced for his time so that the people, who could not understand him, called him “Tasio the Lunatic:” the progressive school teacher, who complained to Ibarra that the children were losing interest in their studies because of the lack of proper school house and the discouraging attitude of the parish friar towards both the teaching of Spanish and of the use of modern methods of pedagogy; the spineless gobernadorcillo, who catered to the wishes of the Spanish parish friar; Don Filipo Lino, the teniente-mayor and leader of the liberal faction in the town; Don Melchor, the captain of the cuadrilleros (town police); and the former gobernadorcillos who were prominent citizens – Don Basilio and Don Valentin.
A most tragic story in the novel is the tale of Sisa, who was formerly a 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. These boys were sacristanes (sextons) in the church, working for a small wage to support their poor mother. Crispin, the younger of the two brothers, was accused by the brutal sacristan mayor (chief sexton) of stealing the money of the priest. He was tortured in the convent and died. Basilio, with his brother’s dying cries ringing in his ears, escaped. When the two boys did not return home, Sisa looked for them everywhere and, in her great sorrow, she became insane.
Capitan Tiago, Maria Clara, and Aunt Isabel (Capitan Tiago’s cousin who took care of Maria Clara, after her mother’s death) arrived in San Diego. 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 Siñang, the grave Victoria, and the thoughtful Neneng;” Aunt Isabel, chaperone of Maria Clara; Capitana Tika, mother of Siñang; Andeng, foster sister of Maria Clara; Albino, the ex-theological student who was in love with Siñang; and Ibarra and his friends. One of the boatmen was a strong and silent peasant youth named Elias.
An incident in the picnic was the saving of Elias’ life by Ibarra. Elias bravely grappled with a crocodile which was caught in the fish corral. But the crocodile struggles furiously so that Elias could not subdue it. Ibarra jumped into the water and killed the crocodile, thereby saving Elias.
Another incident, which preceded the near-tragic crocodile incident, was the rendering of a beautiful song by Maria Clara who had a sweet voice. Upon the insistent request of her friends, she played the harp and sang.
After Maria Clara’s song and the crocodile incident, they went ashore. They made merry in the cool, wooded meadow. Padre Salvi, Capitan Basilio (former gobernadorcillo and Siñang’s father), the alferez (lieutenant of the Guardia Civil) and the town officials were present. The luncheon was served, and everybody enjoyed eating.
The meal over, Ibarra and Capitan Basilio played chess, while Maria Clara and her friends played the “Wheel of Chance,” a game based on a fortune-telling book. As the girls were enjoying their fortune-telling game, Padre Salvi came and tore to pieces the books, saying that it was a sin to play such a game. Shortly thereafter, a sergeant and four soldiers of the Guardia Civil suddenly arrived, looking for Elias, who was haunted for (1) assaulting Padre Damaso and (2) throwing the alferes into a mudhole. Fortunately Elias had disappeared, and Guardia Civil went away empty-handed. 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.
The next day Ibarra visited old Tasio to consult him on his pet project about the schoolhouse. He saw the old man’s writings were written in hieroglyphics. Tasio explained to him that he wrote in hieroglyphics because he was writing for the future generations who would understand them and say, “Not all were asleep in the night of our ancestors!”
Tasio was pessimistic about the project of Ibarra to build a schoolhouse at his own expense. However, the construction of the schoolhouse continued under the supervision of the architect called Ñor Juan.
Meanwhile San Diego was merrily preparing for its annual fiesta, in honor of its patron saint San Diego de Alcala, whose feast day is the 11th of November. On the eve of the fiesta, hundreds of visitors arrived from the nearby towns, and there were laughter, music, fireworks, feasting and moro-moro. The music was furnished by five brass bands (including the famous Pagsanjan Band owned by escribando Miguel Guevara) and three orchestras.
In the morning of the fiesta there was a high mass in the church, officiated by Padre Salvi. Padre Damaso gave the long sermon, in which he expatiated on the evils of the times that were caused by certain men, who having tested some education, spread pernicious ideas among the people.
After Padre Damaso’s sermon, the mass was continued by Padre Salvi. Elias quietly moved to Ibarra, who was kneeling and praying by Maria Clara’s side, and warned him to be careful during the ceremony of the laying of the cornerstone of the schoolhouse because there was a plot to kill him.
Elias suspected that the yellowish man, who built the derrick, was a paid stooge of Ibarra’s enemies. True to his suspicion, later in the day, when Ibarra, in the presence of a big crowd went down into the trench to cement the cornerstone, the derrick collapsed. Elias, quick as a flash, pushed him aside, thereby saving his life. The yellowish man was he one crushed to death by the shattered derrick.
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 his fist, and then seized a sharp knife. He would have killed the friar, were it not for the timely intervention of Maria Clara.
Ibarra’s attack on Padre Damaso produced two results: (1) his engagement to Maria Clara was broken and (2) he was excommunicated. Fortunately, the liberal-minded governor genera; visited the town and befriended Ibarra. He told the young man not to worry. He persuaded Capitan Tiago to accept Ibarra as son-in-law and promised to see the Archbishop of Manila to lift the ban of excommunication.
