Rizal's Novels PDF

UNIT 4 Writing the Thoughts: Examining Rizal’s Works perfectboundbooks.org.uk VI. Rizal’s Novels None of Rizal’s writings has had more t...

UNIT 4 Writing the Thoughts: Examining Rizal’s Works perfectboundbooks.org.uk VI. Rizal’s Novels None of Rizal’s writings has had more tremendous effect on the Filipino people than his two novels that courageously criticized Philippine life during the 19 th century—Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo. These works of fiction expressed the theme of Philippine nationalism in a most profound and dramatic manner to arouse the latent spirits of a frustrated people. These remain the most potent inspiration for national unity today and considered “the greatest Philippine social documents” and “gospels of Philippine nationalism.” Its profundity made Rizal known all over the world as the foremost Asian nationalist. These form a part of the intellectual heritage of the Filipinos. They are literary works which give a cross-section of the Philippine society during Rizal’s time. They describe the political, economic, educational, religious, and cultural life with great realism. In laying bare the conditions of his time, Rizal dramatically presented characters in order to show the situations then obtaining. Through his powerful description of the main characters, the reader gets acquainted with the social forces which oppose each other. Rizal’s novels are more meaningfully studied as political satires for his reform propaganda. With disarming honesty, Rizal wrote to free the human spirit from deterioration as depicted in the historical situation from 1877 to 1887. To the Filipino reader who understands the historical background of the novels, Rizal traced the delicate portrait of a people faced with social problems and political enigmas. Many of the predicaments presented have contemporary relevance. And the novels provide an inexhaustible source of inspiration for solutions to current conditions and problems. A. Noli Me Tangere Jose Rizal’s first novel, Noli Me Tangere, is considered one of the most important written outputs by the national hero at the height of his intellectual endeavors in Europe. In this novel, Rizal mustered his academic acumens as he tapped his knowledge of various fields and wove a narrative that aimed to represent, if not expose, the realities of nineteenth century colonial life in the Philippines. Many appreciate the Noli for its narrative that takes the readers, through the eyes of its characters, on a journey of love and deception, struggles and triumphs; and in the process, presents pressing questions about power and social inequalities. As a sojourner in Europe, Rizal participated in the movement of the ilustrados to utilize propaganda to campaign for reforms in the Philippines. The idea of publishing a book was not alien to Rizal. In a meeting of the ilustrados in 1884, he proposed to write a book project to be done collaboratively with his fellow writers. Unfortunately, the project did not materialize. He eventually  decided to write a novel on his own. He started work on the project in 1884 and completed in 1887. Works that influenced him to write his first novel were the Spolarium, Juan Luna’s painting, and the Uncle Tom’s Cabin, a novel by Harriet Beecher Stowe that dealt with slavery in America. Rizal finished the first half of the novel in Spain, supposedly the other half in France, then completed the draft in 1886. The novel was published the following year in Germany. Lack of funds delayed the book’s publication until fellow ilustrado, Maximo Viola, insisted on lending him 300 pesos for the printing of the first 2,000 copies. By 1887, Rizal, was already sending out copies of the Noli to his friends and the book began to take flight. According to his biographers, Rizal first planned to write his novel in French, considered to be the language of the intellectuals in Europe at that time. He, however, shifted to Spanish because he intended to reach out to his countrymen in the Philippines. Noli Me Tangere (touch me not) are the words of Jesus Christ to Mary Magdalene when she visited the tomb of Christ early on the morning of Easter Sunday: “Touch me not, for I have not yet ascended to my Father, but go to my brethren and say to them, I ascend to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God….” And Rizal used the words Noli Me Tangere because the book contains things nobody in the Philippines had dared to speak about because they were delicate matters and could not be touched by anyone. This novel sketches a wound painful even to the healer’s touch causing more agony than relief. The concerned healer reveals the actions that a frustrated society resorts to in the moment of despair. Such despair could force the oppressed to insurgence, as El Filibusterismo, the sequel, suggests. PLOT Noli Me Tangere is the story of Juan Crisostomo Ibarra, scion of a wealthy landlord, Rafael Ibarra, betrothed from early youth to Maria Clara, the only daughter of Santiago (Capitan Tiago) de los Santos, a wealthy landlord, too. Crisostomo is sent abroad to study and returns home to San Diego “where still roam deer and boars” from his seven-year education in the German section of sophisticated Switzerland. During his absence, his father, who has Spanish blood himself, runs afoul with the authorities by accidentally killing an ignorant Spanish tax collector who threatened him because he came to help a little boy who was harmed by the tax collector, an ex-artilleryman. Rafael Ibarra dies in jail and, as a free thinker who had stopped going to confession, is denied Christian burial by Father Damaso Verdolagas, the parish priest of their lakeside hometown of San Diego. When Ibarra returns from Europe after seven years, Capitan Tiago gave an aristocratic dinner in his honor at his pretentious house at Calle Anloague in Binondo, Manila. One Lieutenant Guevara, a trusted friend of Crisostomo’s father, later informs Crisostomo of the death of Don Rafael. When Ibarra learns of his father’s fate, he is at first overcome with rage. Dedicated to the uplift of his people through education, he puts aside his plans for revenge in order to secure official approval for the building of a town school, his gift to Maria Clara. Inflamed with a desire to educate his people and bring progress to his hometown, he established a school, patterned after the progressive schools he had known in Europe. His project, though enthusiastically endorsed by the townspeople, is met with skepticism by the old scholar Tasio who years before had attempted to do the same thing but he failed. The new parish priest, Father Salvi, also looks at the school disapprovingly for he sees it as a dangerous threat to his authority over the natives. At the laying of the school’s cornerstone Ibarra is almost killed in an obviously contrived accident and is saved only by the warning of Elias, a mysterious pilot who Ibarra had rescued from death from a crocodile during an outing at the lake.  Father Damaso is vehemently and openly opposed to the marriage of Ibarra to Maria Clara. At the public dinner after the school founding ceremony, he insults the memory of Ibarra’s father. Ibarra loses control of himself and is about to kill Father Damaso when Maria Clara stops his avenging hand. Ibarra, automatically excommunicated for laying violent hands on a priest, is forbidden to see Maria Clara again. Father Damaso arranges for her marriage instead to a Spanish relative of his, Alfonso Linares. Worse is still to happen. Father Salvi’s head sacristan recruits the desperate and oppressed in San Diego for an uprising in the name of and allegedly with the money of Ibarra. The uprising is denounced by the parish priest to the alferez and is suppressed. The young liberals of the town, with Ibarra at their head, are seized ad charged with rebellion. There is no proof against Ibarra until Maria Clara is persuaded to surrender to Father Bernardo Salvi and the authorities some letters of dubious loyalty which Ibarra had written to het from abroad. Ibarra is found guilty but he is liberated from jail by Elias. He confronts Maria Clara with her treachery and she confesses that she was forced to exchange his letters for some of Father Damaso, which Father Salvi had found in the parish house. The letters would have proved that her real father was the friar. Ibarra, having forgiven Maria Clara because they really love each other, flees with Elias up the river to the lake but they are sighted by a constabulary patrol; one of them is killed; who survives, remains a mystery. A dying man buries Ibarra’s treasure at the foot of his grandfather’s grave. Maria Clara, believing Ibarra dead, refuses to go ahead with her marriage to Linares; she had planned to run away afterwards to join her lover. Father Damaso pleads with her, but then and there realizes how much she loved Ibarra. He had only opposed their marriage and persecuted Ibarra’s family because, as her real father, he could not bear the thought of her becoming the wife of a native, without privileges, without rights. When she threatens to kill herself, he consents at last to her entering a nunnery of Poor Clares; here the chaplain is Father Salvi, who is waiting for the promotion which is due him for suppressing the uprising in San Diego. It was later revealed that Ibarra was not dead and that Elias was the one fatally shot. In the latter passages, the dying Elias was waiting for Ibarra but instead, met and talked to the young Basilio. He instructed the orphaned boy (his mother Sisa, who became insane looking for her young sons, had died) to find the treasure of Ibarra buried in the cemetery and use it to get an education. He reminded Basilio to never lose hope and if one day, freedom and progress would come to his country, to not forget those who labored in the night. The story ends with a glimpse of a beautiful young nun standing on the ridge of the roof of the convent “with arms and face raised toward the sky as if praying to it.” Within this general contour of the narrative, Rizal wove a complex story and subplots. Reading through the novel, different characters and their corresponding stories unfolded as told through the voice of an unseen narrator. Truly, the pages of the Noli reflected the lives of people living in the complicated world of colonial Philippines. B. El Filibusterismo Rizal’s second novel, El Filibusterismo, is a story set in twilight years of the Spanish colonial government in the Philippines. It was first translated into English by Charles Derbyshire in 1912 under the title, The Reign of Greed. The book according to the translator “represents Rizal’s more mature judgment on political and social conditions