Critical Analysis About the Novel El Filibusterismo
The novel,El Filibusterismo, written by Philippine national hero Dr.Jose Protacio
Rizal Mercado y Alonzo Realonda is an inspirational novel because the Rizal depicts
the bad happenings in the time of colonization of the Spaniards.El Filibusterismo
(The Reign of Greed) was published on the 18th day of September 1891,written in
Spanish language and a continuation to Noli Me Tangere.El Filibusterismo was
published in Ghent Belgium.
In the novel El Filibusterismo,the main character named Juan Crisostomo Ibarra
the reformist,mysterious,wealthy and mestizo man of the earlier novel Noli Me
Tangere, has come back to the Philippines as the mysterious stranger named
Simoun a jeweller driven by hatred and fierce desire to avenge his sufferings and
to rescue Maria Clara from the nunnery where she has fled.Simoun embarks on a
crusade the goal which is to corrupt and thus weaken various institutions that
would eventually lead to a bloody revolution. He schemes and plans systematically
and plots with various characters, including Basilio ,to bring about the downfall of
the government. The first plot fails, as does the second one. Simoun carrying his
huge stash of jewelry and flees to the mountain retreat of Padre Florentino who
forgive the dying man from his sins.The novel ends as the priest throws Simoun’s
treasures into the sea with the hope that they could be retrieved and use only for
the betterment of the people.The reason why Crisostomo Ibarra change his name is
because he wants to seek revenge against the Spanish.
Rizal’s novel had a deep effect on Philippine society in terms of national identity,
the Catholic faith,the governments’issues in corruption,abuse of
power,discrimination,inequality, racism,sexual abuse and on a larger scale,the
issues related to the effect of colonization on people’s lives and the cause of
independence.
In this novel,El Filibusterismo, Rizal urged the society to open its eyes to reality
and fight . the Spanish government from its oppression and abuse.Rizal wants a
peaceful, progressive,and good society. José Rizal uses his intellect and knowledge
in writing his novel to inspire,and encourage Filipino people to open their eyes from
the different issues that they face in the time of colonization of the
Spaniards.Filipinos are suffering because of the corruption of the Spanish
government.
El Filibusterismo is far more dark and brutal than of Noli Me Tangere.It had many
events of murder, sexual abuse,suicide.El Filibusterismo is a massive turning point
from Ibarra being idealistic and open man.Simoun who became vengeful,angry and
somewhat cunning.In Noli Me Tangere,there is aspiration,beauty,romance and
mercy while in El Filibusterismo, readers will feel is bitterness,hatred,and antipathy.
The romance and aspirations are gone. Even the characters’ personalities seem to
have undergone radical change.This is how different Rizal’s second novel
is.Considering that both were written by the same author,the plots are poles apart.
Outright scorn and bitterness may already be felt at the beginning of the
story,where Simoun promotes abuse and tyranny in the Spanish government,in the
hope that the people
will reach the limits of their endurance and declare revolution.Simoun who is
actually Nolis’ Ibarra in disguise,conveys an entirely different personality in El Fili,
while Ibarra is trusting,aspiring,and loving. Simoun is now cunningly careful in his
dealings,distrusting,and extremely bitter. Something changed in Rizal and this is
reflected in the personalities he gave his El Filibusterismo characters.
El Filibusterismo’s theme seems to focus on how to reach a social reform and
revolution.A number of chapters have long dialogues pf text that seem to
resemble debates,an example being chapter 7:Simoun,in which Simoun tries to
convince Basilio to join the bloody revolution.This represents Rizal’s fading hopes
for reform against his long-held abhorrence and aversion to revolution The book
focuses on the inevitable revolution and whether or not the Philippines should
rebel peacefully and violently.
Rizal’s message that he conveyed through El Filibusterismo is simple – he
wanted Filipinos to have better lives.Rizal wrote El Filibusterismo to show his
countrymen that proper education and decent living for all are
achievable.However,he emphasized that in order to get the freedom he
idealized,we all need to come together as a country and fight the injustices in our
society.Rizal wrote El Filibusterismo in dedication to the three martyred priests
Mariano Gomez, José Burgos,and Jacinto Zamora,expressing conviction that their
treatment and deaths at the hands of the Spanish authorities was unrighteous.
