NOLI ME TANGERE PUBLISHED IN BERLIN (1887)

-The bleak winter of 1886 in Berlin was Rizal’s darkest winter because no money arrived from Calamba and he was flat broke. The diamond ring which his sister, Saturnina, gave him was in the pawnshop. It was memorable in the life of Rizal for two reasons (1) it was a painful episode for he was hungry, sick and despondent in a strange city (2) it brought him great joy after enduring s

o much sufferings, because his first novel, Noli Me Tangere came off the press in March, 1887

· Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin- inspired Dr. Rizal to prepare a novel that would depict the

miseries of his people under the lash of Spanish tyrants

· January 2, 1884- in a reunion of Filipinos in the Paterno residence in Madrid, Rizal proposed the writings of a novel about the Philippines by a group of Filipinos

· Toward the end of 1884, Rizal began writing the novel in Madrid and finished about one-half of it

· When Rizal went to Paris, in 1885, after completing his studies in the Central University of Madrid, he continued writing the novel, finishing one half of the second half

· Rizal finished the last fourth of the novel in Germany. He wrote the last few chapters of the Noli in Wilhelmsfeld in April-June, 1886

· In Berlin during the winter days of February, 1886, Rizal made the final revisions on the manuscript of the Noli

· Maximo Viola- Rizal’s friend from Bulacan, arrived in Berlin at the height of Rizal despondency and

loaned him the needed funds to publish the novel; savior of Noli

· After the Christmas season , Rizal put the finishing touches on his novel. To save printing expenses, he deleted certain passages in his manuscript, including a whole chapter—“Elias and Salome”

· February 21, 1887- the Noli was finally finished and ready for printing

· Berliner Buchdruckrei-Action-Gesselschaft- a printing shop which charged the lowest rate, that is,

300 pesos for 2,00 copies of the novel

· March 21, 1887- the Noli Me Tangere came off the press

· 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, with the following inscription: “To my dear friend, Maximo Viola, the first to read and appreciate my work—Jose Rizal”

· The title Noli Me Tangere is a Latin phrase which means “Touch Me Not”. It is not originally conceived by Rizal, for he admitted taking it from the Bible

· Rizal, writing to Felix Hidalgo in French on March 5, 1887, said: “Noli Me Tangere, words taken from the Gospel of St. Luke, signify “do not touch me” but Rizal made a mistake, it should be

the Gospel of St. John (Chapter 20 Verses 13 to 17)

· Rizal dedicated his Noli Me Tangere to the Philippines—“To My Fatherland”

· The cover of Noli Me Tangere was designed by Rizal. It is a ketch of explicit symbols. A woman’s head atop a Maria Clara bodice represents the nation and the women, victims of the

social cancer. One of the causes of the cancer is symbolized in the friar’s feet, outsized in relation to the woman’s head. The other aggravating causes of oppression and discrimination are

shown in the guard’s helmet and the iron chains, the teacher’s whip and the alferez’s scourge. A slight cluster of bamboo stands at the backdrop; these are the people, forever in the background of their own country’s history. There are a cross, a maze, flowers and thorny plants, a flame; these are

indicative of the religious policy, the misdirected ardor, the people strangled as a result of these all

· The novel Noli Me Tangere contains 63 chapters and an epilogue

· Dr. Antonio Ma. Regidor- Filipino patriot and lawyer who had been exiled due to his complicity in the

Cavite Mutiny of 1872, read avidly the Noli and was very much impressed by its author

CHARACTERS OF NOLI

· The Noli Me Tangere was a true story of the Philippine conditions during the last decades of Spanish rule

· Maria Clara-was Leonor Rivera, although in real life she became unfaithful and married an Englishman

· Ibarra and Elias- represented Rizal himself

· Tasio-the philosopher was Rizal’s 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 Revolution

· Capitan Tiago-was Captain Hilario Sunico of San Nicolas

· Doña Victorina- was Doña Agustina Medel

· Basilio and Crispin- were the Crisostomo brothers of Hagonoy

· Padre Damaso- typical of a domineering friar during the days of Rizal, who was arrogant, immoral and anti-Filipino