in the islands, and in its graver and less hopeful tone reflects the disappointments and discouragements which he had encountered in his efforts to lead the way to reform.” Only four years separated El Filibusterismo, published in September 1891 from the Noli Me Tangere, published in March 1887. But in those four years Rizal’s mind had matured. What matured him was what he saw in the Philippines during his six months’ visit. Perhaps it was what happened to his family after that visit--- when his father was evicted, their house taken over, their furniture dumped into the street; some members were sent into exile; and one brother-in-law was denied Christian burial. These and other happenings weakened his early enthusiasm but deepened his insights. It was out of this deeper vision that El Filibusterismo emerged. Rizal started writing El Filibusterismo as a sequel to the Noli Me Tangere after he returned to Europe on February 1888. The novel, therefore, was written in the midst of threats and oppression he and his family were experiencing because of the Noli and the Calamba incident. Rizal continued working on his novel and made some revisions while he was in London in 1888. He was able to complete the novel after three years when he was in Biarritz, France on March 29, 1891. However, because of financial constraints, it was not until September of the same year that the book was published with the help of his friend, Valentin Ventura, in Ghent, Belgium. El Fili is dedicated to Gomburza, the three priests who were accused of being filibusters in 1872. In his dedication, Rizal expressed his high regard for the priests who became victims of “the evil that I am trying to fight.” According to Soledad Lacson- Locsin, the one who translated the El Fili: “El Fili begins where the Noli leaves off, where love, romance, heroism, idealism and tragedy turn to hate, bitterness, anger, disillusionment and vengeance.” Unlike Noli, El Fili burns with passion and ideology. Rizal’s biographers opined that El Fili showed his maturity as a novelist. PLOT El Filibusterismo continues the story of Noli Me Tangere. Crisostomo Ibarra who survived the dramatic chase at the open lake left the Philippines and wandered around the world to amass great wealth. He was able to escape and fled to Cuba. He became wealthy and was able to establish connections with prominent Spanish officials. He returns to the Philippines after thirteen years in the person of Simoun, a jeweler passing for a British Indian, a Portuguese, an American, a mulatto, the Brown Cardinal, his Black Eminence, the evil genius of the Captain-General. Returning with the new Captain-General who was under his sway, Simoun has one sole purpose, the subversion of the regime. On board the dingy steamer, Tabo, enroute to San Diego on the Pasig River, he is the subject of conversations on the lower deck, as well as the center of attention on the upper deck. The thirteen years away from his country has transformed him into an exotic looking, mysterious personality. No one suspects that Simoun, the affluent jeweler, is the fugitive Ibarra. Only Basilio, son of the demented Sisa of Noli Me Tangere, comes to know the secret. But even Basilio finds it difficult to reconcile the dreamer and the idealist that once was Ibarra to the shrewd, sly schemer that is now Simoun. Simoun came back with his grand plan to exact revenge on Spanish officials and to rescue Maria Clara who entered the convent after learning the news of Ibarra’s death. He planned to launch a revolution which he started by smuggling arms and recruiting followers, mainly from the exploited and abused natives. One of his recruits was Basilio. With the help of Capitan Tiago, Basilio was able to study medicine in manila. Simoun also began to establish an alliance with Kabesang Tales and his revolutionary group. Kabesang Tales was a former cabeza de barangay who was maltreated by the friars. Suing his position, Simoun encouraged corruption and more oppressive government policies to enrage the people and thus, provoke them to revolt. Twice Simoun attempted to ignite the fires of rebellion but he failed. On the first occasion, the news of Maria Clara’s death reached him just as he was about to give the signal for the coordinated attack on the city. He had planned this revolution so that in the ensuing confusion he would be able to rescue Maria Clara from the nunnery. But now she is dead. In his numbness, he forgot that his followers await his signal. Panic ensued and they broke out in disorganized rampage. Basilio and other students were then arrested for allegedly forming a seditious organization. Simoun arranged the release of Basilio who became bitter and vengeful. However, he was very grateful to Simoun and offered his full support for the revolution. The second attempt at starting a revolution entailed the planting of a bomb at the wedding reception of Paulita Gomez and Juanito Pelaez. Illustrious guests at the mansion (formerly the house of Capitan Tiago) included Father Salvi and the Governor-General. In Simoun’s plan, the revolution would be triggered by his gift to the couple—kerosene lamp with an explosive. When the lamp starts flickering and someone turns the wick, there would be an explosion, signaling the revolutionaries to attack all government buildings in Manila. As planned, Simoun gave the lamp during the reception. Before leaving the venue, he left a note with a message: “You will die tonight,” signed by Crisostomo Ibarra. Meanwhile, when Basilio saw all the people at the venue, his conscience bothered him. He saw his friend Isagani, a young poet, who was secretly watching his love, Paulita, celebrating her wedding. Basilio told Isagani about the explosive and asked him to leave the place. When Father Salvi confirmed Ibarra’s handwriting, the guests began to panic. The lamp flickered and Father Irene tried to turn the wick. But Isagani, wanting to save Paulita, ran into the house, grabbed the lamp, and threw it into the river where it exploded. Meanwhile, a parchment prophesying doom was passed around the wedding guests and Simoun was pinpointed as the instigator of the scheme. The signature identified Simoun as Ibarra. Simoun fled with his box of jewels. Hunted by the law and wounded, he sought refuge in the house pf a kind Filipino priest, Father Florentino. The guardias civiles, however, learned about the whereabouts of the fugitive, and informed the priest that they would come in the evening to arrest Simoun. Instead of surrendering to the authorities, Simoun poisoned himself. As the poison started to take effect on his body, he confessed to Father Florentino his true identity and his plans for revenge. After the long and tedious confession, the priest told Simoun that his plans might have failed because of the unjust means that were used. He assured Simoun that there was still hope for the freedom of the country. The story ended with Father Florentino throwing Simoun’s jewels into the sea “where it will not work woe, distort justice or foment avarice.” He also prayed that when the right time comes, the treasure would be recovered and used for a noble purpose. CHARACTERS (Noli and El Fili) As gospels of Philippine nationalism, Rizal’ novels convey the essence of his nationalism that was to reverberate in the hearts of his people. He identified this essence in his letters as his aspiration: to alleviate the sufferings of the masses, to make men worthy, to avenge one day the many victims of cruelty and injustice, to erect a monument to the native tongue and to educate his people. In the two novels, the essence of Rizal’s nationalism is best understood through a study of the characters. Through their dialogue and actuation, in their ideas and ideals, or in the lack of these are seen Rizal’s range of vision, his concept of love of country, his appeal for reforms, his attitude towards the friars, and his views on the weaknesses of the Filipinos. The characters are the Spaniards and the Filipinos whom Rizal praised, or condemned with compassion.  1. Ibarra-Simoun He is the main protagonist in the Noli whose full name is Juan Crisostomo Ibarra y Magsalin, an affluent and liberal European-educated Filipino. He was first shown as a well-mannered young man who arrived sometime in 1880s from his studies and travels in Switzerland, Germany, Italy, and Spain. His maternal surname symbolizes the “translated” Filipino. His paternity goes back to the Pelayos and Elcanos of Northern Spain. His grandfather was a taciturn Basque, Don Saturnino, a conqueror of the soil. These forebears have provided Ibarra with “his more than average height, the impression of youth and of health, equally developed in mind and body, with slight traces of Spanish blood, beautifully bronzed and somewhat rosy in the cheeks.” As the son of a wealthy family, Ibarra conducted himself with the proper etiquette befitting his status, and made sure to be polite to everyone. He was, however, not above breaking this decorum when it meant defending his father's memory or saving someone's life. He could also be annoyed at people who went against his wishes, as with the case of Lucas and the gravedigger. He is a loyal son, courageous, civic –minded, liberty-loving and patriotic. As an ideal of humanity he desired the education of his people. He presents his plan of building a school house which receives the approval of the majority of the people of San Diego. His worthwhile project is opposed by Father Damaso who represents the social class which does not like liberalism. These conflicts between liberalism and conservatism, between Ibarra, the hope of the people and the misguided priest, are told in many incidents in the novel ending in the flight of Ibarra to another country and the flight of Maria Clara to the nunnery. In the Fili, Ibarra reappears as Simoun, an influential jeweler. Ibarra created a new identity and named himself “Simoun”, moving to North America. He stayed there for a long time, becoming a jeweler in Cuba. In Havana, he met the future Capitan General, who was a comandante then. Simoun befriended him by lending him money, and helped him hide his crimes. Capitan General eventually was appointed to rule the Philippines, with Simoun manipulating him as a “blind instrument” in order to commit injustices. Simoun currently lives on Escolta street in Manila, and is well-known as Capitan General’s most trusted advisor and friend. He continues to sell jewels and has become very wealthy, while encouraging Capitan General (and everyone in the country) to be as greedy as possible. His contrasting appearance is an ingenious disguise. He is tall, lean, sinewy and very deeply tanned who dressed in the English fashion and wore s pith helmet. His most striking gesture was his long hair, completely white, which set of a black goatee so sparse that it suggested he was a half- breed. To protect himself from the sun, he always wore a pair of huge dark glasses that covered his eyes and part of his cheeks completely, giving him the appearance of a man who was either blind or suffered from some defect in his eyesight. Having the reputation of being the “adviser and true author of all the acts of His Excellency the Governor general, he is sarcastically referred to as the Brown Cardinal or His Black Eminence by the natives. Ibarra is no longer the educator but a corruptor bent on the collapse of Castillan sovereignty. People recognize his carriage and his Escolta residence, but doubt whether he is half-English or half-Latin American.  