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1. CHAPTER 8
Noli Me Tangere published in
Berlin (1887)

2. The bleak winter of 1886 was memorable in the life of Rizal for two reasons: first, it was a
painful episode for he was hungry. sick, and despondent in a strange city and, second, it brought
him great joy, after enduring so much sufferings, because his First novel Noli Me Tangere came
off the press in March, 1887. Like the legendary Santa Claus, Dr. Maximo Viola, his friend from
Bulacan, arrived in Berlin at the height of his despondency and loaned him the needed funds to
publish the novel.
Rizal dedicated the novel to his motherland, aiming to illuminate the social conditions and
the sufferings of the Filipino people under Spanish tyranny. He chose the title, “Noli Me
Tangere,” based on Jesus’ utterance upon his resurrection, to symbolize his country’s desire
for liberation. The novel, along with its sequel “El Filibusterismo” (1891), significantly
influenced the Philippine revolution against Spanish rule, and inspired a generation of
Filipinos to fight for their country’s independence. Rizal was executed in 1896 by the Spanish
colonial government for the crime of rebellion. The revolution inspired by his writings
nevertheless eventually resulted in Philippine independence almost 60 years later, making
Rizal a national hero.
Idea of Writing a Novel on the Philippines

3. The first half of Noli me Tangere was written in Madrid, Spain from 1884-1885 while Dr. José P.
Rizal was studying for medicine.
While in Germany, Rizal wrote the second half of Noli me Tan0gere from time-to-time starting
February 21, 1887. After he read the novel Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe, he had an
inspiration to write his own novel with the same topic–to expose Spanish colonial abuse in print.
Beecher Stowe's novel describes black slavery abuse done by white men. Rizal suggested to his
fellow Filipino friends in Europe, through writing, to have a meeting and plan for writing a novel
similar to that of Beecher Stowe's. (At this moment, Rizal planned not to write the novel himself,
but through collective efforts done by other Filipinos who shared ideals with him.) In 1884, Rizal
and his friends including the Paterno brothers–Pedro, Maximo, and Antonio; Graciano López-
Jaena, Evaristo Aguirre, Eduardo de Lete, Melecio Figueroa, Valentín Ventura and Julio Llorento;
decided to meet at the Paternos' house in Madrid. Each of them agreed to write a unified novel.
Suddenly, when the writing began, most of them wanted to change the topic from Spanish abuse to
somehow related to women. Rizal walked-out of the hall and decided to write the novel himself.
The writing of the Noli

4. Viola, Savior of the Noli
In the centre of his suffering and his despondency. From Dr. MaximoViola, who was going to
Berlin, Rizal got a telegram. This friend of Rizal's was ascion of the affluent San Miguel
Bulacan family. This means that he wasrich. He was saddened to see Rizal living in
poverty and deplorably sickly dueto lack of adequate nourishment when he arrived in
Berlin shortly beforeChristmas Day of 1887. Viola, being filled with sufficient money, gladly
decidedto cover the printing expense of the Noli after seeing the plight of his talentedfriend.
He loaned Rizal some cash for living expenses as well. Thus, ithappened that Rizal
and Viola were able to celebrate Christmas in Berlin in1886 with a sumptuous feast. Rizal put
the final touches to his novel after theChristmas season. He omitted some passages in his
manuscript to save printing costs,including a whole chapter—"Elias and Salome.The Noli
was fully completed and ready for printing on February 21, 1887. Rizal wentto numerous
printing shops in Berlin with Viola, the savior of the Noli, to survey the printingprices. They
eventually found a Berliner Buchdruckrei-Action-Gesselschaft printing shop aftera few days of
enquiries, which paid the lowest cost, that is, 300 pesos for 2,000 copies of thebook. It must be
noted that in Berlin, Germany, Noli Me Tangere was published.

5. Rizal suspected as french spy
Noli, a rare incident happened to Rizal. One morning the chief of police Berlin paid a sudden visit to
Rizal's boarding house and requested to see the latter's passport. Unfortunately, Rizal could not
produce a passport, for he had none - in those days it was possible to travel without a passport. The
police chief then told him to secure a passport within four days, otherwise he would be deported.
Immediately, Rizal, accompanied by Viola went to the Spanish embassy to seek the help of the
Spanish ambassador, the Count of Benomar, who promised to attend to the matter. But the
ambassador failed to keep his promise, for it turned out that he had no power to issue the required
passport.
At the expiration of the four-day ultimatum, Rizal presented himself at the office of the German
police chief, apologizing for his failure to obtain a passport and politely asked the latter why he was
to be deported when he had not committed any crime. The police chief informed him that he had
received intelligence reports that he (Rizal) had made frequent visits to the villages and little towns
in the rural areas, thereby arousing the German government's suspicion that he was a French spy,
inasmuch as he entered Germany from Paris, where he resided for some years and was apparently a
lover of France, whose language and culture he knew so much. At that time the relations between
France and Germany were strained on account of Alsace-Lor-raine.

