Noli Me Tángere (Touch Me Not)

José Rizal — 2019

A scorching exposé of the Spanish government's corruption and abuses of power, this novel is famed as a catalyst to the Philippine Revolution. Noli Me Tángere was the first major artistic manifestation of Asian resistance to European colonialism written from the point of view of the oppressed. Its passionate tale of an idealistic young Filipino's challenges to authority plays out against a backdrop of repression, torture, and murder. Author José Rizal (1861–96) was a key member of the Filipino Propaganda Movement, which gave voice to a population that had simmered with resentment during three centuries of Spanish rule. Rizal paid with his life for his outspoken writings; a century later, the martyred author remains a symbol of Philippine nationalism as Noli Me Tángere takes its place among the revolutionary classics that have influenced history.

Reviews

joana ashley@whaliensong

Oct 25, 2024

Happy Filipino American History Month!!!

I started this book initially on Philippine Independence Day back in June. At the end of June, I ended up putting it down after the passing of my grandfather. I picked it up again for FAHM this month, determined to finish. And I did just in time!!

This piece of literature, having dubbed Jose Rizal the national hero of the Philippines, is an act of defiance against Spanish colonization, most notably through the abuse of power of Spanish Catholic clergymen.

It’s rage-inducing and truly sacrilegious the ways friars get away with any and every wrongdoing they commit against their native congregation, manipulating them to believe that friars and saints are of the utmost authority. So many families get broken and so many lives are stripped away because of this church that the whole town of San Diego revolves around and serves in hopes of gaining “indulgences” to gain entry to heaven. It leads one in with the budding love of childhood friends Maria Clara and Crisostomo Ibarra, and ends in tragedy falling like a wave over everyone.

Actually though, à la Shakespeare, I found the Noli to be a bit of a tragicomedy. Rizal’s humor is one that reminds me of people that make you laugh at the most inappropriate times. He utilizes humor a great deal throughout this book, often to take the Church and their many rituals and rules and saints a little less seriously. He employs irony to expose the hypocrisy of the Spanish church leaders. He jokes playfully with the difference in languages used by the Spanish and the “indios” (indigenous Filipinos) to demonstrate that the colonizer isn’t as superior to the colonized as one would believe, nor smarter or more capable.

This is an inspiring work, often credited to have indirectly influenced the Philippine Revolution. 137 years later, there’s still so much work to be done for the Philippines to truly be free. Rizal laid foundational steps in the Noli, and every day I witness determined Filipinos build upon it and continue to pave a way.