2. Elias He is Ibarra’s mysterious friend who appears in an almost deux ex machina (saving a seemingly hopeless situation) fashion every time Ibarra is in trouble. His robust appearance is marred by great sad eyes and a stern mouth, long unkempt black hair that falls to his strong neck, and a coarse dark shirt that reveals powerful sinewy arms. Elias was born to a rich family in Manila alongside his twin sister, with his father being the son of a prostitute and his mother being the daughter of a rich man. Told that their father was dead, the twins also witnessed their mother die in their youth. Raised by their maternal grandfather, the two lived happy lives. One day, Elias antagonized a distant relative and they taunted him with his supposed illegitimacy. As Elias was insulted, the relative later made Elias' heritage known to the public using Elias' family servant, which was actually his father in disguise. Renouncing his wealth, Elias ran away with his father and sister. After his father died, his sister went missing; half a year later, Elias learned of a girl matching his sister's description having been discovered drowned in Calamba, Laguna. Since then, Elias became a fugitive, wandering around the country. At some point, he came into contact with the group of bandits led by Capitan Pablo in Tanauan, Batangas. He also at one point discovered that the root of his family's misfortune was the rich man his grandfather worked for, Don Pedro Eibarramendia (Ibarra’s great grandfather) Because of his experiences, Elias was disillusioned with the status quo and believed that only a violent revolution could bring about the change he desired for both himself and others. This belief was challenged by Ibarra, and the two sought to reconcile their differences in viewpoint. Elias’ capability for violence was tempered by a strong set of morals. This manifested in his refusing to kill Ibarra as a descendant of the cause of his family’s misfortune, instead redeeming himself and his family by dying for the young man. Elias also believed that his family, including himself, was cursed, and purposefully detached himself from people, even those he had intimate relationships with such as Salome. Although regarded as an outlaw, Elias is no ordinary renegade. His family misfortunes had forced him to brigandry. He symbolizes the common people. Although he is not the “persecuted,” he comes from a family of the persecuted. He is bent on vindicating the common people who are victims of injustices and thus becomes a vehement enemy of the authorities. He is opposed by the civil guards who are men who know only how to repress crimes by using terrorism. 3. Tasio He is Don Anastacio, the scholar. Tasio is the fool to the majority who are apathetic to his unorthodox ideas and bizarre behavior. He personifies the philosopher who is called the sage by the cultured and the lunatic by others who do not know him on account of his peculiar ideas. A former student taking philosophy, his mother feared that he may forget God because he is becoming learned, gives him the choice of studying in the seminary for the priesthood or leaving college. He gave up his studies for love, but was widowed and orphaned in less than a year. To avoid self-pity, idleness and the temptations of the cockpit, he concentrated on his books. He became so engrossed in his hieroglyphics and other intellectual pursuits that he neglected his estates and was completely ruined. Once he had planned to open a school, but failed because so many factors worked against him. In the story, he reacts coldly to Ibarra’s own plans for a town school, but offered true sympathy and sensible advice. Upon Ibarra’s arrest and imprisonment, Tasio’s efforts to testify to Ibarra’s innocence prove futile. His long walk to town, compounded by his excitement and anger at the obvious conspiracy against Ibarra, exhausts him. He is found dead at the foot of the stairs of his house. 4. Maria Clara Maria Clara de los Santos is Ibarra’s fiancée, daughter of Doña Pia Alba de los Santos and Father Damaso. Don Santiago, Doña Pia’s husband had always regarded her as his child. She is portrayed by Rizal as the fruit of illicit love affair between the Spanish Franciscan friar and a native woman, Pia Alba, for six years the childless wife of Capitan Tiago. She was a Caucasian beauty with a classic profile. her hair was fair and her nose was well shaped. She had a winsome mouth with cheerful dimples, white onion-fine skin. Because in Rizal’s mind, the unhappy state of the Philippines which Maria Clara symbolizes was the product of the exploitation of the Spanish rulers and the failure of the people. Rizal injected womanly qualities into the symbol that was Maria Clara. He molded her into something like Leonor Rivera, his real life sweetheart. She was the typical, although not the ideal, Filipino woman. Thus, she is shown as a young convent-bred woman, shy and awkward in spite of her innate charms. At twenty-one, she is immature and unable to for her own convictions without the approval of her confessor or her elders. She lacks the mature intellect and industry that Rizal praised among the German women who “cared more for the substance of things than for appearance.” This distinction between the “typical and the ideal” is important in understanding and interpreting her character and symbolism. As Rizal characterized her, he exposed her weaknesses, her lack of courage and sound judgment. At the same time, he enfolded her in the delicate soft mist of his poetic imagination. He criticized her too, for her blind obedience, to her parents. He treated her with compassion, never with spite and hatred. He loved her in spite of her shortcomings as he loved his country. Maria Clara is the image of the Philippines with her virtues and inconsistencies, a symbol made more human by characteristics of the typical 19th century Philippines. She also provided continuity and motivation in the story. She is Ibarra’s inspiration in the planning and execution of his projects in two novels. The odyssey of her locket is used by Rizal as a literary device to link incidents in the development of the plot. The locket, a gift from Capitan Tiago, is tenderly given away to a leper. Much later, in the Fili, the locket is given to Basilio by the leper as payment for medical treatment. Basilio lovingly offers it to his sweetheart Juli, who hesitantly allows her father Matanglawin (Cabesang Tales) to use it as payment to Simoun for arms and ammunitions. Simoun quietly overjoyed at obtaining the locket as a memento of lost love. 5. Father Damaso Father Damaso Verdolagas, the former parish priest of San Diego, a Franciscan, is easily the antihero in Noli. Padre Damaso became a Franciscan priest in the Philippines sometime in 1858, serving for three years at a small town. As part of his reassignment, Damaso became town curate of San Diego. While there, he became close friends with Capitan Tiago and Don Rafael. He also became the confessor of Capitan Tiago's wife, Doña Pia Alba. After Don Rafael's death in prison and his subsequent burial in the parish cemetery, Padre Damaso ordered a gravedigger to transfer his body to the Chinese cemetery. With the corpse having gone missing and the governor-general finding out, Padre Damaso, as punishment, was reassigned to another parish. He also, at one point, was attacked by the man Elias, reporting the matter to the authorities. His verbosity is matched only by his arresting manner. “His classic features, penetrating look, heavy jaws, and herculean build, gave him the appearance of a Roman patrician in disguise.” His voice was rough and his humor, “like of a man who never held his tongue and who thinks that what he says is dogma and beyond question.” He is depicted as an uncouth, bigoted, power-mad ingrate, the personification of depraved evil among the friars. He had been in the country for 23 years and served as curate of San Diego for 20 years. There he had come to know most of the townspeople intimately. He exploited them apparently for the interest of his Church and King, but actually of his own personal gain and convenience. He had no respect for any authority except his religious superior. He denounced the Madrid ministers as “mad.” He was a renegade Carlist during the reign of King Alfonso. He dominated his associates and caused fear due to his irritating innuendoes downright indignities, and utter disregard of people’s feelings. His manners were brusque thus failing to cultivate the trust and confidence of his parishioners. But his toughness was mellowed when he sought the welfare of Maria Clara. His love and concern for his daughter seemed to be the only good in this Franciscan priest. 