El Filibusterismo as fiction
If El Filibusterismo
is the sequel to Noli me Tangere, should one first read Noli me Tangere?
No, that is not necessary because Rizal’s second novel can stand on its own.
There are references to characters in the Noli me Tangere that would make the reader curious, but El Filibusterismo
is complete in itself. Even for those who have not read the first novel,
Simoun, the protagonist in El Filibusterismo is clearly portrayed so that it is quite easy to imagine him as the young
Crisostomo Ibarra in Noli me Tangere.
Both novels make a good read,
with an ample mix of romance, humor, and satire. For his second novel, however,
Rizal borrowed quite a lot from the plot and main characters of Alexander Dumas’
The Count of Montecristo, with Simoun as “the avenging black angel”.
Both the Noli and the Fili were used, quite obviously, as a medium for describing life in Manila and nearby provinces
under the oppresive rule of the Spanish colonizers, and to mock the miserable attempts of some Indios to try to be like their
colonizers. "Indio" was the term used for natives; "Filipinos" meant those of Spanish
blood born in Las Islas Filipinas. Both novels can also be read as history, more specifically as historical fiction,
considering that a great deal were based on actual characters and events.
I find Noli me Tangere
more dramatic, and the scornful laughter applies to both the two Doņas—Victorina and Consolacion—as well as to
the mad Sisa and to Maria Clara, the beautiful and kind but simpering ninny who is generally regarded as the “heroine”
in the novel. On the other hand, El Filibusterismo has a more serious
theme, focused on the issue of education (or lack of it) that could either lead to revolution or a total reform of the social
system by the Spanish government.
El Filibusterismo
as history and satire
El
Filibusterismo is a historical novel. Imaginary characters are developed within events and situations based on the social
and political realities of the time. Rizal used characters like Isagani, Padre Florentino, and Father Fernandez to express
his ideas on education and social reform. Other characters like Ben-Zayb, Sister Penchang, Sister Bali, and Doņa
Victorina were used to poke fun at bizzare "religious" practices or to ridicule the pretensions of both
natives and Spanish. Don Custodio and the high official portrayed the losing battle of improving the then
prevailing social and economic conditions, whereas Kapitan Tales and Basilio represented what could happen if things get intolerable.
Rizal's social satire was
brutal as it was true. The use of irony and caricature, Doņa Victorina being the most popular example, produced a
sardonic humor that is much like the kind used by Guy de Maupassant in his short stores and Ludvig Holberg in his comedies.
But there were many instances in the novel where the laughter is innocent fun and only mildly critical of the naive and
the simple folk.
Definitions
Satire - A literary work in which human vice or
folly is attacked through irony, derision, or wit.
Caricature - A representation, especially
pictorial or literary, in which the subject's distinctive features or peculiarities are deliberately exaggerated to produce
a comic or grotesque effect.
Irony - A literary style employing such contrasts for humorous or rhetorical
effect