Jose Rizal concludes that we should reflect on our actions and beliefs for our
country.According to Rizal, education and liberty would be the cure to Filipino
indolence.The main purpose why Rizal wrote El Filibusterismo is to defend Filipino
people from foreign accusations of foolishness and lack of knowledge,to show how
the Filipino people live during Spanish colonial period and the cries and woes of his
countrymen against abusive officials.Rizal wrote El Filibusterismo to show people
how Philippines were being bondaged by Spain.
In the novel, I like the part that Simoun rescued Maria Clara from the convent
and on what I don’t like in the novel is the part where Simoun was riding a what we
call ‘Bapor Tabo’.It is like a big boat that was made of wood. Back then,Simoun was
a rich jeweler where he was staying above along with the other rich people while
the other poor individual are staying underneath. It’s like they are humiliating
people. But I am so grateful to our national hero because he wrote and share on
what happened in the Spanish colonization. Because of Rizal we achieved our
freedom. As a Filipino,we should always be righteous and still choose what is right
over what is wrong. As the saying goes,“Do not do unto others what you don’t want
others do unto you”. We should be good so that people around will also do good to
us.
In conclusion, the values embodied in El Filibusterismo’s novels were more
courageous. Rizal must have recognized that nothing would change if no one took
the risk,so he sacrificed his life to get his message over his fellowmen.That
message continues to inspire and arouse Filipinos to analyze their social status and
defend their rights to this day.Another values that are evident in the work of Rizal
entitled are Bravery and Patriotism.Bravery because senior Simoun shows his
strong will to stand against even if the Spaniards has the full control on the
Philippine government,he still has the willingness to confront agony and change
and uncertainty over the Spaniards to overthrow them in the authority as bravery
define as the quality of having moral or mental strength to face danger and
difficulty.Also the essence of being courageous portrayed by Simoun when he
shows his eagerness to rescue his beloved Maria Clara from the convent and also to
avenge the death of his father.Lastly is Patriotism wherein the character of Simoun
shows his extreme desire to bring back the pride of the Philippines against
Spaniards as a sign of giving love and respect for the country as patriotism Most
importantly,El Filibusterismo transpire nationalism today.The novel remind us of
the experiences our ancestors had to ho through and why we have to maintain our
freedom as a nation and as people of the Philippines.Being a Filipino is something
to be proud of for our ancestors have fought for the freedom we enjoy today.
El Filibusterismo is far more dusky and ferocious.It had many incidents of
murder,sexual abuse,suicide,discrimination,inequality and most of all is
corruption.El Filibusterismo is not a mere inspiration to us Filipino but also a
reflection which taught us lessons of yesterday which still live today.Rizal craaled
the society to open its eyes to reality and mayhem the Spanish government from its
maltreated and abuse.If I were on Rizal’s time and situation I would say,it is better
to die that do nothing.
You must read this novel because reading El Filibusterismo will give you access
to important insights into the failures of Philippine sovereingnty that have led to
current state of affairs in our country.Also,you must read this novel because this
novel tell us how cruel and how purely evil the Spaniards was. Nevertheless it also
tackles the bravery of the Filipino community.It shows the unimagined bravery of
our country on fighting the greediness and cruelty of the Spaniards. “Filipinos don’t
realize that victory is the child of struggle,that joy blossoms from suffering,and
redemption is a product of sacrifice.” - Jose Rizal
References
http://rizalisthename.blogspot.com/2014/07/characterization-of-noli-me-tangere
-and.html?m=1
https://www.slideshare.net/geumjen2/el-filibusterismo-58974091
https://kahimyang.com/kauswagan/articles/1276/today-in-philippine-history-
september-18-1891-dr-jose-rizals-el-filibusterismo-was-published-in-ghent-
belgium
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_filibusterismo
https://philnews.ph/2021/10/29/message-of-el-filibusterismo-themes-purpose-
of-the-novel/
https://www.studocu.com/ph/document/central-luzon-state-university/life-of-
rizal/conclusions-on-el-filibusterismo/34213961
https://emelylarasanliteratureword.wordpress.com/2016/03/10/el-filibusterismo
-summary/
https://www.titcoins.biz/blog/what-is-the-main-idea-of-el-filibusterismo/
https://www.coursehero.com/file/p65t8vq/Most-importantly-El-Filibusterismo-is-
a-call-to-the-Filipino-youth-of-today-Jose/
https://studymoose.com/the-message-of-the-el-filibusterismo-is-that-the-
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