The fiesta over, Maria Clara became ill. She was treated by the quack Spanish physician, Tiburcio de Espadaña, whose wife, a vain and vulgar native woman, was a frequent visitor in Capitan Tiago’s house. This woman had hallucinations of being a superior Castillan, and, although a native herself, she looked down on her own people as inferior beings. She added another “de” to her husband’s surname in order to be more Spanish. Thus she wanted to be called “Doctora Doña Vidtorina de los Reyes De Espadaña.” She introduced to Capitan Tiago a young Spaniard, Don Alfonso Linares de Espadaña, cousin of Don Tiburcio de Espadaña and godson of Padre Damasos’s brother-in-law. Linares was a penniless and jobless, fortune hunter who came to the Philippines in search of a rich Filipino heiress. Both Doña Vicotrina and Padre Damaso sponsored his wooing of Maria Clara, but the latter did not respond because she loved Ibarra.
A touch of comedy in the novel was the fight between two ludicrous Señoras Doña Consolacion, the vulgar mistress of the Spanish alferez, and Doña Victorina, the flamboyantly dressed wife of a henpecked Spanish quack doctor. Both insulted each other in gutter language, and, not satisfied with their verbal warfare, they squared off to come to blows. The timely arrival of Padre Salvi stopped the fight, much to the regret of the curious onlookers.
The story of Elias,like that of Sisa, was a tale of pathos and tragedy. He related it to Ibarra. Some 60 years ago, his grandfather, who was then a young bookkeeper in a Spanish commercial firm in Manila, was wrongly accused of burning the firm’s warehouse. He was flogged in public and was left in the street, crippled and almost dead. His wife, who was pregnant, begged for alms and became a prostitute in order to support her sick husband and their son. After giving birth to her second son and the death of her husband, she fled, with her two sons, to the mountains.
Years later the first boy became a dreaded tulisan named Balat. He terrorized the provinces. One day he was caught by the authorities. His head was cut off and was hung from a tree branch in the forest. On seeing this gory abject, the poor mother (Elias’ grandmother) died.
Balat’s younger brother, who was by nature kindhearted, fled and became a trusted laborer in the house of a rich man in Tayabas. He fell in love with the master’s daughter. The girl’s father, enraged by the romance, investigated his past and found out the truth. The unfortunate lover (Elias’ father) was sent to jail, while the girl gave birth to twins, a boy (Elias) and a girl. Their rich grandfather (father of their mother) took care of them, keeping secret their scandalous origin, and reared them as rich children. Elias was educated in the Jesuit College in Manila, while his sister studied in La Concordia College. They lived happily until one day, owing to certain dispute over money matters, a distant relative exposed their shameful birth. They were disgraced. An old male servant, whom they used to abuse, was forced to testify in court and the truth came out that he was their real father.
Elias and his sister left Tayabas to hide their shame in another place. One day the sister disappeared. Elias roamed from place to place looking for her. He heard later that a girl answering to his sister’s description, was found dead on the beach of San Diego. Since then, Elias lived a vagabond life, wandering from province to province – until he met Ibarra.
Ibarra’s enemies left no stones unturned to bring about his ruin. They engineered an attack on the barracks of the Guardia Civil, at the same time warning the alferez to alert his men that night. They deceived the attackers telling them that the mastermind was Ibarra. So that when the attack failed and the surviving attackers were caught, Ibarra was blamed for the catastrophe.
Elias, learning of Ibarra’s arrest, burned all the papers that might incriminate his friend and set Ibarra’s house on fire. Then he went to prison and helped Ibarra escape. He and Ibarra jumped into a banca loaded with sacate (grass). Ibarra stopped at the house of Capitan Tiago to say goodbye to Maria Clara. In the tearful last scene between the two lovers, Ibarra forgave Maria Clara for giving up his letters to her to the Spanish authorities who utilized them as evidence against him. On her part, Maria Clara revealed that those letters were exchanged with a letter from her late mother, Pia Alba, which Padre Salvi gave her. From this letter, she learned that her real father was Padre Damaso.
After bidding Maria Clara farewell, Ibarra returned to the banca. He and Elias paddled up the Pasig River toward Laguna de Bay. A police boat, with the Guardia Civil on board, pursued them as the banca reached the lake. Elias told Ibarra to hide under the zacat. As the police boat was overtaking the banca, Elias jumped into the water and swam swiftly toward the shore. In this way, he diverted the attention of the soldiers on his person, thereby giving Ibarra a chance to escape.
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. He told Basilio to make a pyre on which their bodies (his and Sisa’s) were to be burned to ashes. It was Christmas Eve, and the moon gleamed softly in the sky. Basilio prepared the funeral pyre. As life’s breath slowly left his body, Elias looked toward the east and murmured: “I die without seeing the dawn brighten over my native land! You, who have it to see, welcome it – and forget not those who have fallen during the night!”
The novel has an epilogue which recounts what happened to the other characters. 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 and opium addict and a human wreck. Doña 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.
The alferez, who successfully repulsed the abortive attack on the barracks, was promoted major. He returned to Spain, leaving behind his shabby mistress, Doña Consolation.
The novel ends with Maria Clara, an unhappy nun un Santa Clara nunnery – forever lost to the world.

ORIGINAL COVER OF NOLI ME TANGERE

References:
Zaide, Gregorio F. & Zaide, Sonia M. (1999). Jose Rizal: Life, Works and Writings of a Genius, Writer, Scientist, and National Hero (2nd ed.). Quezon City 1102 Philippines: All-Nations Publishing Co., Inc. http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fmyhero.com%2Fhero.asp%3Fhero%3DJ_Rizal_dnhs_US_2011&h=2AQHTvz4O

References: Zaide, Gregorio F. & Zaide, Sonia M. (1999). Jose Rizal: Life, Works and Writings of a Genius, Writer, Scientist, and National Hero (2nd ed.). Quezon City 1102 Philippines: All-Nations Publishing Co., Inc. http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fmyhero.com%2Fhero.asp%3Fhero%3DJ_Rizal_dnhs_US_2011&h=2AQHTvz4O