6. Don Rafael Ibarra He was Crisostomo’s father who represented a rich landlord with social conscience because he is a philanthropist. His strict standard of conduct regulates his actions/ his confidence in the law and hatred of things that are not legal is admirable. His independent views find opposition in Father Damaso who calls him heretic and filibuster. Ibarra’s father, who has died before the novel’s opening pages. Ibarra learns from a sympathetic friend of his father’s, Lieutenant Guevara, that Don Rafael perished in prison after Father Dámaso accused him of heresy and subversion. These accusations surfaced because Don Rafael refused to attend confession, thinking it useless and instead trying to live according to his own moral compass, incredibly strong and respectable. As such, Father Dámaso started making allusions to Ibarra’s father while preaching. Not long thereafter, Don Rafael came across a government tax collector beating a little boy. When he intervened, he accidentally killed the collector and was subsequently imprisoned. This is when Father Dámaso and a handful of Don Rafael’s other enemies came forward and slandered his name. Lieutenant Guevara hired a lawyer, but by the time he had cleared the old man’s name, Don Rafael had died in his cell. He was buried in San Diego’s Catholic cemetery, but Ibarra eventually learns that Father Dámaso ordered a gravedigger to exhume his body and transport him to the Chinese cemetery in order to separate him from non-heretical Catholics. Not wanting to haul his body all the way to the Chinese cemetery and thinking that the lake would be a more respectable resting place, the gravedigger threw Don Rafael’s body into the lake. Undesirables (characters that portray the pervading social cancer in the novels of Rizal) 7. Capitan Tiago The pretentious Chinese half-breed Don Santiago de los Santos leads this group. Tiago was born the only son of a sugar miller in Malabon. Despite being well-off, his father refused to pay for his schooling, leading Tiago to be taken in and sent to school by a Dominican. Around this time, he unsuccessfully courted Doña Victorina. After both his father and the Dominican died, Tiago went into business himself, eventually marrying Doña Pia Alba. He had come to his fortune and social title by marrying Doña Pia Alba, a prominent good-looking mestiza who was very astute in the sugar, coffee, indigo business as well as in the management of farm lands. With his wife wanting to manage a farm, the two bought land in San Diego, Laguna, also befriending Don Rafael Ibarra and Padre Damaso. He also, at some point, became gobernadorcillo of the town, earning the nickname "Capitan Tiago". For six years Tiago and his wife were childless, until Padre Damaso advised Doña Pia Alba to make a pilgrimage to a shrine in Obando. After the woman became pregnant and died birthing her daughter, Capitan Tiago named the girl Maria Clara. He also had his maiden cousin, Isabel, raise the girl in the absence of her real mother. When Maria Clara reached girlhood, Capitan Tiago had her study in the Sta. Clara convent. After Don Rafael's son Crisostomo left for Europe, Capitan Tiago agreed with Don Rafael to betroth their two children.  According to Father Damaso, Capitan Tiago dos not consider himself a native. Aligning himself with the Spaniards, he would exploit the natives. He had never addressed himself to God in his prayers, not even in his greatest difficulties; he was rich, and he let his money pray for him. He represents the Filipino who is subservient to the authorities because his personal interest must be secured. A religious fanatic, he is at peace with God, the government and the people. He is ready to please the authorities because he finds them useful in carrying out some of his activities, such as making contract in feeding the prisoners, supplying zacate to several government establishments and securing appointment in tax collection. He maintains a good standing with the authorities for he finds business with them, especially in securing the sales of appointments and offices. His control of the opium monopoly rings him huge profits. To the common people, he is the representative of the cacique mentality. When his peace is later threatened, Capitan Tiago withdraws to the haven of opium. In the Fili, this addiction causes his death. 8. Doña Victorina de Espadaña Doña Victorina de los Reyes de Espadaña is anothet native who tries to act more Spanish than the Spaniards. She is almost illiterate and unintelligent. She speaks little Spanish, but nonetheless she considers herself superior to most people because of her pretenses to Spanish affinity. She claims to be 32 years at 45, and disdains her many Filipino suitors for a Spanish husband. Born in 1836, as she grew up Doña Victorina refused all of her suitors, wanting to marry a Spaniard. By 1881, she badly needed a husband to maintain her social status; this led her to meet the quack doctor Don Tiburcio through a mutual friend. Soon after, they were married. During this time, she also began pretending to be a Spaniard herself, putting on many airs despite being a native indio. Among these airs was pretending she was pregnant and supposedly scheduling a trip to Spain for her to give birth there. She has grown to be “more than blowsy; she was overblown.” Her hair had dqindled down to a bun the size of an onion, her face was furrowed with wrinkles, her teeth were falling; she had to squint to see some distance away. She is a pretentious and domineering shrew, and holds her husband in control by threatening to tear out his false teeth and leave him a horrible sight for days if he would not grant her wishes. She is the paragon of colonial mentality. She disdains what is Filipino and imitates what is Spanish. In her pretentions, she becomes ludicrous and grotesque. 9. Don Tiburcio de Espadaña A Spaniard who speaks with a stutter and sprays saliva and looks significantly older than his thirty-five years. Don Tiburcio, a native of Extremadura, Spain, came to the Philippines as a customs officer, got seasick and broke a leg during his trip, was dismissed upon his arrival. Having very little money to his name, he went to the country provinces of the Philippines to practice medicine, despite the fact that he had no training as a doctor. Nonetheless, because he charged exorbitant amounts of money, people came to think of him as one of the country’s best doctors. In the Noli, through his wife’s machinations, he passes for a Doctor of Medicine who treats only patients “of quality.” His only qualifications were his work experience as an attendant in the hospital of San Carlos in Madris and his citizenship. After some time, the townspeople discovered his fraudulence and he was forced to find another means of survival. When María Clara falls ill, though, Tiburcio is once again falsely practicing medicine. His new wife Doña Victorina is a fierce social climber, so she convinced him to go back to medicine, advising him only to take on extremely well-respected patients. This is why Captain Tiago chooses him to attend to María Clara.  Supporting Characters 10. Sisa Narcisa or Sisa eventually settled and married in San Diego. Abused by her husband, she bore him two sons, Basilio and Crispin. She also gained the acquaintance of her neighbor, Pilosopo Tasio. After both of her sons went missing, Sisa went insane, wandering around town while searching for them. Sisa was a caring but submissive woman. Unable to stand up to her abusive husband, and later the Guardia Civil, Sisa went from one traumatic event to another, causing her to eventually lose her sanity due to the mental burden. This insanity manifested in her wandering around San Diego, calling out her children's names, and singing songs out of nowhere. Before her descent into madness, however, Sisa was a generous mother to her sons, as well as amiable towards people like her neighbor Pilosopo Tasio. Aware of her social status, Sisa at one point preferred to die at her house rather than be humiliated by being arrested by the Guardia Civil. In the novel, she was described as: “She was still young; once she must have been pretty and charming. Her eyes, which like her character, her sons had inherited, were beautiful, deep, and long-lashed; her nose was well-proportioned, her pale lips attractively drawn. Her complexion was what the Tagalogs call kayumangging kaligatan, that is to say, a clear, golden brown. In spite of her youth, or perhaps hunger, had made her pale cheeks sunken; and if her abundant hair, once her greatest glory, was still well groomed, with a simple chignon unadorned with pins and combs, it was not out of coquetry but habit.” From this eloquent description, Sisa is the Philippines. Her features are beautiful but are made uncomely by later sorrow and suffering. She represents the Motherland, as well as Rizal’s own mother and all Filipino women. This is the typical Filipino, submissive to all miseries, yet refusing any degradation to honor. 11. Basilio Basilio was born the son of Sisa in San Diego sometime in 1871. Growing up with his younger brother Crispin, the two eventually became sacristans at the San Diego parish. Following his mother's death and his brother's disappearance, Basilio fled the town and was taken in by Capitan Tiago. Living in Manila, he became a medical student, also joining the student organization attempting to found the Castilian Academy. Basilio was an optimistic and hopeful individual in spite of the hardships he faced. At a young age, Basilio demonstrated a certain maturity, aware of his father's abuse towards his mother and recognizing the need to find his family after he was taken in by Selo. As part of this maturity, Basilio dreamed of becoming a herdsman for Crisostomo Ibarra and eventually work in the fields in order to lift his family out of poverty. Basilio's optimism extended into his life as a young man, working tirelessly to become a doctor and participating in the student organization's efforts to establish the Castilian Academy. Because of his values, Basilio initially rejected Simoun's offer to join his revolution, reluctant to endanger himself and not wanting to avenge his family. However, after losing Juli, Basilio became embittered and joined Simoun's cause, not having anything left to lose. Throughout his life, Basilio was dutiful towards his family, including Capitan Tiago, whom he saw as a father. Taken in by Tiago a few days after Maria Clara entered the nunnery, Basilio approached Tiago with the intention of simply being his servant, although eventually taken in by him as a son. As with Sisa, Basilio demonstrated great care and devotion for Tiago, to the extent of tolerating his foul moods caused by his opium addiction. Tiago's death was among the many great losses Basilio suffered. 12. Crispin Born the son of Sisa, Crispin and his brother, Basilio, eventually became sacristans for the San Diego church. In 1881, on All Saints' Day, Crispin and his brother rang the bells in the San Diego church. Having been accused of stealing two gold pieces by the sacristan mayor, Crispin related his worries to his brother. When the sacristan mayor suddenly arrived and began beating them, Crispin was unable to escape while Basilio fled. He later went missing, presumably killed by the sacristan mayor and Padre Salvi. Crispin was described as a clever boy, making up riddles. 