6. Rizal, in fluent German language, explained to the police chief he was not a French spy, but was a
Filipino physician and scientist, particularly an ethnologist. As an ethnologist, he visited rural areas
of the countries he visited to observe the customs and life-styles of their simple inhabitants.
Favorably impressed with Rizal's explanation and fascinated by his mastery of the German
language and personal charisma, the police chief was satisfied and allowed him to stay freely in
Germany
Printing of the Noli finished
March 21, 1887, the Noli Me Tangere came off the press. Rizal immediately sent the first copies of
the printed novel to his intimate friends, including Blumentrit, Dr. Antonio Ma. Regidor, G. lopez
Jaena, Mariano Ponce, and Felix Hidalgo.
March 29, 1887, Rizal, in token of his appreciation and gratitude, gave Viola the galley proofs of the
Noli carefully rolled around the pen that he used in writing it and a complimentary copy

7. The Title of the Novel
The title Noli Me Tangere is a Latin phrase which means "Touch Me Not." It is not originally con-
ceived by Rizal, for he admitted taking it from the Bible.
Rizal, writing to Felix R. Hidaldo in French on March 5, 1887, said: "Noli Me Tangere, words taken
from the Gospel of Saint Luke, signify "do not touch me."4 In citing the Biblical source, Rizal made a
mistake. It should be the Gospel of St. John (Chapter 20, Verses 13 to 17). According to St. John, on
the First Easter Sunday, St. Mary Magdalene visited the Holy Sepulcher, and to her Our Lord Jesus,
just arisen from the dead, said:
"Touch me not: I am not yet ascended to my Father. but go to my brethren, and say
unto them. I ascend unto my Father, and your Father, and to my God and your God"

8. The Author's Dedication
Rizal dedicated his Noli Me Tangere to the Philippines "To My Fatherland." His dedication runs
as follows:
Recorded in the history of human sufferings is a cancer so malignant a character that the least
touch irritates it and awakens in it the sharpest pains. Thus, how many times, when in the midst
of modern civilizations I have wished to call thee before me, now to accompany me in memories,
now to compare thee with other countries, hath thy dear image presented itself showing a social
cancer like to that other!
Desiring thy welfare which is our own, and seeking the best treatment. I will do with thee what
the ancients did with their sick, exposing them on the steps of the temple so that every one who
came to invoke the Divinity might offer them a remedy.
And to this end, I will strive to reproduce thy condition faithfully, without discriminations; I will
raise a part of the veil that covers the evil, sacrificing to truth everything, even vanity itself, since,
as thy son I am conscious that I also suffer from thy defects and weaknesses.

9. Synopsis of the Noli
The plot revolves around Crisostomo Ibarra, mixed-race heir of a wealthy clan, returning home
after seven years in Europe and filled with ideas on how to better the lot of his countrymen.
Striving for reforms, he is confronted by an abusive ecclesiastical hierarchy and a Spanish civil
administration by turns indifferent and cruel. The novel suggests, through plot developments,
that meaningful change in this context is exceedingly difficult, if not impossible.
The death of Ibarra’s father, Don Rafael, prior to his homecoming, and the refusal of a Catholic
burial by Padre Damaso, the parish priest, provokes Ibarra into hitting the priest, for which
Ibarra is excommunicated. The decree is rescinded, however, when the governor general
intervenes. The friar and his successor, Padre Salvi, embody the rotten state of the clergy.
Their tangled feelings—one paternal, the other carnal—for Maria Clara, Ibarra’s
sweetheart and rich Capitan Tiago’s beautiful daughter, steel their determination to
spoil Ibarra’s plans for a school. The town philosopher Tasio wryly notes similar past
attempts have failed, and his sage commentary makes clear that all colonial masters
fear that an enlightened people will throw off the yoke of oppression.

10. Precisely how to accomplish this is the novel’s central question, and one which Ibarra debates with
the mysterious Elias, with whose life his is intertwined. The privileged Ibarra favors peaceful
means, while Elias, who has suffered injustice at the hands of the authorities, believes violence is
the only option. Ibarra’s enemies, particularly Salvi, implicate him in a fake insurrection, though
the evidence against him is weak. Then Maria Clara betrays him to protect a dark family secret,
public exposure of which would be ruinous. Ibarra escapes from prison with Elias’s help and
confronts her. She explains why, Ibarra forgives her, and he and Elias flee to the lake. But chased by
the Guardia Civil, one dies while the other survives. Convinced Ibarra’s dead, Maria Clara enters the
nunnery, refusing a marriage arranged by Padre Damaso. Her unhappy fate and that of the more
memorable Sisa, driven mad by the fate of her sons, symbolize the country’s condition, at once
beautiful and miserable. Using satire brilliantly, Rizal creates other memorable characters whose
lives manifest the poisonous effects of religious and colonial oppression. Capitan Tiago; the
social climber Doña Victorina de Espadaña and her toothless Spanish husband; the
Guardia Civil head and his harridan of a wife; the sorority of devout women; the
disaffected peasants forced to become outlaws: in sum, a microcosm of Philippine society.
In the afflictions that plague them, Rizal paints a harrowing picture of his beloved but
suffering country in a work that speaks eloquently not just to Filipinos but to all who
have endured or witnessed oppression.

