COMPARATIVE RESEARCH IN NOLI AND EL FILI OF RIZAL’S NOVEL

Both novels, the Noli Me Tangere (Touch Me Not) and the El Filibusterismo, (The Filibuster) inspired by the patriotic ideals of national hero, Dr. Jose Rizal, depict the abuses suffered by the native indios at the hands of Spanish tyrants.

Dr. Jose Rizal's second novel, El Filibusterismo, is a political treatise and is a maturer book than his first novel Noli Me Tangere. The Noli is a book of feeling and deep emotion; the Fili, a book of thought. The Noli Me Tangere reflected Rizal's conviction about education as proper way of liberating the Filipino from the Spanish occupation. The Noli exposed the evils of society; hence, the title was translated to English The Social Cancer. The Fili exposed the evils of the people in government and in church; thus, the translation The Reign of Greed. The Noli therefore, is a novel of society while the Fili is a novel of politics. In the Noli, the ridiculous actions of the unworthy government officials and unholy church people made us laugh in derision in the Fili the misfortunes of the Filipinos in the hands of the cruel and abusive Spaniards made us cry. In El Filibusterismo, the peaceful and progressive Filipino leader Crisostomo Ibarra who in Noli Me Tangere wanted to educate his people by building schools, is converted into a bloody revolutionist. He is now known as Simoun, the jeweler, a malignant character who, because of his wealth, has gained access of the Spanish officials. Secretly he plots a revolution. He wants to arouse the feelings of the people by all possible means. He incites the government to create more abuses so that the people may have much cause to revolt as soon as possible.

If Rizal was famous before, he became more so after the publication of El Filibusterismo in 1891. This second book, more than the Noli Me Tangere, must have given stronger impetus and greater urgency to the cause of the Revolution. Dr. Rizal's greatest claim to being first in our political history is that he was the real founder of Philippine Nationalism. At his death, he bequeathed to us Filipinos his yearning for liberty while also giving us the necessary background of sacrifice. Truly we can say that Rizal was a model toward which Philippine life maw aspire. And in the words of the scholar Trinidad H. Pardo de Tavera," The appearance of Rizal announced that the Filipino race was able to give birth to individuals endowed with the highest attributes, who could be considered an honor to the human race."

Geramei V. Tejada

BSN - IIIA