13. Cabesang Tales Cabesang Tales, full name Telesforo de Dios, was a former cabeza de barangay of San Diego. Struggling to gain ownership of the land he tilled, he eventually abandoned his family to join a group of bandits, becoming feared throughout the province as Matanglawin. Telesforo, nicknamed “Tales” was the son of the woodcutter, Tandang Selo. They lived in the forests of San Diego, and eventually Tales had a wife and three children: Lucia, Tano and Juli. Originally, Tales worked as a tenant on someone else’s farm but he decided that he wanted his own. Because of this, the family cut down trees to clear lands that they could farm. One by one, they got sick, and Tales’ wife and eldest daughter Lucia died from illness. The family believed that the forest spirits cursed them and were getting revenge. However, Tales had a successful first harvest. But right after that, a religious order claimed the family’s fees and began charging them an annual fee of twenty to thirty pesos. Tandang Selo advised Tales not to complain, so Tales did not protest. His farm became successful and he was able to build a house in Sagpang barrio in Tiani. Tales wanted to send his youngest daughter Juli to school but over time, the friars kept raising the annual fee. Tales eventually became cabeza de barangay, then earning the nickname “Cabesang Tales” but ended up paying any costs out of his own pocket. Combined with the increasing rental fees for his farms, Cabesang Tales could no longer send Juli to school. He protested the annual fees but a friar administrator sent servants to possess the land. As he later faced legal troubles due to friars staking claim on his land, he allowed Tano to be conscripted into the Guardia Civil and sent off to the Caroline Islands. Cabesang Tales stopped listening to Tandang Selo’s advice to not protest, and instead finally rebelled, saying he would only surrender his fields to “the first man who would water them with blood from his own veins.” Cabesang Tales used up his savings trying to get lawyers and officials to help him, and started patrolling his fields with a shotgun. The judges sided with the friars despite knowing that Cabesang Tales was right. The tulisanes managed to capture Cabesang Tales and at the beginning of El Filibusterismo (El Fili), are holding him for ransom, threatening to kill him if his family doesn’t give 500 pesos within two days. After Tales was suddenly captured by bandits, although later released. Returning home, he found his father struck dumb and his daughter serving as a maid to Hermana Penchang. After the arrival of the jeweler Simoun in San Diego in 1894, he entertained the man in his house, seeing him demonstrate the power of his revolver. As Simoun also tried to buy Juli's locket, it having previously belonged to Maria Clara, Tales refused. During the night, however, Tales took Simoun's revolver and left Juli's locket in exchange. He then joined a group of bandits.  With the group having its base in the mountains, Tales became known as the feared Matanglawin, and killed those involved in his land settlement case. Later on, Cabesang Tales maintained contact with Simoun, aiding him in his planned revolution. In April, he organized his bandits to attack Sta. Mesa on the night of Juanito and Paulita's wedding; however, the plan fell apart due to Isagani's intervention. Following the failed attack, Cabesang Tales continued to lead his bandits, joined by his father in their base. When Tales' bandits attacked a unit of Guardia Civil transferring prisoners across Laguna, Tales was killed by one of the soldiers, who was actually his son Tano, having returned to the Philippines. 14. Tandang Selo Tandang Selo was a woodcutter who lived in the forests of San Diego. Not much is known about his life before living with his son Tales. After retiring from woodcutting, he started making brooms. When Tales was an adult and started managing his own farm, Tandang Selo was supportive and eventually moved with the family to Sagpang barrio, where they currently live. Tandang Selo and his granddaughter Juli are the only ones living in Cabesang Tales’ house at the beginning of El Filibusterismo (El Fili) because Cabesang tales has been kidnapped by the tulisanes. The two are trying to raise money to pay for his ransom. Tandang Selo’s hair is described is white. For his age, he is in good health. From Chapter 8 onward, Tandang Selo becomes unable to speak after realizing he is alone. Tandang Selo prefers to live a simple life. He is mostly quiet, and the few times he is mentioned as talking, it’s to give advice to family members, such as when he reminds Cabesang Tales to be patient. He does not hide his feelings and shows very clearly when he is upset. When Juli tells him she is going to become a maid, he refuses to eat and threatens to go back to the forest to get her to. However, even when Tandang Selo disagrees with someone’s actions, he does not stop them. After Juli’s death, Tandang Selo becomes different. He leaves the barrio and becomes a terrorist, working with his son Cabesang Tales. But his love for his family never changes, and Tandang Selo is shot when he refuses to attack his grandson Tano. Tandang Selo is one of the bandits who attacks a group of soldiers who are beating prisoners. The group shoots Mautang dead, but the soldiers shoot back. After Carolino (who is actually Tano) shoots a figure who is holding up his rifle and yelling at Tano, another man (revealed later to be Tandang Selo) comes out holding a lance. The soldiers shoot him and then move closer as he is dying on a rock. A guard stabs Tandang Selo with a bayonet but Tandang Selo doesn’t notice, instead looking at Tano and pointing behind him. Tano recognizes Tandang Selo and Tandang Selo continues pointing behind the rocks, at Cabesang Tales’ body. 15. Juli Juli, full name Juliana de Dios, was a resident of San Diego and the daughter of Cabesang Tales. Juli was born a member of the De Dios Family and raised in San Diego along with two older siblings (Lucia and Tano), by her father Telesforo (Tales) and his wife (unnamed). After Juli’s father became a farmer and maintained his own lands, Juli’s older sister and mother eventually died from illness. When her grandfather Selo took in the injured Basilio in November of 1881, Juli became playmates with the young boy. She also witnessed Tano get drafted into the Guardia Civil. As Juli grew up, Tales became more successful and eventually the family moved to Sagpang barrio. Tales promised Juli that she would go to school, but became too busy to do so. However, the friars keep raising the rent of the house. The rent gets more and more expensive until Tales can no longer pay. Because of that, Juli never gets to go to school. Cabesang Tales refuses to give up his land to the friars and Juli gets sick. While living in Sagpang barrio, Juli met Basilio and the two started dating and became sweethearts. Cabesang Tales patrols the lands and gets taken hostage by the tulisanes. They ask for a 500 peso ransom and Juli only has 200 pesos in savings. She asks help from Sister Bali. Juli sells all her jewels (except the locket from Basilio) and earns 50 pesos. One day before the due date of Cabesang Tales’ ransom, Juli borrows the rest of the money from Sister Penchang, who becomes Juli’s new employer and mistress. Juli is scheduled to start her service on Christmas Day. Tandang Selo, Juli’s grandfather, is upset by her choice, but Juli tells him it was necessary. Juli spends her last night of freedom crying and thinking of Basilio, who probably cannot marry her now that she is poor. Upon Hermana Bali's advice, Juli asked for a loan from the wealthy Hermana Penchang, who gave her the money in exchange for taking her on as a maid. The following year, when Basilio was arrested on the charge of sedition, Juli learned of his subsequent imprisonment. Desperate, she sought the help of Padre Camorra, the parish priest of Tiani. While there, she was assaulted by him, causing her to jump off the church tower and commit suicide. 16. Father Florentino Padre Florentino is the only Indio priest mentioned in El Filibusterismo, since most Indios end up as priests’ assistants. He used to be considered charming and happy. Born to a wealthy socialite family from Manila, Florentino was eventually forced to become a priest by his religious mother. Unwilling, he resisted her by entering multiple love affairs and arguing with her. However, he eventually relented and became a Jesuit priest at twenty-five. As part of this, he was assigned parish priest of Tiani. At some point, his mother died and left him a great fortune. Later on, he discovered that his former sweetheart married a random man, despairing over the fact. He thus dedicated himself to his parishioners; after the 1872 Cavite mutiny and the subsequent Gomburza execution, Padre Florentino resigned as parish priest, fearing his parish's substantive income would draw attention to him and itself. He then retired to his ancestral home in Tiani. While there, he adopted a nephew, Isagani, who was rumored to be his son by a cousin or the son of his widowed former sweetheart. Rizal’s ultimate spokesman in the Fili is Father Florentino. He is distinguished native priest whose serious countenance evinced the “tranquility of a soul strengthened by study and meditation and perhaps tested by intimate moral sufferings.” He is Rizal’s portrait of the ideal shepherd of God’s flock. 17. Isagani Isagani was an orphan taken in by Padre Florentino, rumored to be his own son by a female cousin or a son of his widowed former sweetheart. At some point, he became lovers with Paulita Gomez. Isagani was one of the members of the student organization attempting to found the Castilian Academy. The adopted nephew of Padre Florentino, he joined the other students in their efforts to establish the academy, becoming entangled with the group's affairs alongside his close friend Basilio Isagani was an idealistic young man. Influenced by Padre Florentino's liberality as a Jesuit, he sought for genuine progress of the Philippines and was quick to vocalize said ideals. He was one of the active members of the student organization and described to be an optimist in contrast with the student Pecson. He was also devoted to his loves, namely poetry and Paulita, and displayed an interest in studying law. Isagani's devotion to Paulita eventually led to him giving up his ideals, presumably causing him much guilt and heartache. Rizal presents Isagani as the idealist, the illumined youth full of enthusiasm and inspired by the spirit of reform. Isagani, a young poet trained at the Ateneo, is a symbol of the liberated Filipino youth whose unselfish devotion urges him to save faithless Paulita. He aborts Simoun’s master conspiracy to blow up the Spanish hierarchy at the wedding party.  