11. The "Noli" based on truth
The Noli Me Tangere, unlike many works of fictional literature, was a true story of Philippine
conditions during the last decades of Spanish rule. The places, the characters, and the situations
really existed. "The facts I narrate there," said Rizal, "are all true and have happened; I can prove
them.
The characters - Ibarra, Maria Clara, Elias, Tasio, Capitan Tiago, Padre Damaso, Padre Salvi, etc.
were drawn by Rizal from persons who actually existed during his times. Maria Clara was
Leonor Rivera, although in real life she became unfaithful, unlike the heroine of the novel, and
married an Englishman. Ibarra and Elias represented Rizal himself. Tasio the philosopher was
his elder brother, Paciano. Padre Salvi was identified by Rizalists as Padre Antonio Piernavieja,
the hated Augustinian friar in Cavite who was killed by the patriots during the Revolu-tion.
Capitan Tiago was Capitan Hilario Sunico of San Nicolas. Doña Victorina was Doña Agustina
Medel. The two brothers Basilio and Crispin were the Crisostomo brothers of Hagonoy. Padre
Damaso was typical of a domineering friar during the days of Rizal, who was arrogant, immoral,
and anti-Filipino.

12. Missing Chapter of the Noli
Missing Chapter of the Noli. In the original manuscript of Noli Me Tangere, there was a chapter
entitled "Elias and Salome" which follows Chapter XXIV "In the Woods". This particular chapter on
Elias and Salome was deleted by Rizal so that it was not included in the printed novel. His reason
for doing so was definitely economic. By reducing the pages of the manuscript, the cost of printing
would correspondingly be reduced.
The summary of the Story “Elias and Salome”
Salome is a modest young lady, wearing worn-out clothes that are nonetheless clean and decent.
Her garments are covered with patches, which she most likely stitched herself, and the only
accessories she has on her are a comb made from turtle shell on her hair, and a black rosary around
her neck. Salome waits desperately for Elias, thinking that he would pass by the water any time
soon. Elias, however, is nowhere to be seen because he is in fact hiding from the authorities who are
currently patrolling the lake. When the two finally get to meet, Salome tells the youth of her plan to
move to Mindoro and live with her relatives, and requests that he go with her. Elias, however,
refuses her offer because he does not want her to be entangled with the tragedies and troubles of
his past. He tells the lady that she must marry an honorable and respectable man, one whom she
truly deserves and who can make her happy.

13. Rizal’s Friends Praise the Noli
The friends of Rizal hailed the novel, praising it in glowing colors. As expected, Rizal’s enemies
condemned it. Rizal anticipated the vitriolic attacks of his enemies, who were sore to be told the
truth of their evil ways. As he Blumentritt: “the government and the friars will probably attack
the work, refuting my statements, but I trust in God of truth and in the persons who
haveactually seen our sufferings” Of the numerous congratulatory letters received by Rizal from
his friends about the Noli, that from Blumentritt was significant, “First of all” wrote Blumentritt
“accept my cordial congratulations for your beautiful novel about customs which interest me
extraordinarily, Your work, as we Germans say, has been written with blood of the heart, and so
the heart also speaks. I continue reading it with much interest, I shall beg to ask you now and
then for an explanation when I find words unknown to me; for instance, the word filibustermust
have certain meaning in the Philippines that I do not find in the Spanish of the Peninsular nor in
the that of the Spanish peoples of America”. Blumentritt knew that Rizal is a man of
extraordinary talent and he is happy to have been honored with Rizal’s friendship. In London,
Dr. Antonio Ma. Regidor, Filipino patriot and lawyer who had been exiled due to his complicity
in Cavite Mutiny of 1872, read avidly the Noli and was very much impressed by its author.

14. On May 3,1887, he felicitated Rizal, saying :If the Quixote immortalizes its author because it
exposes to the world ailments of Spain, your Noli Me Tangere will bring you an equal glory. With
your modesty and your voracious and able appraisal, you have dealt a mortal blow to that old
tree full of blemishes and decay. Every Filipino patriot will read you book with avity and upon
discoveringin every line a veracious idea and in every word a fitting advice, he will be inspired
and he will regard your book as the masterpiece of a Filipino and the proof that those who
thought us incapable of producing great intellects are mistaken or lying.

16. Group 8
Dannica Varde
Shiela May Mabana