18. Paulita Gomez Paulita Gomez resides in Manila, having lived there since birth. She is well- known as a rich heiress, the niece of Dona Victorina and the girlfriend of Isagani. Her parents died when she was young, making her an orphan who was raised instead by her aunt. Because her family was always very wealthy, she had a sheltered upbringing and was used to having servants and slaves. She is said to be well-educated, although in El Filibusterismo (El Fili) she is never seen going to school. Therefore, she might have been taught at home. Paulita Gomez is almost always seen with her aunt Dona Victorina, even when she is out with a friend or with Isagani. As Isagani discussed his dreams with her, she dismissed them as being too idealistic. Following Isagani's imprisonment and eventual release, Paulita broke off her relationship with him and was betrothed instead to Juanito, having their wedding reception at the old house of Capitan Tiago. During the reception, the guests became panicked as the lamp given as a wedding gift by the jeweler Simoun bore a note from the dead Crisostomo Ibarra. As the lamp was about to explode, however, the plan was foiled by Isagani. Paulita was an immature and entitled young woman. Having been raised in a privileged environment, Paulita was spoiled, her statement of only traveling anywhere by coach or train being emblematic of this. Hearing only bad things about the country as she grew up, Paulita emulated her elders and also spoke badly of the Philippines. Because of this, she felt resentful and envious towards patriotic individuals such as Isagani. She was also somewhat emotionally manipulative, making Isagani feel guilty for attending the theater show when she had gone with Juanito. Paulita Gomez represents the aristocrat who yields to the habit of ethico-political selection in marriage. She disdains the morality and talent of Isagani, her sweetheart, and chooses Juanito Pelaez, a mestizo but is ignorant and foolish. 19. Teniente Guevarra Teniente Guevarra, full name Miguel Guevarra, was an elderly lieutenant of the Guardia Civil and a close friend of Don Rafael Ibarra. Holding a deep respect for the man, he later made efforts to protect Don Rafael's son Crisostomo after the latter came home from Europe. A lieutenant of the guardia civil, Guevarra befriended the wealthy Don Rafael Ibarra. Over time, he came to understand that Rafael had numerous enemies, being the richest man in the province of Laguna. After Rafael was imprisoned for killing a Spanish tax collector, Guevarra did everything in his power to have him freed, such as hiring a lawyer and contacting the Governor-General. By the time he had cleared Rafael's name, however, he had died in prison. When Rafael's son Crisostomo returned home from Europe soon after, Guevarra attended the party hosted for him by Capitan Tiago. While there, he almost entered a fistfight with Padre Damaso after debating with him regarding the natives. After Crisostomo left, he caught up with him and warned him of his own hidden enemies, sharing the story of how Rafael died.  20. Señor Pasta Señor Pasta and Father Florentino were classmates in school Even though Isagani knows that Senor Pasta was once classmates with his uncle, he decides to talk to Senor Pasta convince him with good arguments, hoping to get him to support the students’ petition using that method only. Isagani visits Senor Pasta in his office and ends up arguing with him about Hispanization. He notices that Senor Pasta is deliberately trying to confuse him with nonsense but is able to provide arguments that Senor Pasta cannot counter, managing to stay calm and respectful even when Senor Pasta calls him inexperienced. When Senor Pasta says he is busy, Isagani realizes that he no longer wants to talk and is disappointed, but leaves him alone. Señor Pasta, an affluent lawyer who was once a servant of the friars, is the intellectual Capitan Tiago because he is a mercenary. He refuses to help the students in their petition requesting the opening of an academy for the teaching of Castilian. Since he is the lawyer of the friars, he believes that he must not interfere in the resolution of the request, either as consulter or consulted. He is resigned to everything and is not socially conscious. 21. Don Custodio de Salazar y Sanchez de Monteredondo Don Custodio is implied to have been born in the province because it is stated that he came to Manila when he was young. After getting a good job, he married a mestiza from a rich family. Due to his skill and personality, he got involved with the government through many of his contracts. Eventually, he became a councilor, then a mayor. Don Custodio became very well-connected and well-known, to the point that he was appointed to many positions. Among them include being director of the Sociedad Economica de Amigos del Pais; councilor to the Administration; president of the administrative board of the Obras Pias; director of the Misericordia; advisor of the Banco Espanol Filipino; vice-president of the Board of Health of Manila; member of the Central Vaccination Board; brother of confraternities and archconfraternities; ponente, member-arbitrator of the Superior Commission of Primary Instruction. At the time he took his job seriously but would sometimes make decisions just to spite people he did not like. Later on, Don Custodio had to go to Spain for liver treatment. He became a member of the Spanish court but felt inferior to everyone there, because he was mocked by Conservatives. Because of that, he declared himself part of the Liberal Party and returned to the Philippines. Believing he learned a lot about politics in Spain, Don Custodio decided to use his knowledge to help Manila. His current most famous role is being one of Capitan General’s advisors and friends. Alias buena tinta (reliable source), he represents a composite picture of Spanish officials in the Philippine society. He is a Spanish official who occupies many positions in the government, although he does not have the time nor the qualifications for some of the positions. He believes that any idea which does not originate from him is not worthy of consideration. He finds pleasure in developing a feeling of inferiority among the Filipinos. He keeps on making plans and more plans without seriously taking action on them. He belongs to the class of Manila society which cannot take a step without having the newspapers heap titles upon them, calling each indefatigable, distinguished, zealous, active, profound, intelligent, well-informed, influential, and so on.  Some Friars Rizal depicts the corruption of the clergy in the characters of Father Damaso, Salvi, Sibyla, and Camorra. The friar was generally regarded as “the chief moral, political, and civil authority in the town, supported by his order, feared by the government, high powerful, consulted, listened to, believed and obeyed always by all.” The friars were also guilty of bribery and corruption. They enriched themselves not only by exhorting excessive fees for church services, but also by unjust acquisition of landed estates. The religious orders would stake claims on certain parcels of land and rent them out to tenants. Very often, the property was already owned by some natives who would vainly protest this illegal occupancy. 22. Father Salvi Around the 1880s, Bernardo Salvi or Father Salvi was assigned town curate of San Diego, successor of Padre Damaso, gaining great influence over the townspeople. During this time, he also struggled for control over the town with the alferez of the Guardia Civil, he later orchestrated the downfall of Crisostomo Ibarra, manipulating the townspeople in the process. At some point, he began lusting after Capitan Tiago's beautiful daughter, Maria Clara. Around this time, he also discovered Padre Damaso's letters to Maria Clara's mother, Doña Pia, learning that Padre Damaso was in fact Maria Clara's real father. On All Saints' Day, 1881, Padre Salvi was walking along near the town's cemetery when he was accosted by Ibarra at the gate, the young man demanding to know what he had done to Don Rafael. Frightened, Padre Salvi denied any involvement, claiming it was Padre Damaso. Later on, Padre Salvi along with the sacristan mayor presumably killed Crispin over his alleged theft of two gold pieces from the church coffers. When Ibarra began making efforts to establish a school in San Diego, Padre Salvi conspired to have him killed. To this end, he had the derrick operator drop the cornerstone on Ibarra during the cornerstone-laying ceremony for Ibarra's school, only for the plan to be foiled by Elias. At some point, Padre Salvi was assigned to a ministerial position at the Sta. Clara convent. Thirteen years later, Padre Salvi continued to be part of the country's prominent figures. While watching the supposed Sphinx at the American Mr. Leeds' show, Padre Salvi was nervous as the Sphinx told a story similar to Ibarra's, fainting when the Sphinx called him out. Later on during the wedding reception of Juanito Pelaez and Paulita Gomez, Padre Salvi was alarmed by the handwriting the guests found in a note placed inside a lamp given by the jeweler Simoun; recognizing it as the dead Ibarra's handwriting, Padre Salvi caused the guests to panic. 23. Father Camorra He serves as the parish priest of Tiani (San Diego), with aliases like “The friar- gunner”, Si Cabayo (The Stallion). Father Camorra has an obsession with Juli that Juli is aware of. She notices that he always teases her. Many of Father Camorra’s actions in the book are because of Juli, such as when he asks Capitan General to free Tandang Selo and beats up two boys that he sees serenading her. In order to free Tandang Selo, Father Camorra had asked for “sacrifices” from Juli while pinching her, and also asked her to kiss his hand. It is unknown what the “sacrifices” are but they cause Juli to become frightened of Father Camorra. Even though she knows that only Father Camorra could help her free Basilio, she only agrees to go to him when she realizes she has no other choice. Juli becomes depressed almost backs out at the last second because of her fear, but is pulled to the convento by Sister Bali.  What happens between Father Camorra, Juli and Sister Bali inside the convento is unknown, but ultimately causes Juli to commit suicide by jumping out the window. As a result, Father Camorra being the cause of Juli’s death causes him to be removed as parish priest of Tiani. 24. Father Sibyla Father Hernando de la Sibyla’s past is not mentioned. He is currently serving as the Vice-Rector of University of Santo Tomas. Father Sibyla does not respect his own students and thinks they are trying to rebel against him by petitioning for an Academy for Spanish. He sends someone to spy on them while they are having dinner. All students involved end up being arrested and later suspended. As Vice-rector of UST, Father Sibyla is extremely religious and conservative. Most of his decisions are influenced by his loyalty to the school and because of this, his choices conflict with the students and with priests of different orders. He looks down on almost everyone, and often complains about his tenants, the students and other Indios. He is resentful of the Jesuits) and views Dominicans as superior to them. He often uses his position as Vice-rector to his advantage. He manages to convince Capitan General to revive the Superior Commission to delay the petition for the Academy for Spanish, and when the students have dinner to celebrate the results, he sends a spy to watch them. It is not confirmed, however, if he is the one responsible for the poster incident. Even though he is Vice-rector of a University, he believes that the location does not matter when it comes to teaching, and that good facilities are not necessary because in the past, historical figures did not teach in schools. He is very much against the Petition for the Academy for Spanish because he thinks it is an act of rebellion by the students. Father Sibyla believes that if the students get their way, then they will “win” against the school. He is often referred to not by his name but by the title of “Vice-Rector.” Father Sibyla seems to be one of Capitan General’s unofficial advisors as he is one of those present in Los Banos He plays tresillo badly on purpose to let Capitan General win (so that Capitan General will side with him) and manages to convince Capitan General to revive the Superior Commission to delay the decision on the petition for the Academy for Spanish. After the poster incident, Capitan General holds a meeting, with Father Sibyla being one of the few invited to attend 25. Father Irene Father Irene is a mysterious priest who seems to keep a lot of secrets. He has connections with many characters, including Basilio, the students, Father Salvi and Capitan General. He spends most of El Filibusterismo sharing information with other people; however, a lot of the information he shares turns out to be false. Father Irene lies a lot and his statements often contradict each other depending on who he is talking to, but he is usually calm and smiling during most situations. This makes it difficult to tell if he is ever telling the truth. Examples include lying to the students about being the only one to support the petition for the Academy for Spanish, saying he is against the play but watching it in disguise and telling Basilio to keep Capitan Tiago alive while also keeping Capitan Tiago addicted with opium. Because of his contradictory actions, his true motives and beliefs remain unknown. Despite being a priest he seems to value wealth, as he is always dressed in expensive cloth and is given money and gifts by other characters. Father Irene is described as being beardless, and his big nose is often mentioned in the novel, by other characters who make fun of it. His nose is so recognizable that even while wearing a disguise, students easily tell that it’s him. He is often dressed in silk clothes. He is shown to be very manipulative and is able to convince many people to believe his lies. He fools the students into believing that he is the only person to support the Petition for the Academy for Spanish) and manages to prevent Capitan General from rejecting the petition. By the end of El Filibusterismo, he has gained control of Capitan Tiago’s will, with Basilio being removed from it instead. It is never confirmed, however, if this was his goal all along. Camorra is unaware, and does not say a word about Sibyla’s poor playing because he respects him. But he finds Irene “contemptible and sleek, whose crudeness he detested.” He works together with the students to get the petition for the Academy for Spanish approved, although it might only be because they gave him horses to convince him to help. Father Irene can speak French, a detail revealed in. He is also described as a “melomaniac”, which is someone who is sensitive to tones in sound. Other Characters 26. Juanito Pelaez Juanito Pelaez is said to have been born an Indio with mestizo blood. The identity and whereabouts of his mother are unknown as she is not mentioned. It is suggested that his Spanish blood was passed down from his father, Don Timoteo Pelaez. Don Timoteo Pelaez is widely known in Manila, showing that Juanito Pelaez’s family has probably lived there for some time as that is where their business is based. Don Timoteo Pelaez runs a very successful store that provides, among many products, construction supplies. Juanito Pelaez was a prankster as a child and would often trick people, then hide behind others. As a result, him crouching by hiding so often caused him to always look like he has a hump on his back. Juanito Pelaez is currently a student in UST. Juanito Pelaez is recognizable among other students because of the rounded hump on his back due to his bad posture. It is mentioned that he grew it from always playing dirty tricks on people and then crouching behind his companions. He is described as having a “roguish look and the smile of a clown”, to the point that the few times he is not smiling (like when he is suspended from school), it is immediately mentioned. Juanito Pelaez is the class clown of UST, referred to as a ‘barbero’ (favorite of the professors) because of his joking nature and friendly attitude toward everyone. He is said to be “crafty and ill-mannered as could be”) and loves to prank people. Apart from making fun of his classmates he also doesn’t mind insulting himself and calling himself stupid. Juanito Pelaez is fond of talking and will often take over the conversation with whoever he is talking to. He jokes around frequently, causing those around him to never take him seriously. Despite being teased often by his friends and teachers, Juanito Pelaez does not appear to mind and will even make fun of himself. He does not react badly when insulted, instead making more funny comments to lighten the mood. It is for that reason that many of the older characters, especially his professors, find Juanito Pelaez to be very likable. He can be self-centered as he often talks about himself, as seen in when he asks Placido Penitente how he is and ignores his response to talk about his own vacation in the province. In a different scene after the poster incident, Juanito Pelaez is only concerned about proving that he is innocent. He tells Basilio that he had nothing to do with the Students’ Association, even though that is false. Other students do not have a high opinion of him as they consider him “unreliable” for not showing up to meetings, and he also has a history of skipping classes. Still, Juanito Pelaez’s efforts at self-preservation are eventually seen as shrewd and clever by Paulita Gomez in later chapters. During his wedding, Juanito Pelaez wears a frock coat and is again described with a “roguish look” and looking like the god of love, according to Ben Zayb. However, his hump is still visible.  27. Macaraig The most notable feature of Macaraig is that he is very wealthy. He occupies one of his houses by himself and has a servant, cochero, his own arana (vehicle) and horses. Since he grew up rich, it is also apparent in his behavior, as he is described as having “graceful countenance” and “fine manners.” He is also said to be “elegant”. It is apparent that even priests are aware of Macaraig’s fortune, as Padre Irene defends him by calling him “charming and rich.” Macaraig is aware of his reputation as a wealthy person and appears to enjoy it and use it to his advantage. He is said to have used his money to gain more knowledge and become more open-minded. He is also a “dialectician in the scholastic tradition” and perhaps his interest in languages is what causes him to be pro-Hispanization. Macaraig is very enthusiastic about supporting the petition for the Academy for Spanish. Though his reasons for doing so are never stated, he is even willing to allow one of his houses to be used as a school. He is considered one of the “heads” of the project and actively finds ways to help improve their chances of getting the petition approved. At the end of El Filibusterismo, Macaraig again relies on his wealth, this time to get out of a bad situation: he bails himself out of jail and then uses his money to get a passport so he can go to Europe. This is difficult to do as Capitan General’s rule states that only those who can “spend and live with ease” in European cities are allowed to leave. 28. Placido Penitente Placido Penitente was originally from Batangas. He was considered a very good student and was so smart that the parish priest called him a subversive. His father passed away though it is unclear what the cause of death was, and how old Placido Penitente was when it happened. His mother, Cabesang Andang, promised his father at some point that Placido Penitente would finish school and become a lawyer. Sometime during his childhood, he had an uncle who taught him while tugging his ears that one should never sign something without reading it. Since then, Placido Penitente began associating signing things with that sensation. Eventually, Placido Penintente went to Manila to study in UST and fulfill his parents’ wishes. However, by the time he reached fourth year, he hated school and wanted to leave. He wrote to his mother twice to ask if he could leave his studies and work, but Cabesang Andang said he should graduate or else it would be a waste of four years. Placido Penitente is said to be highly intelligent, but hates his classes, most likely due to his teachers disliking him and thinking he is a subversive. He himself tends to look down on other people’s intelligence, as he constantly calls Juanito Pelaez an idiot to his face. Placido Penitente was a good student ever since childhood, and even in University he is described as “one of the most dedicated” in classes. He is a brilliant debater and one of the best Latinists even though his hatred of classes is well-known even among his fellow students. It is due to his intelligence that priests dislike him, thinking he is a subversive. Placido Penitente is superstitious and tends to makes decisions based on folktales, such as when he gives money only because he heard another student did something similar and passed their classes. Another example is when he is asked to sign a petition, but decides not to because he heard from his uncle a story about a cabeza de barangay who went to jail after signing something without reading it beforehand. He decides to go to Hong Kong just because the silversmith told him a story about friars having fake silver items made in Hong Kong, interpreting that as a sign that business is going well there. It is unknown what Simoun tells Placido Penitente to convince him to stay in the Philippines and join the cause. Because Placido Penitente does not appear to care for Hispanization or the government, it is possible he only joined Simoun for the sake of getting revenge against the priests and the University.  29. Father Fernandez Father Fernandez is a Dominican professor at University of Santo Tomas. He has been teaching for more than eight years. Padre Fernandez is considered different from all the priests because he is polite, welcoming to everyone and willing to listen to other people’s points of view. Because of that, he is respected even by his fellow priests. He is often calm and collected, even during an argument and does not angry even when the person he is talking to says something offensive. He admits to Isagani that he “likes men of conviction”. Even after Isagani criticizes the priests and government, Padre Fernandez treats him fairly. While talking, he prefers to walk while doing so because he believes it helps ideas come to him better. Father Fernandez is very intelligent and the other priests, and even highly respected figures like Capitan General, Don Custodio and Simoun are aware of this. In Los Banos, everyone becomes quiet and listens to Father Fernandez’s opinion on the petition for the Academy for Spanish because they believe he has a “thinking head”. Together with his open-mindedness, Padre Fernandez’s knowledge allows him to explain properly the points of view of different people and he learns more and more by asking other people about their beliefs. Unlike the other priests, he recognizes the importance of Indios and is aware that living with harmony with them is necessary. He thinks that Indios should be given what they want, as long as the demand is fair. He is one of the few adults who openly supports the petition for the Academy for Spanish, because he believes that Indios and priests should be able to understand each other. Father Fernandez thinks that supporting freedom of education is suicide, and argues with Isagani that only those who want to be educated deserve education. He believes that if students fail, it’s the students’ fault instead of the teachers. He also believes that people can choose to not be educated if they do not want to be, but Isagani contradicts him and gives examples proving why Padre Fernandez is wrong. Later, Padre Fernandez admits to himself that Isagani has defeated his arguments. 30. Ben Zayb Ben Zayb is a journalist who has his own column, called “El Grito de la Integridad”. He writes under the name Ibanez. People often call him “Father Ybanez” because he looks like a friar, but he denies the resemblance. Throughout El Filibusterismo (El Fili) he is shown to have a rivalry with Horatius, a writer for “Pyrotecnia”. Even though he is well-connected and is considered a prominent figure in Manila, Ben Zayb lives in a basement room shared with other people. Ben Zayb is said to look like a friar (and is once described as a ‘journalist- friar’), implying that he is overweight. He often mentions to people what his next article will be about. He is fond of showing off his knowledge in various topics, particularly science, and can be very self-centered, refusing to believe he is wrong and not caring about other people’s suffering as long as he gets something out of it. He sees himself as one of the few intelligent people in the Philippines and believes having a wide knowledge is necessary for journalists. He is one of the few people happy after the poster incident because he believes it helped prove his point) that education is bad. He even gets upset when he has nothing to write about, and wishes that a crime would take place just so he can write an article about it. Even though Ben Zayb can be uncaring toward the population as a whole, Ben Zayb is loyal to his friends to the point that he always praises them. In return, Ben Zayb’s peers don’t take him seriously. Father Camorra is always arguing with him, and his rival Horatius always insults him. Despite this, people of Manila seem to respect Ben Zayb: among the students, Tadeo calls him a great writer and Pecson quotes Ben Zayb’s articles.  Even though he is friendly to most people he talks to, Ben Zayb has his biases and believes himself to be the only intelligent Indio. He also thinks Chinese people are “illogical” despite knowing Chinaman Quiroga personally. 31. Quiroga Chinaman Quiroga is a successful businessman who is actually quite generous with his wealth. He often gives gifts to people, such as jewels and cigars, and throws dinner parties at the top of his bazaar. He also is known for lending money and is friendly to everyone he talks to. It is unknown when Chinaman Quroga came to the Philippines, but since then he has become a successful businessman who owns a bazaar and several warehouses. He is a very prominent figure in Manila and is known by all other characters as being very wealthy and influential. Chinaman Quiroga is considered so successful that the students even consider him to be “one of the four powers of the Filipino world” (Chapter 25). He often gives gifts to other wealthy people, knowing that maintaining good relationships with them would benefit his business. As a businessman, he is constantly shipping goods into the Philippines, to the point that it is said he can get anything through customs, which is something not even Simoun is capable of. Chinaman Quiroga is said to be someone who is not easily influenced, and is known not to side with anyone due to personal friendships or bribery. This is a quality he is apparently proud of. However, he still manages to be manipulated by Simoun into keeping guns into his warehouses just so he can get a better deal on jewels. 32. Governor General Very little is known about Governor General before he got the position of Governor of the Philippines. When he was younger, he was a comandante involved in the war of Cuba. That is where he became friends with Simoun, who lent him money and earned his trust. Governor General got married. Three years before the events of El Filibusterismo, he was appointed to the Philippines by the Spanish minister. However, it is not known why or how he was chosen. He moved to the Philippines, bringing his wife with him. One of his houses is located in Los Banos, where he tends to conduct his meetings with his advisors to help him. While in Manila, he stays in the palace. He has developed a reputation among Indios of being strict, greedy and promoting injustices in the country, though according to Simoun this is due to his manipulation. At the beginning of El Filibusterismo, his term is five months away from ending. Even though he has developed a reputation for being greedy and strict, throughout El Filibusterismo, he is very friendly toward everyone he talks to, including his own secretary. However, this may be because Capitan General only speaks to prominent figures of Manila throughout the book, and never interacts with regular people such as students. He is at times very self-centered and is mostly concerned with what people think of him, such as when he worries about being embarrassed while on a hunting trip. Despite being in charge of the Philippines, he is shown to be a poor leader. He does not seem to care about most of the population. He often makes decisions based on how he wants people to see him. Depending on his mood, he wants to be seen by the Philippine population as sometimes strict and sometimes merciful. He is easily influenced by other people, and therefore can never make a firm decision if several people are giving him conflicting advice. He is most commonly influenced by Simoun as he often goes with Simoun’s suggestions, while ignoring the priests’ advice.  He believes that the government and people must make sacrifices to achieve a greater good. He tends to bring up only the biggest national issues as an excuse to ignore smaller issues. When asked to provide a schoolmaster with a roof for his schoolhouse, he gets angry instead and says that the schoolmaster does not have the right to complain when there are people starving. He also believes that people should be afraid of the government, so that they will respect it. He does not care about the Philippines and even admits this to High Official, claiming it is because the Philippine people did not choose him as their leader. He only did his job because Spain assigned him to, and on the last few months of his term, cares only about the money he will be bringing back to Spain. 33. Doña Pia Alba Doña Pia was born to the wealthy Alba family in Sta. Cruz, Manila. After she married Capitan Tiago, she granted him social status. Not satisfied with merely buying and selling various products, she had her husband buy land in San Diego in order to be able to plant and harvest crops. Around this time, the couple befriended the parish priest, Padre Damaso, and Don Rafael, the richest merchant in town. Due to Tiago being infertile, Doña Pia failed to conceive. Six years into their marriage, she took pilgrimages, novenas, and other religious practices with the hopes of being granted a child. Upon Padre Damaso's advice, she traveled to Obando, Bulacan, which was famous for its fertility rites. She was accompanied there by Padre Damaso; while there, she became pregnant with his child. Entering a depression, she later died while birthing her daughter Maria Clara. 34. Doña Consolacion Doña Consolacion shows the mentality of the civil guard because she is the mistress of the alferez. She is vulgar, imprudent, quarrelsome, and cruel. An older Filipina woman married to the alferez. Doña Consolación is a brutal, vulgar partner who berates the alferez, engaging him in intense physical fights heard across the town. It is well known that she makes many of the alferez’s decisions, and she even fuels his rivalry with Father Salví, encouraging her husband to take action against the priest to assert his dominance. Rizal depicts Doña Consolación as incredibly crass and very ugly, writing that her one “sterling trait” is that she seems to have “never looked in the mirror.” Much like Doña Victorina, with whom she eventually gets into an intense fight, she believes herself to be much more worthy of respect than she actually is, constantly deceiving herself in regards to her station in life. She even pretends to not remember her native language, Tagalog, instead speaking very bad Spanish. 35. Alferez A Spaniard in charge of the Civil Guard in San Diego. The alferez has a bitter relationship with Father Salví, since he thinks Father Salví takes his position too seriously. To retaliate against Salví (who uses his religious authority to control the ensign), the alferez enforces curfews that make it difficult for the citizens of San Diego to attend church at the proper times. Given to excessive drinking and unnecessary displays of power, the alferez is married to a strong-willed Filipina woman named Doña Consolación